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Friday, March 29, 2024

Preserving our heritage

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"We need someone with stature to champion this worthy cause."

 

 

There is general agreement among us all about the importance of our heritage. The problem is that there is no consistency. To some sectors, preservation is bordering on religion while others do not care at all.

Let us take the case of the town of Sta. Barbara in Pangasinan. Two weeks ago it was reported that it tore down its American era municipal building to construct a new edifice. The report was accompanied with photos after the demolition when the building was leveled to the ground and the old wooden structure before its destruction. The country no longer has many historical wooden buildings still intact. Most have deteriorated due to the hot humid climate in the tropics. This maybe the case with the Sta. Barbara municipal hall. It may also be that the old building was no longer enough to handle the increasing demand of municipal administration and there was a need for a bigger building.

Currently, the country does not have uniform regulations as how to handle heritage structures. There are places where old structures are preserved properly while other places that do not give much importance to preserving historical structures. Much depends on who is the leader of the locality in question and how active is the local heritage organization. In the case of Sta. Barbara, the local government could have decided to keep the old structure as a library or town museum and build a more modern structure somewhere but of course this was not done and the old structure is now gone. The government should take the lead in the area of heritage preservation because it has the clout to do so. Congress should consider passing a law to address this problem before the dwindling number of historical buildings will all be gone. If no law can be passed, maybe the President can issue an Executive Order. Any regulations must specify that the government whether national or local to preserve and maintain historical buildings. The regulation also must state at what age a structure is to be considered historical which is very important in determining what structure is to be preserved and those that can be demolished.

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Another problem in the heritage issue is what a rich businessman is currently doing. He is buying old Spanish-era private buildings owned by private individuals and then completely demolishing these structures and reconstructing them in a place in the province of Bataan. As far as I know, no heritage organization have raised any objection to this very controversial practice whether it should be considered preservation or destruction. This must be clarified in any law or Executive Order. By all accounts, the city of Vigan is considered to have the most number of heritage structures still intact in the country so much so that UNESCO has declared that portion of the city center that has remained the same from the days when the Spaniards were here as a heritage site and the city is reaping the benefits. Tourism is now an important part of the economy of the city which shows that there is money to be made if our heritage sites can be preserved.

The ideal thing of course would be for the people to be all conscious of the importance of our heritage and make every effort to preserve the remaining sites whether these are made of stone or wood. In contrast to the case of Sta. Barbara, the Provincial Capitol of Pangasinan in Lingayen which was constructed in the early 20th century has been reconstructed and followed exactly the old design. It is now going to last very much longer for everyone to see and enjoy.

From what I understand the provincial government will continue to beautify the surrounding area with better landscaping. In the case of Baguio City our summer capital, there is no visible government-led effort to preserve some of the old wooden structures which are still remaining. The 1911 constructed Vallejo hotel has remained intact the same as it was originally constructed. It is still also operating as a hotel. The old wooden session hall where the American Commission during the early years of American rule held sessions during summer is still there in Governor Pack road but is completely unrecognizable and the same is true with the only standing American era government building, the Baguio post office. Constructed in 1933, the cement structure is still there but with a lot of add-ons that for all intents and purpose has destroyed the shape of the original one-story building. Reports have it that former postal employees were allowed to form a cooperative and then permitted to construct small stalls attached to the building. These former employees have fought hard to keep what they have but it is hard to understand why they were allowed to do that to a government building in the first place. An effort a few years ago to restore it to its original condition has fallen into deaf ears. The stalls have even intruded into the road but the city government did nothing about it.

Maybe with a new mayor, things might change a little bit. The problem of disappearing heritage structures is not only happening in the places mentioned here but it many places throughout the country. In the city of Manila which is our national capital, the old Intramuros was never restored to its former glory. Many of the old structures destroyed during the war were never restored. The San Agustin church is only a shell of its former size.

We need someone with stature whether private or public official to champion this worthy cause.

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