Creation of Commission on Filipino Language

Core definitions and language categories

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—official or not—so long as they have influenced indigenous languages and cultures to a certain degree.
Section 3 defines Ethnolinguistic regions as certain geographical areas where particular groups speak a common language.
Section 3 defines Disciplines as various fields of learning.

Composition and commissioner appointments

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

Terms, vacancies, and compensation rules

Section 7 sets the Chairman and two full-time commissioners’ term at seven (7) years.
Section 7 sets the terms of the remaining commissioners at five (5) years for four (4) and three (3) years for four (4).
Section 7 authorizes reappointment for a maximum of one (1) term, with Presidential appointment and consent of the Commission on Appointments.
Section 8 provides that if a vacancy occurs before the end of a commissioner’s term, 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 date the vacancy occurs, from the affected ethnolinguistic region’s nominees, subject to Commission on Appointments confirmation.
Section 8 provides an alternative rule: if the Commission fails to make the recommendation, the President fills the vacancy from the same list of nominees, with Commission on Appointments consent.
Section 9 grants the Chairman and full-time commissioners the same rank, privileges, salary, allowances, and other emoluments as the Chairman and members, respectively, of other constitutional commissions, and prohibits decrease during their term.
Section 9 provides part-time commissioners receive compensation as an honorarium per meeting attended, at a rate determined by the Commission.

Commission procedures and internal organization

Section 10 requires the Commission to adopt its own rules and procedures.
Section 10 mandates that the Commission hold sessions at least once a month or as often as it deems necessary.
Section 10 establishes quorum: a majority of the eleven (11) commissioners constitutes quorum for transaction of business.
Section 11 authorizes the Commission to determine its organizational structure.
Section 11 exempts the Commission’s technical personnel from the rules and regulations of the Office of Compensation and/or Civil Service Commission eligibility requirements.
Section 12 provides for a Director General appointed by the Commission for a seven (7) years term, renewable for a maximum of one (1) term.
Section 12 requires the Commission to determine the Director General’s powers, functions, duties, and compensation.
Section 13 creates a Secretariat headed by the Director General.
Section 13 requires the Commission to determine the Secretariat personnel functions, duties, and compensation upon the recommendation of the Director General.

Powers, functions, and duties

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 authorizes the Commission to undertake or contract research and studies for the evolution, development, enrichment, and eventual standardization of Filipino and other Philippine languages, including 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 commonly used or included in the lingua franca.
Section 14 directs 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 requires the Commission to encourage and promote writing and publication—through incentives, grants, and awards—in Filipino and other Philippine languages of original works, including textbooks and reference materials in various disciplines.
Section 14 directs the Commission to create and maintain within the Commission a division of translation that: (a) encourages through incentives; (b) undertakes and vigorously supports translation into Filipino and other Philippine languages of important historical works and cultural traditions of ethnolinguistic groups; (c) translates laws, resolutions, and other legislative enactments; executive issuances; government policy statements and official documents; textbooks and reference materials in various disciplines; and other foreign materials the Commission deems 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.
Section 14 requires the Commission to conduct public hearings, conferences, seminars, and other group discussions at national, regional, and local levels to identify and help resolve problems and issues involving the development, propagation, and preservation of Filipino and other Philippine languages.
Section 14 authorizes 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 mandates the Commission to submit an annual progress report on implementation of its policies, plans, and programs to the Office of the President and Congress.
Section 14 authorizes the Commission to appoint officials and employees and other personnel necessary for effective performance, subject to existing laws, and to dismiss them for cause.
Section 14 authorizes the Commission to organize or reorganize its structure, create or abolish positions, or change designation of positions, on conditions that such changes do not affect incumbents’ employment status, reduce ranks, decrease salaries, or result in separation from service.
Section 14 authorizes performance of other activities necessary for effective exercise of the abovementioned powers, functions, and duties.
Section 15 grants publications of the Commission (including dictionaries, vocabularies, grammars, pamphlets, circulars, leaflets, and all similar printed matter) free use of the mails without postage.

Transfer, funding, and publication rules

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, including administration, execution, handling, and disposal of those assets and appropriations under the Act.
Section 16 deems research, dictionaries, publications, and other intellectual outputs of the Institute transferred to the Commission.
Section 16 requires the transfer to be effected to ensure the least disruption of ongoing Institute programs.
Section 16 mandates absorption of qualified and necessary Institute personnel by the Commission, without reduction or adverse effect on tenure, rank, salaries, and privileges.
Section 16 requires that prior to the Commission’s actual assumption of duties, Institute officers and employees continue to exercise functions and discharge duties.
Section 16 provides that the existing Institute of Philippine Languages is deemed abolished upon organization of the Commission, its actual assumption of duties, and functioning as such.
Section 17 charges funding requirements necessary to carry out the Act to the current fiscal year appropriations of the Institute of Philippine Languages; afterward, authorizes appropriation in the General Appropriations Act of the year following enactment into law.
Section 18 requires promulgation in Filipino and English, and translation into the regional languages of the Philippines.
Section 18 makes the Filipino version binding in case of doubt.

Effectivity, separability, and repeal

Section 19 provides a separability rule: if any provision or its application is declared invalid, the remainder remains effective.
Section 20 repeals or amends all laws, presidential decrees, executive orders, or parts inconsistent with the Act.
Section 21 states effectivity: the Act takes effect after fifteen (15) days following complete publication in the Official Gazette or in one (1) newspaper of general circulation.
The Act is titled “An Act Creating the Commission on the Filipino Language, Prescribing its Powers, Duties and Functions, Appropriating Funds Therefor and for Other Purposes” and is designated Republic Act No. 7104.
The Act is approved August 14, 1991.