The Heritage Conservation Society

By Augusto Villalon
             

Published on page C2 of the July 24, 2006 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

THE
PHILIPPINES CAN LEARN from the efforts of other cities and countries in
the world to save their heritage by coming up with relevant and
effective conservation charters.

The Washington Charter on the Conservation of Historic Towns and
Urban Areas (1987) concerns historic urban areas of any size located in
cities, towns or historic centers that illustrate traditional culture
through its surviving architecture. The scope includes the sites
surrounding natural and manmade environments also under severe threat.

The charter defines the principles, objectives and methods for
conserving historic towns and urban areas. It promotes harmony of
private and community life and encourages preservation of cultural
properties, however modest in scale, that constitute the memory of
mankind. It presents steps for conserving such towns and areas,
suggesting that development harmoniously adapt the old with
contemporary life.

The Washington Charter suggests that conservation should form part
of economic and social development policies to ensure that the historic
character of the town is preserved.

Methods to ensure preservation include retaining the street pattern
and maintaining the original relationship between buildings and open
spaces.

Existing heritage buildings should be preserved. Keeping the same
proportions, construction type and materials, colors and decoration is
essential.

Most important, the charter calls for the participation of the local
community to ensure the success of the conservation program, since the
conservation of historic towns and urban areas primarily concerns its
residents.

The charter lists the steps to be taken in preparing and
implementing a conservation plan, a multidisciplinary effort since
conservation plans address all relevant factors including archaeology,
history, architecture, construction techniques, sociology, economics,
legal and administrative.

Particularly significant to the Philippine penchant for
pseudo-heritage architecture and for blending new with old in historic
districts situation is the statement “Introduction of contemporary
elements in harmony with the surroundings should not be discouraged
since such features can contribute to the enrichment of an
area”—provided that old and new respect each other and are good
architectural neighbors.

Archeological charter
The Charter for the Protection and Management of the Archaeological
Heritage of 1990 defines archeological heritage as the basic record of
past human activities.

Some archeological heritage are components of architectural
structures and, therefore, must be protected in accordance with the
criteria in the 1966 Venice Charter.

Other elements of archeological heritage are part of the living
traditions of indigenous peoples. Participation of local cultural
groups is essential for their protection and preservation.

The charter lays down principles regarding different aspects of
archeological-heritage management including responsibilities of public
authorities and legislators, principles relating to the professional
performance of the processes of inventorization, survey, excavation,
documentation, research, maintenance, conservation, preservation,
reconstruction, information, presentation, public access and use of the
heritage, and the qualification of professionals involved in the
protection of the archeological heritage.

Next week, the series on the International Council of Monuments and
Sites (Icomos) continues. Icomos information is at www.icomos.org.
Icomos charters, resolutions, and declarations are at
www.international.icomos.org/centre_documentation/chartes_eng.htm.

Contact Icomos Philippines at http://icomosphilippines.blogspot.com

By Paulo Alcazaren
The Philippine STAR 07/15/2006

The
rainy season always brings back memories of elementary school, flooding
and the not-too-consistent policies of the Department of Education on
calling off classes due to the not-too-accurate weather predictions of
the time. So what has changed?

Much too much has been said anyway on the subject of our
deteriorating educational system, the sorry lack of classrooms (unless
of course you fit 250 students in five shifts into one classroom), the
exodus of teachers for domestic worker jobs abroad, etc. etc.

When you mention the term Philippine education, I used to
think of another institution altogether, albeit one that has
disappeared – the Philippine Education Company. PECO, as the firm was
more popularly known, was the place to go for school supplies, books,
magazines and even toys up to the early 1960s. National Book Store was
just a fledgling operation then, and specialty bookstores, like Fully
Booked and Ink & Stone, were still a few decades in the future.

PECO was also one of the last establishments to operate out of
the old Escolta district – actually on Farnecio St. off Arlegui. I
remember my father taking us there as kids. We hopped into his trusty
old 180D Mercedes Benz with the sun roof (we were not rich but we rode
in style) and motored all the way from Project 4 to downtown Manila to
get to the store.

