ARTS PROMOTION AND PRESERVATION
LESSON 4                                                                                |CONPHIL
NATIONAL COMMISSION FOR CULTURE AND THE                National Historical Commission of
ARTS                                                            the Philippines
                                                       Created with a vision of a “Filipino society
Through the Republic Act 7356, this commission
                                                        with citizens informed of their history, who
was established.
                                                        love their country and are proud of their
                                                        cultural heritage”
It is the country’s overall policy-making body,
coordinating and grants-giving agency for
                                                       Promotes Philippine history and cultural
preserving, developing, and promoting the
                                                        heritage through research, dissemination,
Philippine arts and culture.
                                                        conservation, site management, and
                                                        heraldry works.
There are 6 arts and cultural government
agencies under the NCCA
                                                       Some of their works are the identification,
                                                        conservation, and restoration of historical
The NCCA logo is the Alab ng Haraya (The                sites around the different regions of the
Flame of Imagination) which symbolizes the              country.
wellspring of Filipino art and culture.
    — It is composed of two basic elements –           The logo, derived from the Baybayin
         the fire and the censer. The fire is a         character Ka and styled The Baybayin “Ka”
         stylized letter                                for “Kasaysayan” with two diverging
    — K in Philippine indigenous script that            arrows represents the past & present
         stands for kadakilaan or greatness.            narratives of the Filipinos. The Baybayin
                                                        “Pa” for Pilipinas in the form of a book and
   SIX ARTS AND CULTURAL                                quill pen, symbolizes the sources of our
                                                        history as authentic, truthful, and scientific.
GOVERNMENT AGENCIES UNDER
          THE NCCA                                     By this act, Filipinos may have awareness
1.    Cultural Center of the Philippines                and appreciation of the noble deeds and
2.    National Historical Commission of the             ideals of our heroes and other illustrious
                                                        Filipinos, to instill pride in the Filipino race
      Philippines
                                                        and to rekindle the Filipino spirit through
3.    National Museum of the Philippines                the lessons of history, to have a nation
          Major Goals of the National Museum           whose people value the past looking into
          National Museum of Natural History           the future.
          National Museum of Fine Arts
          National Museum of Anthropology         National Museum of the Philippines
          National Planetarium                        The country’s repository of archaeological
4.    National Library of the Philippines               artifacts, national treasures, and rare
5.    National Archives of the Philippines              specimens found and produced in the
6.    Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino                       country. Operates the Museum of National
                                                        History, National Museum of Fine Arts,
                                                        National Museum of Anthropology, and
     Cultural Center of the Philippines                 National Planetarium.
     Home to seven artistic resident companies.
     Responsible for bringing together the            The National Museum's logo is a stylized
      different arts from the various regions to        baybayin (Philippine script) of "pa" - the
      the entire country and the whole world.           first syllable of pamana (heritage).
     The premier venue in the Philippines for
      culture and arts                                 Task: To solicit, document, preserve, exhibit,
     The logo, derived from the Baybayin               and promote the natural and artificial
      character Ka and styled based on a                wonders of the Philippines.
      Katipunan design, represents Katotohanan,
      Kagandahan at Kabutihan (Truth, Beauty           Responsibility: Putting up a network of
      and Goodness).                                    museums around the country to serve as a
                                                        local destination for the diverse natural and
                                                        cultural heritage of the country.
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Major Goals of the National Museum
                                                      The gallery at the National Planetarium entitled
                                                      “Filipino Life Guided by Skies” focuses not only
   I.     EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION -
                                                      in modern astronomy but primarily in
          disseminates scientific and technical
                                                      ethnoastronomy practices used by our Filipino
          knowledge in more understandable and
                                                      cultural communities. This ethnoastronomy
          practical forms through lectures,
                                                      exhibition is divided into six sections, namely:
          exhibitions,     interviews,     and
                                                      The Cosmic Timeline, Cultural Astronomy,
          publications for students and the
                                                      Philippine Night Sky, Time Reckoning, Farming
          general public.
                                                      and Hunting, and Seafaring and Navigation.
