I’VE always had a huge fondness for the kind of heritage structures we have here in the Philippines. I’ve had the unique opportunity to be involved in a number of projects involving these “national treasures,” and through all those times, I have come to develop a deeper respect and understanding of how our age-old architectures truly reflect our culture and love affair with art and history—elements that distinguish what it means to become a Filipino.
I remember my good friend, Eric Manuel of the Urban Land Institute Philippines, vice president for business development of Daiichi Properties, opening his presentation at the Heritage Conservation Summit with, “The greenest building is the one that already exists.” And I cannot agree more with what he espouses.
A closer look into the impact of real-estate development on the environment tells you that the less activity a property merits, the greater efficiency its fulfillment reflects. More than introducing new ideas to preserve our rich past and nurture the concept of environment-consciousness, heritage preservation and development also present developers with a unique way to redo the existing landscape sans a major impact on the surroundings.
Who should be responsible for heritage?
Earlier this week Sen. Pia Cayetano, who chairs the Senate Committee on Education, Arts and Culture, demanded the resignation of National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) Chairman Maria Serena Diokno. This stemmed from the continuing crisis the NHCP is facing with regard to DMCI’s Torre de Manila development that, according to many, ruins the surroundings of the Rizal Monument in Luneta Park.
“Chair Diokno, resign if you cannot defend the Rizal Monument! Those occupying the top level positions of the government’s cultural agencies must be willing and able to defend national historic sites,” Cayetano posted on her web site.
Cayetano’s outburst may be justified because of the seeming lack of clarity and direction that the Torre de Manila issue has been taking. There is no clear indication that the mess can be resolved soon.
Over the years Filipinos have grown more aware about how property developers, the government and other relevant organizations view heritage structures in the context of real-estate development. This is the reason property-development initiatives involving structures deemed as having significant heritage attributes—most notably those concentrated in the city of Manila—have received stiff opposition from non-governmental groups and institutions eyeing to promote the preservation and promotion of our local culture.
As I’ve written in my previous write-ups on this issue, the first step before digging on the site is to seek the assistance of experts, authorities and government institutions in identifying whether a particular structure merits any kind of heritage preservation work. Collaborating with authorities in crafting a strategic framework that will ensure that the overall developmental plan will promote an approach that will give heritage structures functions other than those originally intended. Government agencies, meanwhile, must also recognize this kind of commitment from the private sector.
A commitment to progress
“I find it extremely strange that we now have the National Historical Commission of the Philippines insisting that it cannot defend the Rizal Monument when there are many of us, including the Solicitor General, the defender of the Constitution, who believe that we must and we can protect the Rizal Monument under the Constitution and existing laws,” Cayetano wrote. “If the chair of NHCP cannot get on board with this, as she has blatantly displayed, then she must resign instead of hiring private counsel to defend her inability to perform her job.”
Heritage preservation should not necessarily be seen as a stumbling block to promoting a progressive future.
Likewise, people and groups advocating for heritage preservation should also keep in mind that, progressive development is possible even as we continue to protect and promote heritage. This has been accomplished a lot of times in the past. We only have to look at how Vigan in Ilocos Sur has accomplished it and, eventually, garnered international recognition for the kind of commitment they have showed toward ensuring the success of their endeavor.
Thirty years ago Vigan seemed like a place stuck in the past. It was a decaying city of damaged, rundown structures that—if nobody took notice of what can be done to revive its lost glory—would have succumbed to irrelevance. But with the local government and its people deciding that the best way to promote a culture of progress is to preserve the remnants of its historic past, they committed themselves and their resources to ensuring that Vigan would become a successful collaborative heritage development initiative. When they finally had the resources for restoration efforts, they found a way to fuel tourism and raise property values in the area by showcasing the genuine beauty of Vigan during the Spanish occupation.
Heritage conservation plays a major role in helping define the identity we proudly showcase today by reminding people of how prosperous our past has been. Our built heritage is evidence of our political history and socioeconomic development, ultimately mirroring our shared values, and the excellence and creativity of the Filipinos. Protecting this should be a priority for the Philippines, given its rich history and very engaged community of stakeholders that promise all-out support to initiatives done the right way.