A HOUSE of Representatives committee on Tuesday approved bills that seek to establish cultural centers and museums in two areas, one in Baybay City, Leyte and another in Mountain Province.
The Committee on Basic Education and Culture approved House Bills 416 and 448 subject to amendments suggested by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA).
NCCA Chair Dr. Rene R. Escalante pointed out that the proposed measures should indicate whether the centers will be managed by the national government through his agency or by local government units.
Mr. Escalante said the commission would require more funding if they were to oversee the proposed museums.
Pasig Rep. Roman T. Romulo, chair of the committee, said the bills must clarify that local governments would be in charge of day-to-day operations with NCCA providing technical assistance. The bills will also have to state where funding will be appropriated from.
“Baybay was believed to be the only settlement on the western coast of Leyte known to the first Spanish conquistadores,” Leyte Rep. Carl Nicolas C. Cari, author of HB 416, said in the bill’s explanatory note.
Meanwhile, HB 448, which was authored by Mountain Province Rep. Maximo Y. Dalog, Jr., states in its explanatory note that the province is home to 15 ethnolinguistic groups with very rich cultural heritage and traditions.
The Cultural Center of the Philippines, National Museum of the Philippines and the Department of Interior and Local Government also supported the bills. — Matthew Carl L. Montecillo