RECALLING that the reorganization of the government is mandated expressly in Article II, Section 1 (a), and Article III of the Freedom Constitution;

HAVING IN MIND that pursuant to Executive Order No. 5 (1986), it is directed that necessary and proper changes in the organizational and functional structures of the government, its agencies and instrumentalities, be effected in order to promote efficiency and effectiveness in the delivery of public services;

AFFIRMING the government is committed to fulfill its constitutional mandate of preserving and developing Philippine culture for national identity and of placing arts and letters under the patronage of the State;

MINDFUL of the fact that there is a need for a national body to articulate a national policy on culture, to conserve and promote national heritage, and to guarantee a climate of freedom, support and dissemination for all forms of artistic and cultural expression;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, CORAZON C. AQUINO, President of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by the sovereign will of the Filipino People and the Freedom Constitution, do hereby order:

SECTION 1. Title. This Executive Order shall otherwise be known as the Act Creating the Presidential Commission on Culture and Arts.

SEC. 2. Name and Composition.  There is hereby created a Presidential Commission on Culture and Arts, hereinafter referred to as Commission, to be composed of the following:

(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)	Representative from the Office of the President, as member.

SEC. 3. Mandate. The Commission is hereby mandated to formulate and maintain the national policy, support, and dissemination frameworks for culture and the arts.  To accomplish its mandate, it shall have the following objectives:

(a)	Foster a sense of national identity and pride through the conservation and promotion of our cultural patrimony and our national heritage;
(b)	Develop and guarantee a climate of freedom and support for the multi-cultural and pluralistic growth of all forms of art;
(c)	Encourage and assist where possible various forms of artistic and cultural expression, in cooperation with the private sector;
(d)	Work with government and non-government agencies in the national and international dissemination of culture and the arts.

SEC. 4. Powers and Functions.  To carry out its mandate the Commission shall exercise the following powers and functions:

(a)	Establish a secretariat, under the Deputy Minister for Culture as its Executive Director, for the administrative and day-to-day affairs of the Commission;
(b)	Conduct consultations and meetings with individuals and groups of various cultural and artistic subsectors for the purpose of establishing and strengthening the national councils, as well as for ensuring people participation in the formulation of national cultural policy;
(c)	Coordinate with various government and non-government artistic and cultural institutions and agencies, and call upon any ministry, bureau, office or agency of the government for assistance or reform, which shall forthwith be furnished or accomplished by such government unit;
(d)	Encourage through the national councils, such participation as appropriate in the formulation of strategies, policies, plans, programs, projects, funding requirements and organizational changes for each subsector;
(e)	Articulate such national policies, promulgate such rules and regulations, and carry out such activities as may support the preservation of cultural heritage and the development of Philippine culture and the arts;
(f)	Authorize and effect such institutional or organizational transfers, mergers, or changes that may eventually be recommended to it by the councils or by the National Advisory Board;
(g)	Assist in the generation of resources, both governmental and non-governmental, local, national and international, as may be appropriate in the development, protection, preservation, or dissemination of Philippine culture and the arts.

SEC. 5. National Committees.  To carry out its mandate and objectives, the Commission shall be responsible for the formation, operations, maintenance, and coordination of the following fourteen (14) national committees grouped into the following three (3) sub-commissions:

A.    Sub-Commission on Cultural Heritage


B.    Sub-Commission on the Arts


C.    Sub-Commission on Cultural Dissemination


The chairpersons of the foregoing fourteen (14) committees shall form the National Advisory Board to the Commission.

SEC. 6. Structure and Pattern.  The position structure and staffing pattern of the Commission shall be approved and prescribed by the Chairman within one hundred twenty days (120) days from the approval of this Executive Order and the authorized positions created thereunder shall be filled with regular appointments by him or by the President, as the case may be.

SEC. 7. Periodic Performance Evaluation.  The Chairman is hereby required to formulate and enforce a system of measuring and evaluating periodically and objectively the performance of the Commission and submit the same annually to the President.

SEC. 8. Notice or Consent Requirement.  If any reorganizational change herein authorized is of such substance or materially as to prejudice third persons with rights recognized by law or contract such that notice to or consent of creditors is required to be made or obtained pursuant to any agreement entered into with any of such creditors, such notice or consent requirement shall be complied with prior to the implementation of such reorganizational change.

SEC. 9. Prohibition Against Change.  No change in the reorganization herein prescribed shall be valid except upon prior approval of the President for the purpose of promoting efficiency and effectiveness in the delivery of public services.

SEC. 10. Funding.  Subject to the availability of funds, the amount of Ten Million Pesos (P10,000,000.00) is hereby authorized to be set aside from the funds of the National Treasury and made available for expenditure by the Commission, in accordance with appropriate rules, regulations and procedures.

SEC. 11. Implementing Authority of Chairman.  The Chairman shall issue such rules, regulations and other issuances as may be necessary to ensure the effective implementation of the provisions of this Executive Order.

SEC. 12. Separability.  Any portion or provisions of this Executive Order that may be declared unconstitutional shall not have the effect of nullifying other portions or provisions hereof as long as such remaining portions or provisions can still subsist and be given effect in their entirety.

SEC. 13. Repealing Clause.  All laws, rules, regulations, other issuances or parts thereof which are inconsistent with this Executive Order, are hereby repealed or modified accordingly.

SEC. 14. Effectivity.  This Executive Order shall take effect immediately upon its approval.

APPROVED in the City of Manila, Philippines, this 30th day of January, in the Year of Our Lord Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Seven.


By the President:

(Sgd.) JOKER P. ARROYO
Executive Secretary