Granting Certain Privileges And Honors To National Artists And Creating A Special Fund For The Purpose

Case Overview and Summary

Summary of Presidential Decree No. 208

Granting Privileges and Honors to National Artists
- Cash award of ₱10,000 upon conferment of National Artist award and decoration (Section 1)
- Life pension of ₱2,000 payable monthly (Section 2)
- Medical and hospitalization benefits (Section 3)
- Lifetime insurance policy of ₱50,000 by the Government Service Insurance System and/or private insurance companies, premiums paid by the National Government or by donation from governmental or private entities (Section 4)
- Place of honor in state functions, national commemoration ceremonies, and all other cultural presentations (Section 5)
- State funeral upon death, with arrangements and expenses borne by the Government (Section 6)
- Travel expenses for National Artists to and from official exhibitions of their works, for the benefit of the Philippine public, may be authorized by the National Artists Awards Committee (Paragraph 3)
- Retention of award, decoration, privileges, and honors is conditional on remaining a citizen of the Philippines (Paragraph 4)

Creation of a Special Account
- Initial appropriation of ₱500,000 from the National Treasury to carry out the purposes of the Decree (Paragraph 5)
- Subsequent replenishment of the Special Account through annual General Appropriation Act (Paragraph 5)
- Disbursement of funds from the Special Account supervised by the National Artists Awards Committee (Paragraph 6)
- Disbursements subject to audit by the Commission on Audit (Paragraph 6)
- Report of disbursements to be submitted to the Office of the President every six months (Paragraph 6)

Immediate Effect
- The Decree is made part of the law of the land and takes effect immediately (Paragraph 7)