Creation of Commission on Filipino Language

Key definitions and term coverage

Section 3 defines Commission as the Commission on the Filipino Language.
Section 3 defines Chairman as the Chairman of the Commission.
Section 3 defines Filipino as the national language of the Philippines.
Section 3 defines Philippine languages as indigenous languages of the Philippines, including the national language and regional and local languages.
Section 3 defines Regional language as the lingua franca or the commonly spoken language of a region.
Section 3 defines Major language as a language spoken and used by at least one-fiftieth (1/50) or two percent (2%) of all Filipinos, based on the most recent available data of the National Census Office.
Section 3 defines Auxiliary language as a particular language spoken in certain places that supports or helps the national and/or official languages in their assigned functions.
Section 3 defines Other languages as foreign languages, whether official or not, as long as they have influenced indigenous languages and cultures to a certain degree.
Section 3 defines Ethnolinguistic regions as geographical areas where particular groups of people speak a common language.
Section 3 defines Disciplines as various fields of learning.

Composition, appointment, qualifications

Section 5 provides that the Commission has eleven (11) commissioners, one serving as Chairman.
Section 5 requires commissioners to represent: major Philippine languages (as defined in Section 3: Tagalog, Cebuano, Ilocano, Hiligaynon, and the major language of Muslim Mindanao), the Northern Cultural Communities, the Southern Cultural Communities, and such other Philippine languages or ethnolinguistic regions as the Commission may decide upon.
Section 5 mandates that at least four (4) commissioners represent various disciplines.
Section 5 requires: the Chairman and two (2) commissioners to serve on a full-time basis, and the remaining eight (8) to serve on a part-time basis and attend regular and special meetings.
Section 6 requires the President to appoint commissioners with the consent of the Commission on Appointments from a list of nominees submitted by different ethnolinguistic regions.
Section 6 requires the President to appoint, from the eleven (11) commissioners, the Chairman and the two (2) full-time commissioners, and to appoint, from the remaining eight (8) commissioners, four (4) for a term of five (5) years and four (4) for a term of three (3) years.
Section 6 provides that, in the absence of the Chairman, commissioners shall choose a temporary or acting Chairman from the two (2) full-time commissioners.
Section 6 prohibits appointment unless the nominee is a natural-born Filipino citizen, at least thirty (30) years old, morally upright, and noted for expertise in linguistics, the culture and language of the ethnolinguistic region, and the discipline represented.

Terms, vacancies, compensation, meetings

Section 7 sets the term of office for the Chairman and the two (2) full-time commissioners at seven (7) years.
Section 7 sets the term of office for four (4) of the remaining commissioners at five (5) years and for four (4) at three (3) years.
Section 7 allows reappointment for a maximum of one (1) term, with the President’s appointment with the consent of the Commission on Appointments.
Section 8 provides that if a vacancy occurs before a commissioner’s term ends, the replacement serves only the unexpired portion of the term.
Section 8 requires the Commission to recommend a replacement to the President within thirty (30) days from the vacancy date, from the list of nominees of the affected ethnolinguistic region, subject to confirmation by the Commission on Appointments.
Section 8 provides that if the Commission fails to make the recommendation, the President fills the vacancy from the same list with the consent of the Commission on Appointments.
Section 9 provides that the Chairman and two (2) full-time commissioners have the same rank, privileges, salary, allowances, and other emoluments as the Chairman and members, respectively, of other constitutional commissions, which shall not be decreased during their term.
Section 9 requires each part-time commissioner to receive compensation as an honorarium for every meeting attended, at a rate determined by the Commission.
Section 10 requires the Commission to adopt its own rules and procedures and to hold sessions at least once a month or as often as deemed necessary.
Section 10 provides that a majority of the eleven (11) commissioners constitutes a quorum.
Section 11 directs the Commission to determine its organizational structure and exempts the Commission’s technical personnel from the rules and regulations of the Office of Compensation and/or eligibility requirements of the Civil Service Commission.
Section 12 establishes a Director General appointed by the Commission for a term of seven (7) years, with reappointment for a maximum of one (1) term, and directs the Commission to determine the Director General’s powers, functions, duties, and compensation.
Section 13 requires a secretariat headed by the Director General, with personnel functions, duties, and compensation determined by the Commission upon the recommendation of the Director General.

