Push Admin

History defunded: Lawmaker blasts budget cuts for Nat'l Archives, Nat'l Library, et al

Article (news)

ABS-CBN News

<p>MANILA — Several history and cultural-related agencies of government could see their budgets reduced if the proposed 2023 national budget is passed into law, a party-list lawmaker said Friday.</p><p>&quot;Kami sa Makabayan bloc magkakampanya tayo sa ating mga colleagues sa Kongreso atsaka sa Senado para hangga&#x27;t maaari ma-restore &#x27;yung kinut na budget,&quot; Gabriela party-list Rep. Arlene Brosas told ABS-CBN&#x27;s TeleRadyo on Friday.</p><p>(We at the Makabayan bloc will campaign to our colleagues in Congress and Senate to restore what has been removed from their budgets.)</p><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">c. National Commission for Culture and Arts - 83.90% decrease<br/>d. National Library of the Philippines - 22.64% decrease</p>— Gabriela Partylist (@GabrielaWomenPL) <a href="https://twitter.com/GabrielaWomenPL/status/1562650721094615041?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 25, 2022</a></blockquote><div><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charSet="utf-8" type="text/javascript"></script></div><p>President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.&#x27;s administration has imposed budget cuts on key agencies on history and cultural preservation, Gabriela party-list said.</p><p>According to the group, the National Commission for Culture and Arts (NCCA) suffered the highest decrease among them — from P156 million in the 2022 national budget down to only P25 million in the 2023 National Expenditure Program (NEP), or an 83.90% reduction. </p><p>The National Historical Commission of the Philippines is getting a 27.26% cut, it said — from the P292.5 million budget in 2022 down to P212.77 million in the 2023 NEP.</p><p>These are the proposed budget cuts for the remaining agencies, according to Gabriela, citing the NEP:</p><p>• National Archives of the Philippines — 25.27% decrease, or down to P165.2 million in 2023 NEP from its P221.1 million 2022 budget.<br/>• National Library of the Philippines - 22.64% decrease, or down to P161.1 million in 2023 NEP from its P208.2 million 2022 budget.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/08/22/22/ntf-elcac-gets-share-in-proposed-2023-national-budget">NTF-ELCAC gets share in proposed national budget for 2023</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/08/22/22/education-infrastructure-get-biggest-share-in-2023-natl-budget">Education, infrastructure top spending in proposed P5.2-trillion 2023 national budget</a></li></ul><div> </div><p>Brosas claimed that the budget cuts happened for the first time, saying that the fund reductions are &quot;huge.&quot; </p><p>&quot;So iniisip nga namin na &#x27;ano ba ito, ano ang direksiyon ng Marcos administration sa pag-preserve ng ating history?&#x27; Parang balewala sa administration &#x27;yung mga ahensiya na talagang nangangalaga sa ating kultura at sa arts,&quot; she continued.</p><p>(So we&#x27;re asking, &quot;what&#x27;s the direction of the Marcos administration in preserving our history? It seems that the administration neglects the agencies tasked with preserving our culture and the arts.)</p><p>The Marcos administration has not yet commented on the proposed budget cuts.</p><p>&quot;Mahalaga talaga &#x27;yung history natin, &#x27;yung totoong history... &#x27;Yung kasaysayan ay talagang inaano &#x27;yan sa ating kabataan [kaya] natatakot tayo na kapag ganyan di na ma-preserve &#x27;yung history,&quot; Brosas said.</p><p>(History is really important, the real history. History is taught to our youth that&#x27;s where our fear is coming from should we fail to preserve it.)</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/08/23/22/most-govt-offices-getting-more-funds-in-2023-national-budget">Most gov&#x27;t offices getting more funds in 2023 national budget</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/08/22/22/surveillance-spending-up-in-proposed-2023-national-budget">Surveillance spending up in proposed 2023 national budget</a></li></ul><div><strong>—TeleRadyo, August 26, 2022</strong></div>

Several history and cultural-related agencies of government could see their budgets reduced if the proposed 2023 national budget is passed into law, a party-list lawmaker said Friday.