National Cultural Heritage Act | |
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Congress of the Philippines | |
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Citation | Republic Act No. 10066 |
Territorial extent | Philippines |
Enacted by | House of Representatives of the Philippines |
Enacted | December 14, 2009 |
Enacted by | Senate of the Philippines |
Signed by | Gloria Macapagal Arroyo |
Signed | March 26, 2010 |
Commenced | April 10, 2010 |
Legislative history | |
First chamber: House of Representatives of the Philippines | |
Bill title | House Bill 6733 |
Bill citation | An Act Providing for the Protection and Conservation of the National Cultural Heritage, Strengthening the National Cultural Agencies, and for other purposes |
Introduced by | Sonny Angara (Aurora) |
Introduced | August 25, 2009 |
First reading | August 26, 2009 |
Second reading | August 15, 2009 |
Third reading | October 5, 2009 |
Second chamber: Senate of the Philippines | |
Bill title | An Act Providing for the Protection and Conservation of the National Cultural Heritage, Strengthening the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) and its affiliated cultural agencies, and for other purposes. |
Bill citation | Senate Bill 3014 |
Received from the House of Representatives of the Philippines | January 26, 2009 |
Member(s) in charge | Edgardo Angara |
First reading | January 26, 2009 |
Second reading | February 2, 2009 |
Third reading | February 9, 2009 |
Final stages | |
Reported from conference committee | November 10, 2009 |
Conference committee bill passed by Senate of the Philippines | December 11, 2009 |
Keywords | |
Philippine Registry of Cultural Property, cultural preservation | |
Status: In force |
The National Cultural Heritage Act, officially designated as Republic Act No. 10066, is a Philippine law that created the Philippine Registry of Cultural Property (PRECUP) and took other steps to preserve historic buildings that are over 50 years old. [1] It was signed into law on March 25, 2009. [2]
It was passed in response to the 2000 demolition of the Manila Jai Alai Building. [1] The Act mentions "archaeological" 18 times, an apparent reference to the destruction of the Huluga archaeological site in 2003. [3]
The Philippine Registry of Cultural Property registers all cultural properties of the country, [4] which the National Commission for Culture and the Arts is mandated to establish and maintain through the appropriate cultural agencies and local governments.
A house that has significant importance to the Filipino culture is declared to be a "Heritage House" by the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP), previously known as the National Historical Institute. [2] Historical markers are placed on the houses by the commission to indicate their significance, [5] Ancestral homes that have figured in an historic event, house such as the Bonifacio Trial House in Maragondon, Cavite, [6] or houses of national heroes of the Philippines like the Juan Luna Shrine [7] in Badoc, Ilocos Norte, are included among the categories "National Shrines" or "National Historical Landmarks". [4] [8]
The act also requires:
The act defines "cultural property" as "all products of human creativity by which a people and a nation reveal their identity, including churches, mosques and other places of religious worship, schools and natural history specimens and sites, whether public or privately-owned, movable or immovable, and tangible or intangible." It deems all heritage structures, which are at least 50 years old, as presumed important cultural properties despite non-declaration by cultural agencies. Nonetheless, the government mandates all local government units to register these presumed important cultural properties to the database of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts for cultural documentation and conservation. [10]
The citizen retains the ownership of the house; the government is only declaring the heritage value of the structure and providing funding for its protection and preservation. [11]
The president of the Philippines is the head of state, head of government and chief executive of the Philippines. The president leads the executive branch of the Philippine government and is the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.
The Emilio Aguinaldo Shrine is a national shrine located in Kawit, Cavite in the Philippines, where the Philippine Declaration of Independence from Spain was declared on June 12, 1898, or Independence Day. To commemorate the event, now known as Araw ng Kalayaan or Independence Day, a national holiday, the Philippine flag is raised here by top government officials on June 12 each year. The house is now a museum.
The National Commission for Culture and the Arts of the Philippines is the official government agency for culture in the Philippines. It is the overall policy making body, coordinating, and grants giving agency for the preservation, development and promotion of Philippine arts and culture; an executing agency for the policies it formulates; and task to administering the National Endowment Fund for Culture and the Arts (NEFCA) – fund exclusively for the implementation of culture and arts programs and projects.
The National Historical Commission of the Philippines is a government agency of the Philippines. Its mission is "the promotion of Philippine history and cultural heritage through research, dissemination, conservation, sites management and heraldry works." As such, it "aims to inculcate awareness and appreciation of the noble deeds and ideals of our heroes and other illustrious Filipinos, to instill pride in the Filipino people and to rekindle the Filipino spirit through the lessons of history."
Cultural property, also known as cultural patrimony, comprises the physical items that are part of the cultural heritage of a group or society, as opposed to less tangible cultural expressions. They include such items as cultural landscapes, historic buildings, works of art, archaeological sites, as well as collections of libraries, archives, and museums.
