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.

"Kami sa Makabayan bloc magkakampanya tayo sa ating mga colleagues sa Kongreso atsaka sa Senado para hangga't maaari ma-restore 'yung kinut na budget," Gabriela party-list Rep. Arlene Brosas told ABS-CBN's TeleRadyo on Friday.

(We at the Makabayan bloc will campaign to our colleagues in Congress and Senate to restore what has been removed from their budgets.)

c. National Commission for Culture and Arts - 83.90% decrease
d. National Library of the Philippines - 22.64% decrease

— Gabriela Partylist (@GabrielaWomenPL) August 25, 2022

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.'s administration has imposed budget cuts on key agencies on history and cultural preservation, Gabriela party-list said.

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.

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.

These are the proposed budget cuts for the remaining agencies, according to Gabriela, citing the NEP:

• National Archives of the Philippines — 25.27% decrease, or down to P165.2 million in 2023 NEP from its P221.1 million 2022 budget.
• National Library of the Philippines - 22.64% decrease, or down to P161.1 million in 2023 NEP from its P208.2 million 2022 budget.

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Brosas claimed that the budget cuts happened for the first time, saying that the fund reductions are "huge."

"So iniisip nga namin na 'ano ba ito, ano ang direksiyon ng Marcos administration sa pag-preserve ng ating history?' Parang balewala sa administration 'yung mga ahensiya na talagang nangangalaga sa ating kultura at sa arts," she continued.

(So we're asking, "what'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.)

The Marcos administration has not yet commented on the proposed budget cuts.

"Mahalaga talaga 'yung history natin, 'yung totoong history... 'Yung kasaysayan ay talagang inaano 'yan sa ating kabataan [kaya] natatakot tayo na kapag ganyan di na ma-preserve 'yung history," Brosas said.

(History is really important, the real history. History is taught to our youth that's where our fear is coming from should we fail to preserve it.)

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—TeleRadyo, August 26, 2022