  II.     SCIENTIFIC ORGANIZATION -
          conducts basic research programs                National Library of the Philippines
          combining integrated laboratory and              Was then called the “American Circulating
          fieldwork        in         anthropology,         Library”. It serves as “memorial to
          archaeology, botany, and zoology. It              American servicemen who died on
          maintains reference collections on                Philippine soil”
          these disciplines to promote scientific          Home of the rare books such as the
          studies in the Philippines.                       manuscript of the trial of Andres Bonifacio.
                                                            The repository of the printed and
III.      CULTURAL CENTER - take the lead                   recorded cultural heritage of the country
          in the study and preservation of the              and other intellectual, literary resources,
          nation’s rich artistic, historic, and             and information sources.
          cultural heritage.                               The Shield: derived from the coat of arms
                                                            of the Republic of the Philippines
National Museum of Natural History
Houses 12 permanent galleries that exhibit the             Baybayin: an old Philippine script that
rich biological and geological diversity of the             stands for Kadunungan or knowledge Book,
Philippines. It includes creatively curated                 Quill Pen, and document: represents the
displays of botanical, zoological, and geological           collection of the
specimens that represent our unique natural
history. Situated at the center of the museum is           National   Library    Lamp:    stands    for
a “Tree of Life” structure that proudly connects            enlightenment.
all the unique ecosystems in the Philippines,
from our magnificent mountain ridges to the           National Archives of the Philippines
outstanding marine reefs.
                                                           NAP guarded over 400 documents from the
                                                            Spanish era dating 1552-1900 and various
        National Museum of Fine Arts                        records from the American period to the
The National Museum of Fine Arts is home to 29              Republic
galleries and hallway exhibitions comprising of            Its history goes back to the Treaty of Paris
19th-century Filipino masters, National Artists,            in 1898 which stipulated the relinquishment
leading modern painters, sculptors, and                     or cession of the documents from Spanish
printmakers. Also on view are art loans from                to American authorities and provided for
other government institutions, organizations,               the preservation of documents.
and individuals.                                           The NAP logo is composed of three
                                                            important elements, the earthen jar, the
 National Museum of Anthropology                            Spanish Manuscript, and the Katipunan
The National Museum of Anthropology stages                  scroll. The earthen jar represents the pre-
the Philippine ethnographic and terrestrial                 Spanish archival collection of NAP.
and underwater archaeological collections                   Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino
narrating the story of the Philippines from the
                                                           It is to promote and develop our national
past, as presented through artifacts as
                                                            language. R.A 7104 Congress shall
evidences of its pre-history.
                                                            establish a national language commission
                                                            composed of representatives of various
           National Planetarium                             regions and disciplines which shall
The National Planetarium was established to                 undertake, coordinate, and promote
disseminate      astronomical      information              research for the development, propagation,
through various platforms and technology, such              and preservation of Filipino and other
as full-dome digital and mobile planetarium                 Philippine languages. 1987 Constitution Art
shows, lectures, demonstrations, exhibitions,               XIV Section 8.
and actual celestial observations.
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    SEVEN ARTISTIC RESIDENT                             Philippine Madrigal Singers
     COMPANIES UNDER CCP                              The University of the Philippines Madrigal
                                                       Singers was organized in 1963 by National
                                                       Artist Professor Andrea O. Veneracion.
          Philippine Ballet Theatre                    The group is composed of students, faculty
   Founded in 1987, Philippine Ballet Theatre         and alumni from the different colleges of
    (PBT) has established itself as the pre-           the University of the Philippines (UP). The
    eminent classical ballet company. It was           choir is one of the world’s most awarded,
    borne out of an alliance of leading dance          having consistently won all the top prizes in
    groups in the eighties but immediately won         most of the world’s prestigious choral
    recognition as a resident ballet company of        competitions.
    the Cultural Center of the Philippines.
