DENR allots P5 M for rice terraces' restoration

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has committed P5 million for the restoration of the Ifugao rice terraces.

DENR Secretary Ramon Paje said the fund will assist the Ifugao provincial government in rehabilitating the terraces, especially the portion in Batad which experts consider as the “most damaged.”

“The DENR appreciates the natural and cultural heritage that the rice terraces bear, and we are one with the provincial government and the rest of the Filipino people in recognizing the need to reverse the deterioration of this heritage site, especially those areas that were damaged by typhoons,” he said.

Paje said the restoration process will be undertaken until the end of this year.

“It will include the repair and rehabilitation of damaged terrace walls, irrigation canals and other facilities. These will all form part of ‘corrective measures’ being undertaken by the government to have the rice terraces… removed from the ‘endangered’ status as a UNESCO World Heritage Site,” he said.

The rehabilitation of the rice terraces is provided for in a memorandum of agreement (MOA) signed by the DENR, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)-National Commission of the Philippines represented by secretary-general Virginia Miralao, and the Ifugao provincial government led by Gov. Eugene Balitang.

The rice terraces were declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1995, with the UN agency describing the terraces as the “only monuments in the Philippines that show no evidence of having been influenced by colonial cultures… The history of the terraces is intertwined with that of its people, their culture and their traditional practices.”

In 2001, however, the terraces were included in the list of endangered heritage sites. – With Louella Desiderio