Readers’ feedback on heritage issues
http://news.inq7.net/lifestyle/index.php?index=2&story_id=45429
July 31, 2005
By Augusto Villalon
THIS COLUMN received lively e-mail messages in response to several heritage issues.
Jai Alai
A reader responded to the recent column titled "Remember the Jai Alai?"
"I first took notice of the Sky Room [restaurant at the Jai Alai] eight years ago when I worked in Manila and regularly commuted along Taft Avenue. What single word could describe its beauty? Even in its ruined state it was madly alluring.
"It was proof of how the city was a relic of Manila before its utter corruption. I don’t know much about architecture and history. I didn’t know about its [Jai Alai] importance either. But one need not be a scholar to suspect its former eminence. During the daily two-hour traffic jam, only the sight of it preserved my wits.
"…The preservation of national architectural treasures is ultimately the government’s responsibility.
"Never mind that our government does nothing to restore or preserve buildings like the Jai-Alai; the most absurd part is [that the government] makes a self-willed effort to destroy them… We can only attribute it to our unique Filipino value of cultural self-annihilation."
Preservation may appear to be a government responsibility. Among the few enlightened government sectors is the Department of Education, which is deeply committed to preservation through its Heritage Schoolhouse Restoration Program.
A schoolhouse in Bacolod and another in Baguio have been restored and are now used once more as classrooms. Two more schoolhouses (in San Fernando, Pampanga, and Sampaloc, Manila) will be completed within the next six months.
However, without citizens sharing in the burden by pointing out the way and cooperating with the government, preservation may never happen.
Preserving heritage is a joint effort.
Buffer zones
"After reading your article (’Buffer Zones Needed to Preserve Heritage’), my hometown of Lingayen came to mind.
"A century-old building adjacent to the church (actually the convento or priest’s residence, an elegant Spanish colonial building adjacent to the church that was an unappreciated Lingayen landmark) was demolished to pave the way for a new commercial building.
"I think this is now the trend… as spacious religious compounds are turned into commercial spaces.
"Priests and religious leaders seem more focused on making money rather than in seeking God."
The respondent goes on to note that the Local Government Code mandates local government units to prepare a Comprehensive Land Use Plan and Zoning Ordinance. But local officials turn a blind eye to the law as they routinely approve new constructions on an ad-hoc basis.
Billboards
Another reader: "I read your piece on establishing buffer zones around heritage sights and the appalling things they did to the Balayan Church and environs. I can’t seem to find the right words to describe the people responsible for the desecration…
"It would also be good if you could do a piece on the cancer-like malaise that has been eating up both urban and rural landscapes-signs.
"The Philippines has become a dumpsite of signage. Everywhere you look, everywhere you go, signs visually assault you.
"Haven’t you noticed that in a lot of places, a single sign on a store facade just doesn’t seem to be enough? Each establishment outdoes its neighbor’s signage, so the end result: more clutter.
"While following the TV coverage of the Tour de France, I was amazed to discover how pretty, neat, clean and virtually sign-free the French countryside is.
"Except for traffic and safety signs, there are no billboards along country roads. In quaint villages, little shops are happy with one simple store sign on their fa‡ade.
"What do you think should be done?
"Do you think we should get the Department of Tourism to head a task force composed of environmental NGOs and urban renewal and heritage-protection advocates to mount a campaign and convince local executives to seriously look into signage and do something about this scourge?"
DOT a major offender
Indeed, a task force is needed to regulate the scourge of signage.
But led by the DOT?
The DOT is a major billboard offender. Look at the number of WOW billboards and banners the DOT has strung in cities and in the countryside without any respect for the urban and rural vistas that our tourists (and we Filipinos as well) deserve to enjoy.
We Filipinos deserve a lifestyle that we can enjoy and a country that we can be proud of. The only way to achieve that is to get together and make things work.
Feedback is welcome at afvillalon@hotmail.com
