Legarda Wants Folk Arts Museums in Every Region

Senator Loren Legarda has filed a bill (Senate Bill No. 420) that will mandate regional museums to promote traditional folk arts and local cultural treasures.

“For years, the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) has taken the lead in facilitating the conservation and transfer of cultural heritage—expressed through the country’s various traditional folk arts, via its Manlilikha ng Bayan and School of Living Traditions (SLT) programs. This bill seeks to complement the efforts of the NCAA by explicitly requiring the National Museum through its regional museums to serve as venues in ensuring the conservation and preservation of the country’s traditional folk arts,” said Legarda.

Under SBN 420, regional museums should also display traditional folk arts collection aside from the local archeological finds, objects of art, and other local cultural treasures.

Furthermore, the regional museums should lead the conservation, preservation and promotion of the cultural heritage of the SLTs found within their localities.

Legarda said that these museums will ensure the transmission of valuable traditional knowledge to the younger generation.

“With these regional museums showcasing traditional folk arts we hope to start a cultural revolution through an immersion in the Philippine art from the ordinary folks of old. We also hope that these museums will help develop craftsmanship and industry, national identity and pride, and will help unite Filipinos,” Legarda concluded.