                                                               Ballet Philippines
            Tanghalang Pilipino                       The establishment of Ballet Philippines in
   Tanghalang Pilipino (TP) is the resident           1969 marked a pivotal moment in the
    drama company of the Cultural Center of            Philippines’ dance landscape. With a
    the Philippines. Since it was established in       resolute vision to elevate dance into a
    1987, it has successfully presented 114            professional discipline, it proudly assumed
    productions within 15 seasons while                its role as the first resident company at the
    generating one of the best attendance              Cultural Center of the Philippines. Since its
    records among the CCP’s resident                   founding,        Ballet     Philippines   has
    companies.                                         continuously solidified its stature as the
   It envisions raising Philippine theatre to         leader in both classical ballet and
    heights of professional and artistic               contemporary dance.
    excellence, dedicated to developing and           Ballet Philippines has made a significant
    training actors, playwrights and designers         contribution to the world of dance, having
    with special emphasis in the production of         crafted an impressive repertoire of over
    original Filipino plays.                           500 choreographic works. Each of these
                                                       creations is a masterpiece, meticulously
                                                       honed to spotlight the rich tapestry of
    National Music Competitions for
                                                       Filipino talent, artistic expression, and
             Young Artists                             cultural heritage. The company’s repertoire
   National Music Competitions for Young              encompasses an unparalleled array of full-
    Artists (NAMCYA) was formally organized            length classical ballets, innovative neo-
    in 1973 under Presidential Proclamation            ethnic performances, and groundbreaking
    1173, and amended in November 1988 as a            contemporary pieces, placing it among the
    response to the “Imperative need to                finest in Asia.
    preserve, develop and promote Philippine
    music as an art and as a handmaid of
    cultural development. It has been a                Ramon Obusan Folkloric Group
    principal instrument in discovering major         The Ramon Obusan Folkloric Group (ROFG)
    music talents from all over the country. Its       celebrates 32 years of preservation and
    projects have involved and continue to             perpetuation of Philippine traditions with
    involve countless musicians, trainers and          special emphasis on music and dance.
    administrators, all serving in the difficult
    but fulfilling process of selecting the best      Founded in 1972, the ROFG started as a
    artists from all eighteen regions of the           fledging folk dance company, composed of
    nation annually.                                   some thirty performers. Leaning on the vast
                                                       amount of data and artifacts that he had
                                                       accumulated while he was doing research,
      The Philippine Philharmonic                      Ramon A. Obusan thought of starting a
               Orchestra                               dance company that will mirror the
   It is the country’s leading orchestra and is       traditional culture of the Filipinos
    widely regarded as one of the top musical          through dance and music.
    ensembles in the Asia-Pacific region. The
    Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra was
    established on May 15, 1973 as the CCP
    Philharmonic Orchestra and was initially
    intended to accompany performing artists
    at the CCP Theater.
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NOTE
   The NCCA logo is the Alab ng Haraya (The Flame of Imagination) which symbolizes the
    wellspring of Filipino art and culture. It is composed of two basic elements – the fire and
    the censer. The fire is a stylized letter K in Philippine indigenous script that stands for
    kadakilaan or greatness.
   The logo, derived from the Baybayin character Ka and styled based on a Katipunan
    design, represents Katotohanan, Kagandahan at Kabutihan (Truth, Beauty and
    Goodness).
   The logo, derived from the Baybayin character Ka and styled The Baybayin “Ka” for
    “Kasaysayan” with two diverging arrows represents the past & present narratives of the
    Filipinos. The Baybayin “Pa” for Pilipinas in the form of a book and quill pen, symbolizes
    the sources of our history as authentic, truthful, and scientific.
   The National Museum's logo is a stylized baybayin (Philippine script) of "pa" - the first
    syllable of pamana (heritage)
   The Shield: derived from the coat of arms of the Republic of the Philippines Baybayin: an
    old Philippine script that stands for Kadunungan or knowledge Book, Quill Pen, and
    document: represents the collection of the National Library Lamp: stands for
    enlightenment.
   The NAP logo is composed of three important elements, the earthen jar, the Spanish
    Manuscript, and the Katipunan scroll. The earthen jar represents the pre-Spanish archival
    collection of NAP.
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