Press Release
June 9, 2009

Acknowledging the need to strengthen and streamline the agency
ANGARA FILES BILL TO STRENGTHEN NATIONAL
HISTORICAL INSTITUTE

Senator Edgardo J. Angara today filed a bill which seeks to strengthen the powers and functions of the National Historical Institute in order to conserve, promote and popularize the nation's historical and cultural heritage and resources.

"A nation will not achieve its full cultural, economic and political potential if its people do not have a sense of history. Without a unifying past, our people will be relegated to thinking like disconnected tribes," said Angara who authored the law creating the National Commission for Culture and the Arts and the new National Museum.

He added, "In order for our country to move forward, it is imperative that our people remember the past that brought us together as a nation. At the cusp of the age of globalization, cultural and economic homogeneity threatens those who do not remember their common ideals and the triumph of their legacy. Cultural annihilation waits for those who do not have a sense of history."

The National Historical Institute (NHI) was established preserve the Filipino's sense of history by initiating and implementing programs relevant to historical research and popularization of history.

Angara shared that NHI's charter is almost decade old.

The senator, who is the main sponsor of the National Cultural Heritage bill, said that there is a need to ensure that NHI continues to achieve its obligation to make history relevant, popular and a dynamic source of inspiration.

National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) bill, which Angara recently filed, renames NHI into NHCP and it also acknowledges the need to strengthen and streamline the agency.

The bill also seeks to clarify the agency's mandate and powers with the end in view of strengthening its resources, expanding the scope of its beneficiaries, and clarifying its role in relation to other cultural agencies.

Once enacted, the bill will authorize the agency's Board to reorganize the structure of the NHI,

one hundred twenty (120) days from the effectivity of the Act. Changes in the structure of NHI include the establishment of new Centers/ or restructuring of old divisions, to wit:

-  Historic Sites and Structures Documentation Center (HSSDC) shall be established to replace the
   existing Survey and Documentation Section;

-  The existing work of the NHCP on historical society affiliations shall constitute the Local
   Historical Committees Network (LHCN) and;

-  Materials Research Conservation Division (MRCD) shall replace the existing Materials Research
   Conservation Center.

"It is not enough that history is studied in the university as it is now required by law. More importantly, there is a need to convey and connect our history with the lives of our people if we are to benefit from the lessons of the past. It is every government's goal to make history relevant, so that having planted it in its citizens, the country becomes proud of its heritage, strong in its identity, and become unified as a nation," added Angara.

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