The Manila Jai Alai Building was a building designed by American architects Welton Becket and Walter Wurdeman that functioned as a building for which jai alai games were held. It was built in the Streamline Moderne style in 1940 and survived the Battle of Manila. It was considered as the finest Art Deco building in Asia, until its demolition. It was demolished in 2000 upon the orders of the Mayor of Manila Lito Atienza amidst protests, to make way for the Manila Hall of Justice, which was never built.
The Philippine Registry of Cultural Property, abbreviated as PRECUP, is a national registry of the Philippine Government used to consolidate in one record all cultural property that are deemed important to the cultural heritage, tangible and intangible, of the Philippines. On June 11, 2018, the entries in the newly updated PRECUP was at 3,921. Additionally, 1,259 out of 1,715 LGUs, or 73 percent of LGUs have established local cultural inventories (LCI).
Ancestral houses of the Philippines or Heritage Houses are homes owned and preserved by the same family for several generations as part of the Filipino family culture. It corresponds to long tradition by Filipino people of giving reverence for ancestors and elders. Houses could be a simple house to a mansion. The most common ones are the "Bahay na Bato". Some houses of prominent families had become points of interest or museums in their community because of its cultural, architectural or historical significance. These houses that are deemed of significant importance to the Filipino culture are declared Heritage House by the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP), previously known as the National Historical Institute (NHI) of the Philippines. Preservation is of utmost importance as some ancestral houses have come into danger due to business people who buy old houses in the provinces, dismantle them then sell the parts as ancestral building materials for homeowners wishing to have the ancestral ambiance on their houses. These ancestral houses provide the current generation a look back of the country's colonial past through these old houses.
These lists contain an overview of the government recognized cultural properties in the Philippines. The lists are based on the official lists provided by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts, National Historical Commission of the Philippines, and the National Museum of the Philippines.
The National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) and its predecessor agencies in the Philippines and abroad installs historical markers to signify important and historic events, persons, structures, and institutions. The commemorative plaques are permanent signs installed by the NHCP in publicly visible locations on buildings, monuments, or in special locations. The NHCP also allows local municipalities and cities to install markers of figures and events of local significance, although these markers are barred from using the seal of the Republic of the Philippines.
The Indigenous Peoples' Rights Act of 1997 (IPRA), officially designated as Republic Act No. 8371, is a Philippine law that recognizes and promotes the rights of indigenous cultural communities and Indigenous peoples in the Philippines.
The Malolos Historic Town Center is a historic district located in downtown Malolos City, Bulacan, Philippines, commonly called the Camestisuhan or Pariancillo District of Malolos. It was declared as such for its collection of Spanish and American-era houses and government structures, and for being the birthplace of the First Philippine Republic and the Malolos Constitution as well as having been the capital of the Philippines from 1898 to 1900. The National Historical Institute declared the downtown Malolos area officially as a National Historical Landmark and a Heritage Town on August 15, 2001.
The Pila Historic Town Center is a historic district located at Barangay Santa Clara Norte, Pila, Laguna, Philippines. The district preserves examples of Spanish and American-era architecture found in its town proper laid out with the Spanish colonial town planning system for the Indies and is also a pre-Hispanic archaeological site. The National Historical Institute declared a specific portion of Pila as a National Historical Landmark in 2000. The town has been recognized by scholars as a possible contender in UNESCO as a world heritage site.
The Dapitan Heritage Zone or Dapitan Historic Center is a declared historic district in Dapitan, Philippines. Because of its prehistoric origins, collection of heritage structures and role in the exile of local patriot Dr. Jose Rizal, the National Historical Commission of the Philippines declared a specific portion of the city, along with its heritage structures, as a Heritage Zone or Historic Center in 2011. The declaration was made in coordination with the 150th birth anniversary of Dr. Rizal in June 2011.
The Cultural Center of the Philippines Complex, also known as the CCP Complex, is an 88-hectare (220-acre) art district managed by the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) located along Roxas Boulevard in Metro Manila, Philippines. It is a mixed-use cultural and tourism hub overlooking Manila Bay in south-central Manila, most of which fall under the jurisdiction of the city of Pasay.
Heritage management in the Philippines is guided by laws and agencies that create regulations for potentially destructive behaviors such as excavations and demolition. Legislation pertaining to heritage management consists of Republic Acts and Presidential Decrees. Organizations such as UNESCO, the National Commission for Culture and the Arts, and the Heritage Conservation Society are also referred to in laws.
The Historic Bridges of Romblon are a group of bridges that were built during the Spanish and American colonial era over the Casalogan River in the town of Romblon, Romblon in the Philippines. In March 2013, these bridges were declared an Important Cultural Property by the Philippine government and was placed under the protection and conservation of the National Museum of the Philippines.