Senate revamp snags creation of Dept of Culture 

The reshuffling last Tuesday of the Senate's committee heads is a setback for the plan to create a Department of Culture in the country. 

National Commission for Culture and the Arts chairman Virgilio Almario said Wednesday that the removal of Senator Bam Aquino from the committee on education means that the NCCA  is back to "square one" in its bid to create a new department. 

Almario, also a National Artist for Literature, at a press launch of the "2017 Salinan Conference: Translation and Translation Studies in Local and Global Contexts" said that the first hearing for the creation of this new department was held two weeks ago. 

"Ito ang malungkot na pangyayari kahapon, si Senator Bam Aquino ang dating (committee on education chair), eh natanggal siya kahapon. So panibago na naman kaming pakikisama kay Senator Chiz (Francis Escudero)," he said. 

He added, "Palagay ko naman si Senator Chiz ay okay rin sa kaniya ang aming trabaho. Pero, 'yon nga, si Senator Bam sana noon, may target na siyang matatapos kami ng committee hearing by March. Paano ngayon 'yon? Uulitin na naman 'yong process niyan ... Ang mga ganiyang pangyayari nakaka-delay."

Almario seeks to "evolve" the NCCA into the Department of Culture, which would address the complicated and difficult task of preserving and promoting tangible and intangible Filipino heritage.

He lamented the fact that the NCCA does not have regulatory powers.

"Lagi kaming nakikipag-away sa mga taong gustong gibain 'yong isang mahalagang edifice. Lagi kaming nakikipag-away, e wala naman kaming police power."

This year, however, he is pleased that the Philippine Development Plan of the National Economic and Development Authority includes a long chapter on culture.

"Ang kultura ay isipin natin na isang napakahalagang haligi ng bansa. Hindi lamang wika--lahat ng bahagi ng kultura," he said.

"Hindi katulad ngayon na dahil nabibigyan ang kultura, ay puro pulitika ang ginagawa natin, hindi ba? Puro kung anu-anong kalechehan ang nangyayari sa ating buhay," he added, stressing that, "Hindi natin makita ang ating sarili, hindi tayo magkaroon ng magandang direksyon dahil hindi natin napag-aaralan ang ating sarili."

Almario, however, remains in high spirits, as the creation of the Department of Culture is one of the 62 bills that are "priority projects" of the Duterte administration. —LBG, GMA News