The place looked rather like a warehouse by today’s retail
design standards. In fact, the old ’60s buildings actually were three
warehouses on a hectare of land. The original PECO shop at 101 Escolta
Ave. was long gone by the time I visited. The high ceilings and musty
smell of old stocks of stationery, books and merchandize paint a vivid
background memory of those jaunts. My dad bought us model airplanes and
school supplies there, and I remember being fascinated by the miles and
miles of merchandise on the industrial-looking racks. No promo banners,
sales displays or fancy POS collaterals here, just plain old products
under glass or on the shelves. But there were fewer shoppers in the
’60s compared to the heyday of PECO.

Time was when PECO was the only place to go for foreign books
and magazines. In the pre- and post-war period, they had the monopoly
on these goods, school supplies, teaching aids, architectural
paraphernalia and toys. At its peak, PECO sold 640,000 copies of 1,000
foreign magazine titles a month!

PECO was founded by Verne Miller, a Thomasite schoolteacher,
who landed in the Philippines in 1901. A graduate of Rutgers College,
Miller spent six years in the Philippine education system as a
classroom teacher before going up in the ranks as high school principal
and eventually division superintendent. He resigned his post in 1907 to
edit The Philippine Teacher, which was then located at 90
Escolta St. right above a barbershop. Soon he made a success of the
magazine and bought majority of business. He changed the publication’s
name to The Philippine Education Magazine and started a book distribution company peddling dictionaries.

The business boomed. The company was reincorporated as the
Philippine Education Company and expanded into a large property at 101
Escolta St. as a retail store with a Spanish-type warehouse on
Castillejos St. nearby.

Miller started selling imported books, magazines, teaching
aids and then widened his offerings to Frank & Co rubber stamps,
stationery, general supplies and – did I mention – toys. PECO was
already an established name in the 1920s when Miller expanded yet even
more into more publishing with Manila Publishing Company which offered
book sets on installment, the Rosenstock (Manila) City Directory, which
compiled business data, and the McCollough Printing Company, PECO’s
most profitable business in the late ’30s and after the war.

By the ’30s, Miller was so busy he had to hand over his
original magazine to David G Gunnell, also a former teacher. A graduate
of the University of Colorado, Gunnell edited the Philippine Education Magazine and
made it the recommended magazine for teachers until 1940. He joined
PECO main operations that year and became its vice president and
treasurer. PECO was a household name by the 1930s and, by the onset of
the Second World War, its fleet of trucks with the triangular PECO logo
was ubiquitous throughout the islands.

The war broke out in 1941, and the Japanese Army took the
trucks and fuel. Gunnell was incarcerated at the UST with most of the
other American civilians. I can’t seem to find out what happened to
Miller, but Gunnell survived the war. PECO’s buildings were also
miraculously saved from destruction during the Liberation, and Gunnell
, along with a cadre of pre-war PECO men, put the company back on its
feet.

The business environment improved and profits returned for
PECO until the mid-’50s when dollar shortages and import controls
reduced the company’s ability to deliver goods to the market. Their
magazine sales dropped to only 40,000 a month with only 58 titles
available or permitted. The contents of the magazines were also an
issue to post-war conservative Manilans. The celebrated case was that
of an issue of the American magazine Pageant. Word circulated
that a controversial article, "The Sexual Behavior of the American
Female," was coming out in the magazine, which was a best seller at
PECO. The Holy Name Society got the Bureau of Customs to rule the
magazine as obscene and therefore subject to burning. The magazines
were impounded at the ports and rotted as the case dragged in the
courts.

Gunnel ran the company until the 1960s when he was in his 80s.
This was the period that I had first patronized the store with my
father. In the late ’60s, the old Manila complex was gone and PECO
moved to the Makati Commercial Center. (It was at the one-storey Post
Office building that they relocated to. I frequented the store there.
My dad got me my first magazine subscription through that store – to Popular Mechanics).
It was smaller but the magazine offerings improved in the late Sixties
and Seventies. A nearby bookstore, Erehwon, was another favorite.

Eventually, other bookstores bloomed. National, Goodwill and
other shops and department stores relegated PECO’s one-shop operation
to the margins of the retail world. It disappeared completely in the
late ’70s. I do not know whether it’s still around, but Philippine
education will never be the same again without PECO.

Feedback is welcome. E-mail the writer at paulo.alcazaren@gmail.com

By Augusto Villalon 

Published on page C1 of the July 10, 2006 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer.    
            

