Section 12Sec./Art. 12

Mandate. - The Commission is hereby mandated to formulate and implement policies and plans in accordance with the principles stated in Title I of this Act.

a. To encourage the continuing and balanced development of a pluralistic culture by the people themselves, it shall:

1. encourage and ensure the exercise of the freedom of expression by eliminating all forms of censorship inimical to cultural and artistic growth and development without prejudice to the rights of other people to develop their own culture, or to the enhancement of a genuinely Filipino culture;

2. extend financial and economic assistance such as subsidies, artist funds and social security to promote cultural development and protect artists and cultural workers;

3. ensure the decentralization of opportunities for creative expression through the establishment of local culture and art centers in various regions, with resources needed for artistic cultural activities;

4. extend recognition of artistic achievement through awards, grants and services to artists and cultural groups which contribute significantly to the Filipino's cultural legacy;

5. promote the interests and welfare of artists and cultural workers by protecting their rights to intellectual and artistic properties as well as by associations which shall promote and protect the economic and moral rights of artists all over the country;

6. encourage and support research into Philippine artistic traditions which may be adopted for the creation of contemporary forms;

7. adopt measures and recommend legislations to protect the intellectual and artistic rights and properties of Filipino artists, cultural workers and other matters concerning culture and arts;

8. explore and adopt the best possible structure of relationship between the public and the private sector at the local level, taking into account varying socio-cultural situations.

b. To conserve and promote the nation's historical and cultural heritage, it shall:

1. support, monitor and systematize the retrieval and conservation of artifacts of Filipino culture and history and all Filipino cultural treasures from all over the archipelago and other countries;

2. encourage and support the study, recognition and preservation of endangered human cultural resources such as weavers, chanters, dancers, and other craftsmen as well as the conservation and development of such artistic, linguistic and occupational skills as are threatened with extinction;

3. 3) support and promote the establishment and preservation of cultural and historical monuments, markers, names and sites;

4. encourage and support the establishment and/or maintenance all over the country of museums, libraries, archives, private or public, as repositories, respectively of all cultural/historical artifacts and artistic creation, printed works, archival records and all other materials indispensable to the study and evaluation of Filipino culture and history;

5. encourage the private sector to establish and maintain private museums and libraries;

6. encourage and support scholarly research into and documentation of Philippine cultural traditions, arts and crafts, as well as significant cultural movements, achievements and personalities especially in the literary, visual and performing arts; and in mass media, as well as the various aspects of Filipino culture;

7. encourage and support the writing of Philippine history from the Filipino perspective;

8. encourage, support and systematize the audio-visual documentation of Filipino cultural expressions in the contemporary period.

c. To ensure the widest dissemination of artistic and cultural products among the greatest number across the country and overseas for their appreciation and enjoyment, it shall, with the cooperation of the Departments of Education, Culture and Sports, Tourism, Interior and Local Government, Foreign Affairs and all other concerned agencies, public and private:

1. cause to be established and developed an intensified arts education program at all levels of the educational system, public and private, to ensure meaningful arts integration across the school curriculum;

2. encourage and support programs through publication, exhibition, production, performance, staging, and reproduction of original Filipino creations;

3. coordinate and provide technical and/or financial assistance for cultural events and related activities such as cultural festivals, competitions, lectures, seminars, for a and symposia;

4. encourage and monitor a comprehensive translation program which shall make works by Filipinos and selected foreign classics equally accessible to Filipino as well as international readers;

5. promote the popularization of information about artistic and cultural achievements and programs, in coordination with government agencies and non-government organizations and institutions;

6. reorient tourism programs to become an instrument for popular education of our people and others about the best of our heritage and creativity;

7. undertake a systematic collection of statistical and other data which reflects the state of cultural conditions in the country, to serve as essential quantitative and qualitative basis for formulating cultural policies;

8. create and support a sustained program of international cultural exchange, scholarships, travel grants and other forms of assistance;

9. promulgate standards and guidelines for the protection and promotion of Filipino artists, cultural workers and creative works in other countries;

10. encourage and support the continuous training of cultural workers and administrators by qualified trainors.

d. To preserve and integrate traditional culture and its various creative expressions as a dynamic part of the national cultural mainstream, it shall;

1. help set up or encourage, monitor and subsidize companion systems at the regional, provincial and local levels, intended to develop traditional cultures such as arts/crafts centers, preferably in community settings apart from the usual museum settings, where exponents of living arts and crafts can practice and teach their art and enrich contemporary designs;

2. encourage and subsidize cultural research and the retrieval of cultural research information (e.g., folklore, dance, music, crafts) through the training of students, teachers, and cultural researchers, and their revitalization by practice and performance;

3. ensure that the ultimate beneficiaries of all research efforts, tourism programs and other activities affecting cultural communities are the people and cultural communities are the people and cultural communities that are the subject of research, and that their cultures are nurtured rather than violated, damaged, or exploited;

4. ensure that relevant information is made available to legislators who introduce laws with cultural implication;

5. encourage and support the continuous training of cultural workers and administrators by qualified trainors.

e. To ensure that standards of excellence are pursued in programs and activities implementing policies herein stated, it shall encourage and support continuing discussion and debate, through symposia, workshops, publications, etc., on the highest norms available in the matrix of Philippine culture.