Proclamation No. 726




MALACAÑAN PALACE MANILA BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE PHILIPPINES [ Proclamation No. 726, February 2, 1996 ] DECLARING THE PERIOD FROM FEBRUARY 19 TO 25, 1996 AS NATIONAL FILM/VIDEO ARCHIVING WEEK WHEREAS, the Constitution of the Philippines, in Article XIV, Section 13, underscores the need to “conserve, promote, and popularize the nations historical and cultural heritage and resources, as well as artistic creations”; WHEREAS, along with the disciplines of theater, dance, music, visual arts, architecture, and literature, film and video have not only become powerful mass media of communication and information but also potent channels for the free expression of Filipino creativity and imagination; WHEREAS, ever since the introduction in the Philippines of film in the early 1900s and of video in the fifties, both these media have emerged as the most pervasive and instantaneous means of faithfully recording, documenting, promoting and popularizing the nations historical events and cultural heritage; WHEREAS, film and video now form an irreplaceable part of our nations patrimony; WHEREAS, regrettably, a large part of these irreplaceable sound and visual documents have been irretrievably lost to posterity generally owing to lack of awareness and knowledge of their proper storage and preservation; WHEREAS, there is a need to promote an awareness of film and video archiving on a national scale and to develop the necessary infrastructure for effective film and video preservation, restoration and retrieval.1aшphi1 NOW, THEREFORE, I, FIDEL V. RAMOS, President of the Philippines, by virtue of powers vested in me by law, do hereby declare the period from February 19 to 25, 1996 as National Film/Video Archiving Week. All agencies of the government particularly those engaged in the development, production, storage preservation and promotion of film and video as mass media of communication and artistic expression are to undertake concerted activities to promote the National Film/Video Archiving Week. The Philippine Information Agency in cooperation with the Department of Education, Culture and Sports, National Commission for Culture and the Arts, the University of the Philippines Film Center, the Cultural Center of the Philippines, the Peoples Television Network, Film Academy of the Philippines, Film Development Foundation, and other relevant government institutions, is hereby tasked to be the lead agency in carrying out such activities. In these activities, the above institutions are to enlist the full support and involvement of the private sector and non-government organizations particularly the Society of Film Archivists, Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster sa Pilipinas, Mowelfund Film Institute, private television networks and private film production companies. IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the Republic of the Philippines to be affixed. Done in the City of Manila, this 2nd day of February, in the year of Our Lord, nineteen hundred and nine six. (Sgd.) FIDEL V. RAMOS By the President (Sgd.) RUBEN D. TORRES Executive Secretary The Lawphil Project - Arellano Law Foundation