THE
INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL of Monuments and Sites (Icomos), the global
organization of heritage practitioners based in Paris, is the body that
officially advises the Unesco World Heritage Committee on cultural
heritage issues.

Usually the World Heritage Center calls on Icomos members to give
expert opinions in heritage issues raised by members of the World
Heritage Committee. Icomos is assigned to assess sites that are
nominated to the World Heritage List. It is asked to evaluate the
maintenance of inscribed World Heritage sites and to prescribe methods
for improvement.

However, the more important aspect of Icomos is that the
organization sets international standards to guide the conservation
profession. These are written out in a series of charters, resolutions
and declarations that cover practically all aspects of the conservation
practice.

The 1964 International Charter for the Conservation and Restoration
of Monuments and Sites, popularly known as the Venice Charter, sets the
standard. It establishes the basic principles and guidelines that are
followed by conservation practitioners all over the world today.

The Venice Charter maintains that the historic monuments of past
generations are living witnesses of their age-old traditions. People
are now more conscious of the unity of shared human values and regard
ancient monuments as common heritage. Therefore the responsibility to
safeguard them for future generations is recognized. It is the people’s
duty to safeguard them for future generations and to hand the monuments
to the next generations in the full richness of their authenticity.

“It is essential that the principles guiding the preservation and
restoration of ancient buildings should be agreed and be laid down on
an international basis, with each country being responsible for
applying the plan within the framework of its own culture and
traditions,” the charter says.

The charter adds, “The concept of a historic monument embraces not
only the single architectural work but also its urban or rural setting.”

No alteration

Monuments are best when they are still in use. However, the original
layout and decoration of the building should be maintained. To preserve
the traditional setting of the monument, new construction, demolition
or modification of surroundings should not alter the original
relationship of the building with its neighbors.

A monument is inseparable from its history and setting. Moving all
or part of a monument cannot be allowed except when its safeguarding
demands it, or when justified by national or international interest
regarding it is of paramount importance.

On the restoration issue, the charter states, “The process of
restoration is a highly specialized operation. Its aim is to preserve
and reveal the aesthetic and historic value of the monument, and is
based on respect for original material and authentic documents. It must
stop at the point where conjecture begins, and, in this case moreover,
any extra work which is indispensable must be distinct from the
architectural composition and must bear a contemporary stamp. The
restoration in any case must be preceded and followed by an
archeological and historical study of the monument.

“The valid contributions of all periods to the building of a
monument must be respected, since unity of style is not the aim of a
restoration. When a building includes the superimposed work of
different periods, the revealing of the underlying state can only be
justified in exceptional circumstances and when what is removed is of
little interest and the material which is brought to light is of great
historical, archeological or aesthetic value, and its state of
preservation good enough to justify the action. Evaluation of the
importance of the elements involved and the decision as to what may be
destroyed cannot rest solely on the individual in charge of the work.

“Replacements of missing parts must integrate harmoniously with the
whole, but at the same time must be distinguishable from the original
so that restoration does not falsify the artistic or historic evidence.”

The 1981 Florence Charter on Historic Gardens defines a historic
garden as a monument, an “architectural and horticultural composition
of interest to the public from the historical or artistic point of
view,” and, as a monument, it “must be preserved in accordance with the
spirit of the Venice Charter.”

The term “historic garden” is equally applicable to small gardens
and to large landscaped parks. Whatever their size, designed gardens
express the affinity between man and nature.

Gardens are alive. Therefore continuous maintenance with a specified
cycle of planting and replanting is required to keep the garden and its
decorative features in the unchanged condition required by the Venice
Charter.

The Florence Charter specifies procedures to be followed for
restoration and reconstruction of historic gardens, further
recommending that gardens must be open for public use but must not be
taxed by overuse, and continues to suggest that qualified professionals
be engaged to maintain historic gardens.

Philippine society in general is unaware of the landscape
architecture profession and of the historic significance of the
designed landscape. The Mehan Garden and Arroceros Forest Park debacles
are proof of national disrespect for the designed landscape. Recent
constructions that intrude on the open space of Rizal Park, a national
monument protected by the National Historical Institute, further
illustrate disregard for the designed landscape.

Comments are welcome at pride.place@gmail.com