An Act to Repeal Act Numbered Thirty Eight Hundred Seventy Four, and to Provide for the Protection and Preservation of Philippine Cultural Properties

REPUBLIC ACT No. 4846

An Act to Repeal Act Numbered Thirty Eight Hundred Seventy Four, and to Provide for the Protection and Preservation of Philippine Cultural Properties

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippine Congress Assembled:

Section 1. This Act shall be known as the "Cultural Properties Preservation and Protection Act."

Section 2. It is hereby declared to the policy, of the state to preserve and protect the important cultural properties and National Cultural Treasurer of the nation and to safeguard their intrinsic value.

Section 3. Definition of terms:

Section 4. The National Museum, hereinafter referred to as the Museum shall be the agency of the government which, shall implement the provisions of this Act.

Section 5. The Director of the Museum, hereinafter referred to as the Director, shall undertake a census of the important cultural properties of the Philippines, keep a record of their ownership, location, and condition, and maintain an up-to-date register of the same. Private collectors and owners of important cultural properties and public and private schools in possession of these items, shall be required to register their collections with the Museum when required by the Director and to report to the same office when required by the Director any new acquisitions, sales, or transfers thereof.

Section 6. The Director is authorized to convene panels of experts, as often as the need for their services may arise, each to be composed of three competent men in the specialized fields of anthropology, natural sciences, history and archives, fine arts, philately and numismatics, and shrines and monuments, etc. Each panel shall, after careful study and deliberation, decide which among the cultural properties in their field of specialization shall be designated as "National Cultural Treasures" or "Important Cultural Properties." The Director is further authorized to convene panels of experts to declassify designated "National Cultural Treasures."

The Director shall within ten days of such action by the panel transmit their decision and cause the designation-list to be published in at least two newspapers of general circulation. The same procedure shall be followed in the declassification of important cultural properties and national treasures.

Section 7. In designation of a particular cultural property as a "national cultural treasure," the following procedure shall be observed:

Section 8. National Cultural Treasures shall not change ownership, except by inheritance or sale approved by the Director of the National Museum, without the prior notification to and notations made by the Museum in the records. They may not be taken out of the country for reasons of inheritance. Where there is no heir, National Cultural Treasures shall revert to the National Museum or to any state museum.

Section 9. National Cultural Treasurers may be taken out of the country only with written permit from the Director of the National Museum, and only for the purpose of exchange programs or for scientific scrutiny, but shall be returned immediately after such exhibition or study: Provided, that the Director of the National Museum shall require that the cultural treasures be adequately, insured against loss or damage by the owners thereof, and shall be properly accompanied by a duly authorized representative of the National Museum and/or protected.

Section 10. It shall be unlawful to export or to cause to be taken out of the Philippines any of the cultural properties defined in Section three of this Act, without previous registration of the objects with the National Museum and a written permit from the Director of the National Museum: Provided, However, That in the granting or the withholding of permit, the provisions of Section seven of this Act shall have been satisfied.

Section 11. No cultural property may be imported without an official certification of exportation from the country of origin.

Section 12. It shall be unlawful to explore, excavate, or make diggings on archaeological or historical sites for the purpose of obtaining materials of cultural historical value without the prior written authority from the Director of the National Museum. No excavation or diggings shall be permitted without the supervision of an archaeologist certified as such by the Director of the National Museum, or of such other person who, in the opinion of the Director, is competent to supervise the work, and who shall, upon completion of the project, deposit with the Museum a catalogue of all the materials found thereon, and a description of the archaeological context in accordance with accepted archaeological practices. When excavators shall strike upon any buried cultural property, the excavation shall be suspended and the matter reported immediately to the Director of the National Museum who shall take the appropriate steps to have the discovery investigated and to insure the proper and safe removal thereof, with the knowledge and consent of the owner. The suspension shall not be lifted until the Director of the National Museum shall so allow it.

All exploration, excavation, or diggings on government and private property for archaeological or historical purposes shall be undertaken only by the National Museum, or any institution duly authorized by the Director of the National Museum.

Section 13. All restorations, reconstructions, and preservations of government historical buildings, shrines, landmarks, monuments, and sites, which have been designated as "National Cultural Treasures," and "important cultural properties" shall only be undertaken with the written permission of the Director of the National Museum who shall designate the supervision of the same.

Section 14. Any donation or support by private individuals or institutions to the National Museum, and any investment for the purchase of cultural properties registered with the National Museum or for the support of scientific and cultural expeditions, explorations, or excavations when so certified by the Director of the National Museum, shall be tax exempt and deductible from the income tax returns of the individual or institution.

Donations of National Cultural Treasures and important cultural properties to the National Museum or any accredited institution for preservation for posterity, or of any monetary contribution to the National Museum or any accredited institution for the purchase of National Cultural Treasures and important cultural properties shall also be deductible from the income tax returns: Provided, That such donations are duly acknowledge and receipted by the recipient and certified by the Director of the National Museum.

Section 15. Any cultural property for sale as allowed under this Act, should be registered with the National Museum and the proceeds thereof shall be considered as income and therefore subject to taxation: Provided, However, That the Government shall be given the first option for three months to buy these cultural properties placed on sale.

Section 16. All dealers of cultural properties shall secure a license as a dealer in cultural properties from the Director of the National Museum.

Section 17. All dealers engaged in the business of exporting cultural properties shall secure a license as exporter of cultural properties from the Director of the National Museum.

Section 18. The Director of the National Museum is hereby empowered to promulgate rules and regulations for the implementation of the provisions of this Act, which rules and regulations shall be given the widest publicity and also shall be given directly to known collectors, excavators, archaeologists, dealers, exporters and others affected by this Act. Such rules and regulations shall be approved by the Secretary of education.

Section 19. The Museum may collect fees for registration, licenses, inspections, certifications, authorizations, and permits in the compliance with the provisions of this Act: Provided, That the objects or materials attempted to be concealed from registration or those intended to be exported in violation of this Act shall be confiscated and forfeited to the Government; Provided, further, That if the violation is committed by a juridical person, the manager, representative, director, agent, or employee of said juridical person responsible for the Act shall be liable to the penalties provided herein.

Section 20. Penal Provisions.— Any violation of the provisions of this Act shall, upon conviction, subject the offender to a fine of not more than ten thousand pesos or imprisonment for a term of not more than two years or both upon the discretion of the court: Provided, That objects or materials attempted to be concealed from the registration or those intended to be exported or excavated in violation of this Act shall be summarily confiscated and forfeited to the National Museum; Provided, further, That if the violation is committed by a juridical person, the manager, representative, director, agent or employee of said juridical person responsible for the act shall also be liable to the penalties provided herein.

Section 21. There shall be created a division of cultural properties in the National Museum clothed with the adequate police power to prosecute violators of this Act.

Section 22. The sum of one hundred thousand pesos (₱100,000) is hereby appropriated annually out of any funds in the National Treasury, not otherwise appropriated, to carry out the provisions of this Act.

Section 23. Repealing Provisions.— Act Three thousand eight hundred and seventy-four entitled "An Act Prohibiting the Exportation of Antiques of the Philippine Islands" and all other Acts or parts thereof contrary to the provisions of this Act are hereby repealed.

Section 24. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

Approved: June 18, 1966.