National Cultural Heritage Act

National Cultural Heritage Act
Congress of the Philippines
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.
Citation	Republic Act No. 10066
Territorial extent	Philippines
Enacted by	House of Representatives of the Philippines
Date enacted	December 14, 2009
Enacted by	Senate of the Philippines
Date signed	March 26, 2010
Signed by	Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo
Date commenced	April 10, 2010
Legislative history
Bill introduced in the House of Representatives of the Philippines	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
Bill published on	August 25, 2009
Introduced by	Sonny Angara (Aurora)
First reading	August 26, 2009
Second reading	August 15, 2009
Third reading	October 5, 2009
Bill introduced in the Senate of the Philippines	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
Bill published on	January 26, 2009
Introduced by	Edgardo Angara
First reading	January 26, 2009
Second reading	February 2, 2009
Third reading	February 9, 2009
Conference committee bill passed	December 11, 2009
Date passed by conference committee	November 10, 2009
Keywords
Philippine Registry of Cultural Property, cultural preservation
Status: In force

The National Cultural Heritage Act (with the designation of Republic Act No. 10066) is a law, or Republic Act, of the Republic of the Philippines. It created the Philippine Registry of Cultural Property 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 Philippine Registry of Cultural Property registers all cultural properties of the country,^[3] 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,^[4] Ancestral homes that have figured in an historic event, house such as the Bonifacio Trial House in Maragondon, Cavite,^[5] or houses of national heroes of the Philippines like the Juan Luna Shrine^[6] in Badoc, Ilocos Norte are included among the categories "National Shrines" or "National Historical Landmarks".^[3][7]

The act also requires:

• That for "cultural property declared as Immovable Cultural Property, the appropriate cultural agency shall, after registration, give due notice to the Registry of Deeds having jurisdiction for annotation on the land titles..."^[8]
• That "Local government units, through their cultural offices, shall likewise maintain an inventory of cultural property under its jurisdiction and shall furnish the Commission a copy..."^[8]
• That "All government agencies and instrumentalities, [ government owned and controlled corporations]...including public and private educational institutions, shall report their ownership and/or possession of such items to the pertinent cultural agency and shall register such properties within three (3) years from the effectivity of this Act."^[8]
• That "Private collectors and owners of cultural property shall register such properties, within three (3) years from the effectivity of this Act. The private collectors and owners of cultural property shall not be divested of their possession and ownership...even after registration of said property..." and that information on such private property "shall remain confidential and may be given only upon prior consent of the private owner."^[8]

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."^[9]

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.^[10]

See also

• List of National Cultural Treasures in the Philippines
• List of historical markers of the Philippines
• List of Cultural Properties of the Philippines
• Ancestral houses of the Philippines

References

External links

• Text of the Act online from the Heritage Conservation Society. For a pdf file of the act, go to the Senate of the Philippines website
• Implementing Rules and Regulations of the National Cultural Heritage Act on the National Commission for Culture and the Arts home page

Philippine Registry of Cultural Property (PRECUP)
Government cultural agencies	Cultural Center of the Philippines Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino National Archives National Commission for Culture and the Arts National Historical Commission of the Philippines National Library National Museum Sentro Rizal
Categories of cultural properties	UNESCO World Heritage Sites National Cultural Treasures Important Cultural Properties National Historical Landmarks National Shrines National Monuments National Heritage Houses Works of National Artists Marked Structures Other Cultural Properties
Related	National Cultural Heritage Act