The Baguio City Council has endorsed the first volume of the city’s cultural mapping book to the National Commission for Culture and the Arts.
The first phase of the city’s cultural mapping project was made possible by the City Planning and Development Office (CPDO) in collaboration with the NCCA.
Of the 600 cultural properties in the city, 216 have already been documented in the first volume and are classified into six categories.
These are tangible immovable heritage (77), tangible movable heritage (28), intangible cultural heritage (48), natural heritage (42), significant personalities (five), and cultural institutions (16).
The cultural mapping process undertaken by the city government was guided by the cultural mapping toolkit designed by the NCCA.
The 216 artifacts were presented to and validated by the community in Happy Hallow Barangay in 2022.
The barangay also received a copy of the book to be used by the council of elders and teachers in educating the residents.
CPDO Coordinator Donna Tabangin said raising people’s awareness about the importance of safeguarding living heritage, tangible and intangible, would start in Happy Hallow as it is the first and only ancestral domain in the city.
Tabangin said the registry of cultural properties contained in the book will be analyzed to help the city government determine its direction in preserving the city’s cultural heritage.
Two more volumes of the book will be produced to map the rest of the identified artifacts, according to Tabangin.
Attending the council forum via teleconference, NCCA Commissioner Arvin Villalon assured the city council members the inclusion of a private structure into the list of mapped cultural properties will only recognize its historical value but will not prevent the owner from developing it or changing its features.
“(Cultural mapping) is not inimical to the interests of development. But what the heritage law presupposes is that at least there is a basis for listing so that we become more careful and study closely the impact of our actions to our heritage properties, and practices,” Villalon said.
Republic Act 10066 or the National Cultural Heritage Act of 2009 mandated local government units to “shall maintain an inventory of cultural property under its jurisdiction and shall furnish the NCCA a copy of the same.” – Jordan G. Habbiling
April 25, 2024
