Angara wants RP’s landmarks preserved

Opposition Sen. Edgardo Angara has filed a bill that seeks to save and preserve precious but endangered landmarks such as the Banaue Rice Terraces from ruin and despoliation.

The state, under the measure, seeks the declaration of these sites, places and objects as part of the country’s national heritage.

Angara said Senate Bill 1355, or the proposed National Heritage Act of 2001, is in consonance with the state’s constitutional obligation to conserve, preserve, protect and promote the country’s cultural and historical resources.

"The list of what the state should protect, conserve and promote covers a very broad area: old buildings and monuments, relics and artifacts, works of art, anthropological and historical sites, specimens of natural history, historical objects and manuscripts, even vehicles, ships and boats," he said.

The bill proposes the creation of a National Heritage Commission – a special office that will do the conservation, protection and promotion work. A fund of P100 million has been recommended for the commission.

The proposed commission shall lay down the "national standards, principles and policy" that will identify what shall be considered a "national heritage."

A Heritage Advisory Council shall also be formed and it shall serve as the advisory body to the commission.

The bill, noting that several landmarks, sites and objects are in the indigenous communities, mandates the commission to craft a program for the protection of such sites and landmarks.

The bill also authorizes the commission to carry out repair and rehabilitation work on privately-owned heritage sites, which shall then be repaid by the owner or owners.

Recently, news reports said that quarrying is threatening the Banaue Rice Terraces, a precious site that is in the World’s Heritage List.

"The protection and conservation of such sites and landmarks should be institutionalized to give a sense of urgency and coordination to such work," Angara said.