Powers and duties of the Commission

Section 14 empowers the Commission to formulate policies, plans, and programs to ensure further development, enrichment, propagation, and preservation of Filipino and other Philippine languages.
Section 14 authorizes the Commission to promulgate rules, regulations, and guidelines to implement its policies, plans, and programs.
Section 14 requires the Commission to undertake or contract research and other studies to promote the evolution, development, enrichment, and eventual standardization of Filipino and other Philippine languages.
Section 14 requires research to include the collation of works for possible incorporation into a multi-lingual dictionary of words, phrases, idioms, quotations, sayings, and other expressions, including words and phrases from other languages now commonly used or included in the lingua franca.
Section 14 requires the Commission to propose guidelines and standards for linguistic forms and expressions in all official communications, publications, textbooks, and other reading and teaching materials.
Section 14 directs the Commission to encourage and promote, through a system of incentives, grants, and awards, the writing and publication (in Filipino and other Philippine languages) of original works, including textbooks and reference materials in various disciplines.
Section 14 requires the Commission to maintain within it a division of translation that shall encourage through incentives, undertake, and vigorously support translation into Filipino and other Philippine languages of:
- important historical works and cultural traditions of ethnolinguistic groups,
- laws, resolutions, and other legislative enactments,
- executive issuances and government policy statements,
- official documents,
- textbooks and reference materials in various disciplines,
- and other foreign materials deemed necessary for education and other purposes.
Section 14 empowers the Commission to call on any department, bureau, office, agency, or instrumentality of Government, and any private entity, institution, or organization, for cooperation and assistance in performing its functions, duties, and responsibilities.
Section 14 directs the Commission to conduct, at national, regional, and local levels, public hearings, conferences, seminars, and other group discussions to identify and help resolve problems and issues involving development, propagation, and preservation of Filipino and other Philippine languages.
Section 14 requires the Commission to formulate and adopt guidelines, standards, and systems for monitoring and reporting on its performance at national, regional, and local levels.
Section 14 requires the Commission to submit an annual progress report on implementation of its policies, plans, and programs to the Office of the President and to Congress.
Section 14 authorizes the Commission to appoint its officials and employees and other necessary personnel, subject to existing laws, and to dismiss them for cause.
Section 14 authorizes organizing and reorganizing the Commission, creating or abolishing positions, or changing designations to meet changing conditions, with a proviso that changes shall not affect employment status, reduce ranks, decrease salaries, or result in separation from service.
Section 14 authorizes the Commission to perform such other activities necessary for effective exercise of its powers, functions, and duties.

Administrative privileges and mail exemption

Section 15 provides that the Commission’s publications—such as dictionaries, vocabularies, grammars, pamphlets, circulars, leaflets, and all other similar printed matter—enjoy the use of the mails free of postage.

Transfer of the Institute of Philippine Languages

Section 16 transfers all personnel, records, assets, equipment, funds, and properties belonging to the Institute of Philippine Languages under Executive Order No. 117 to the Commission.
Section 16 provides that the Commission shall execute, administer, handle, and dispose of the transferred assets, properties, and appropriations in accordance with the Act.
Section 16 deems transferred all research, dictionaries, publications, and other intellectual outputs of the Institute to the Commission.
Section 16 requires the transfer to be effected in a manner that ensures least disruption of ongoing programs of the Institute.
Section 16 requires qualified and necessary Institute personnel to be transferred to and absorbed by the Commission.
Section 16 prohibits reducing or adversely affecting the transferred personnel’s tenure, rank, salaries, and privileges.
Section 16 directs that before the Commission and its functioning actually begins, officers and employees of the Institute continue to exercise their functions and discharge duties and responsibilities.
Section 16 provides that the existing Institute is deemed abolished upon the organization of the Commission, its actual assumption of duties, and its functioning as such.

Appropriations and funding authorization

Section 17 charges the funding requirements necessary to carry out the Act to the current fiscal year appropriations of the Institute of Philippine Languages.
Section 17 authorizes appropriation, thereafter, of such sums as may be necessary in the General Appropriations Act of the year following its enactment into law.

Promulgation, binding language, and publication

Section 18 requires promulgation in Filipino and English.
Section 18 requires translation into the regional languages of the Philippines.
Section 18 provides that in case of doubt, the Filipino version is binding.
Section 21 provides that the Act takes effect after fifteen (15) days following its complete publication in the Official Gazette or in one (1) newspaper of general circulation.

Separability, repeal, and effectivity rules

Section 19 provides a separability rule: if any provision or the application of any provision is declared invalid, the remainder of the Act remains effective.
Section 20 repeals or amends accordingly all laws, presidential decrees, executive orders, or parts thereof inconsistent with the Act.
Section 1 establishes the short title: the “Commission on the Filipino Language Act.”
The Act is Republic Act No. 7104, approved August 14, 1991.