Constitutional and government reorganization basis
- Executive Order No. 118 is issued pursuant to the government reorganization mandated in Article II, Section 1 (a) and Article III of the Freedom Constitution.
- Executive Order No. 118 is anchored on the directive from Executive Order No. 5 (1986) to effect necessary and proper changes in governmental organizational and functional structures for efficiency and effectiveness in public service delivery.
- Executive Order No. 118 affirms the constitutional commitment to preserve and develop Philippine culture for national identity and to place arts and letters under the patronage of the State.
- Executive Order No. 118 declares the need for a national body to articulate national policy on culture, conserve and promote national heritage, and ensure a climate of freedom, support, and dissemination for artistic and cultural expression.
Commission: name, composition, chairmanship
- A Presidential Commission on Culture and Arts is created (the Commission) under Section 2.
- The Commission is composed of:
- (a) Minister of Education, Culture and Sports as Chairman;
- (b) Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports Deputy Minister for Culture as member;
- (c) Director of the National Historical Institute as member;
- (d) President of the Cultural Center of the Philippines as member;
- (e) Ministry of Tourism Deputy Minister designated by the Minister of Tourism as member;
- (f) a Representative from the Office of the President as member.
- The Chairman serves as the head of the Commission and holds implementing authority to issue necessary issuances under Section 11.
- The Commission’s secretariat and executive direction are structured through the Deputy Minister for Culture under Section 4(a).
Mandate and objectives
- The Commission is mandated to formulate and maintain national policy, support, and dissemination frameworks for culture and the arts under Section 3.
- The Commission’s objectives include the following:
- (a) fostering national identity and pride through conservation and promotion of cultural patrimony and national heritage;
- (b) developing and guaranteeing a climate of freedom and support for the multi-cultural and pluralistic growth of all forms of art;
- (c) encouraging and assisting, where possible, various forms of artistic and cultural expression in cooperation with the private sector;
- (d) working with government and non-government agencies in national and international dissemination of culture and the arts.
Powers and core functions
- The Commission establishes a secretariat for administrative and day-to-day affairs under Section 4(a), placed under the Deputy Minister for Culture as its Executive Director.
- The Commission conducts consultations and meetings with individuals and groups from cultural and artistic subsectors to establish and strengthen national councils and to ensure people participation in formulating national cultural policy under Section 4(b).
- The Commission coordinates with government and non-government artistic and cultural institutions and agencies, and may call upon any ministry, bureau, office, or agency of government for assistance or reform; such government unit must forthwith furnish or accomplish the required assistance or reform under Section 4(c).
- Through the national councils, the Commission encourages participation in formulating strategies, policies, plans, programs, projects, funding requirements, and organizational changes for each subsector under Section 4(d).
- The Commission articulates national policies, promulgates rules and regulations, and carries out activities that support preservation of cultural heritage and development of Philippine culture and the arts under Section 4(e).
- The Commission authorizes and effects institutional or organizational transfers, mergers, or changes that may be recommended by the councils or by the National Advisory Board under Section 4(f).
- The Commission assists in generating resources—governmental and non-governmental, local, national, and international—for development, protection, preservation, or dissemination of Philippine culture and the arts under Section 4(g).
National councils, committees, and advisory board
- The Commission forms, operates, maintains, and coordinates fourteen (14) national committees grouped into three (3) sub-commissions under Section 5.
- Sub-Commission on Cultural Heritage includes:
- (1) National Committee on Libraries and Archives;
- (2) National Committee on Museums and Galleries;
- (3) National Committee on Shrines and Monuments.
- Sub-Commission on the Arts includes:
- (4) National Literary Arts Committee;
- (5) National Visual Arts Committee;
- (6) National Dramatic Arts Committee;
- (7) National Broadcast Arts Committee;
- (8) National Music Committee;
- (9) National Dance Committee;
- (10) National Film Committee.
- Sub-Commission on Cultural Dissemination includes:
- (11) National Committee on Language and Translation;
- (12) National Committee on Cultural Events;
- (13) National Committee on Ethnic Culture and Traditional Arts;
- (14) National Committee on Cultural Education.
- The chairpersons of all fourteen (14) committees form the National Advisory Board to the Commission under Section 5.
Staffing, performance evaluation, and reorganization safeguards
- The position structure and staffing pattern of the Commission are approved and prescribed by the Chairman under Section 6 within one hundred twenty (120) days from approval of the Executive Order and the authorized positions created thereunder.
- Authorized positions created under the Executive Order are filled with regular appointments by the Chairman or by the President, as the case may be, under Section 6.
- The Chairman must formulate and enforce a system for measuring and evaluating the Commission’s performance periodically and objectively, and must submit the system annually to the President under Section 7.
- If any reorganizational change authorized is of such substance or materially prejudicial to third persons’ rights recognized by law or contract such that notice to or consent of creditors is required under agreements with such creditors, notice or consent must be complied with prior to implementation of the reorganizational change under Section 8.
- No change in the reorganization prescribed becomes valid unless it has prior approval of the President for the purpose of promoting efficiency and effectiveness in the delivery of public services under Section 9.
Funding and implementing issuances
- Subject to availability of funds, the amount of Ten Million Pesos (P10,000,000.00) is authorized to be set aside from the National Treasury and made available for expenditure by the Commission under Section 10.
- Expenditure must be made in accordance with appropriate rules, regulations, and procedures under Section 10.
- The Chairman shall issue rules, regulations, and other issuances necessary to ensure effective implementation of the Executive Order under Section 11.
Separability, repeals, and effectivity
- Section 12 provides separability: unconstitutional portions do not nullify other portions if the remaining portions can subsist and be given effect in their entirety.
- Section 13 repeals or modifies all laws, rules, regulations, other issuances, or parts thereof inconsistent with Executive Order No. 118.
- Section 14 states that Executive Order No. 118 takes effect immediately upon its approval.
- The Executive Order was approved in the City of Manila, Philippines, on January 30, 1987, with signatures by President Corazon C. Aquino and Executive Secretary Joker P. Arroyo.