I RECENTLY attended a multi-sectoral stakeholder’s meeting at the DOT-CAR office and returned to my office with a sigh of relief knowing that some members of the civil society are pulling strings to recognize, make known and preserve Baguio’s existing landmarks that are facing extinction due to continuing urban development.
I actually missed the initial meetings of the Baguio Heritage Mapping Project that encouraged citizens to provide inputs for inclusion to the stocktaking report to be submitted to the city council for approval and finally to the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) for consideration. It is anticipated that once NCCA declares the identified places as heritage sites, the city government through its council can propose a restoration and appropriate funding for the development of said sites.
The project background and update was given by Dr. Rowena Boquiren of UP Baguio who also led the discussion with agency representatives and members of the Baguio Historical Society. She pleaded for support by everyone related to heritage conservation by helping in pro-active sharing of updates and data.
It appeared during the meeting that initial steps have been undertaken and we were shown photos and the draft of the team’s Technical Assistance Program Report. I also felt happy that my initial moves to bring out in social media the sad state of the old Baguio Post Office and urge NCCA or the National Historical Society to declare said PO as a Heritage Site. During the meeting, some corrections were made by Anthropologist Dr. June Prill-Brett and archivist Erlyn Ruth Alcantara. The agreed deadline for the final Stocktaking Report is set within July which shall include electronic mapping.
Councilor Benny Bomogao who joined the meeting explained that the Committee on Education, Culture and Historical Research is consolidating all inputs regarding heritage sites. The council expressed appreciation to the civil society led by the group of Boquiren for making a very significant contribution that is a big help to the work of the LGU in heritage conservation. Bomogao also shared information that the five city councilors have authored a proposed ordinance for a City of Baguio Council for Culture and the Arts (CBCCA) last while Councilor Leandro Yangot filed a proposed ordinance in 2016 for the official declaration of heritage zones, markers, buildings/structures and creation of a Baguio Heritage Council. Said ordinance that integrates all heritage-conservation-related initiatives, under the City of Baguio Council for Culture and the Arts was presented in early June with city officials, the same group and a team from the NCCA. Other items like the info-kit and electronic map is also targeted to be presented to the city council within early August to support said ordinance and eventually the mayor’s approval before Baguio Day.
In another development, the former Cordillera House or Lualhati Media Guest House located in front of the Mansion that houses the Philippine Information Agency-CAR office is now in both mainstream and social media as a facility facing extinction.
It is disheartening to learn that after 30 years of CAR as a region with established regional line agencies serving the whole upland populace, the newly renovated office of PIA-CAR has been reported as weak and dilapidated needing repair thus a new building meant as a cottage for a Manila based office is proposed. For years, the PIA where I worked for sixteen years has become both an office and facility that served as a convergence not only for local but for national media as well as public information officers.
The Association of Government Information Officers-Cordillera of which I currently head as Ad-hoc President traces its formation from the initiatives of my wife Helen when she was still single and sent to the region by PIA-Central as officer-in-charge to look into the conduct of the information campaigns prior to the plebiscite or ratification of the proposed autonomy set up for the Cordillera. The PIA-CAR office and grounds has practically become the hub and studio of media events like the regular Kapihan sa Baguio where the media community of Baguio also gather for important events including encounters with Presidents Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and Rodrigo Duterte.
The Dap-ay or village hall beside PIA-CAR office which is probably the biggest in the world because it can sit more than a hundred people served as a venue to many events including rituals and weddings of two or three media personalities. We had two year-end bonfires with President Arroyo and some members of her cabinet there. We fear that the PIA office, the Dap-ay and two Ifugao huts that adorns the place will soon be gone because of some intents. We hope and pray that said PIA office remains and that the Dap-ay will not be removed. Once it happens, it will be a form of cultural sacrilege and another heritage lost.
