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Government Seal of Cortes
Section 176. Works of the Government. - 176.1. No copyright shall subsist in any work of the Government of the Philippines. However, prior approval of the government agency or office wherein the work is created shall be necessary for exploitation of such work for profit. Such agency or office may, among other things, impose as a condition the payment of royalties. No prior approval or conditions shall be required for the use of any purpose of statutes, rules and regulations, and speeches, lectures, sermons, addresses, and dissertations, pronounced, read or rendered in courts of justice, before administrative agencies, in deliberative assemblies and in meetings of public character.

Fair use rationale
For Cortes and Surigao del Sur


 * No free equivalent. Being a seal or a Philippine local government unit (LGU), there is obviously no free equivalent.
 * Resolution/fidelity. The seal is of a low resolution such that reproduction in other contexts, such as print publication, is not feasible.
 * Respect for commercial opportunities. Since this is a seal of a Philippine LGU, there are no commercial opportunities allowed for the use of the seal by the LGU, the copyright holder. Its use in Wikipedia does not infringe on any commercial opportunities.
 * Content and Significance. The purpose of a Philippine LGU seal is chiefly to identify the LGU (such as on the facade of the LGU's buildings) and to authenticate official documents when stamped onto them. The usage of the seal in Wikipedia follows this mandate as a means of visual identification of the LGU in appropriate contexts such as in the LGU's article and templates, and in the articles of encompassing or constituent LGUs.

Nature of a Philippine local government unit corporate seal
Local government units have the power to have a corporate seal. Use of the corporate seal and change thereof requires registration with the Department of Interior and Local Government. Registration of the seals with the Department of Trade and Industry and the Intellectual Property Office IS not required because municipal corporations do not fall within the scope of the term "business" or "enterprise." The chief purpose of a government seal has been to identify and authenticate documents.