Press Release
February 9, 2009

CULTURAL HERITAGE BILL WILL ENHANCE FILIPINO IDENTITY - ANGARA

Senator Edgardo J. Angara today said the passage in the Senate of the National Cultural Heritage bill that he authored and sponsored would help enhance Filipino identity "in this defining time of globalization.

"Heritage plays an important role in national destiny. Only by knowing our collective strength as a people can we be prepared to meet by challenges posed by globalization," he said.

He noted that the campaign for eco-tourism has emphasized the country's beautiful beaches and resorts with the rich Philippine cultural heritage virtually ignored.

"Much of these important and irreplaceable structures have given way to modernization and commercialization, and its rich repository of our culture is literally becoming a thing of the past," he lamented

He acknowledged, however, that present day conservation efforts of the government have been inadequate to forestall the deterioration of the country's heritage.

"The enactment of our National Cultural Heritage bill will constitute a serious action in preserving our cultural treasures," Angara said.

The measure ensures effective coordination among concerned agencies in order to avert the diminution, depletion and destruction of the country's cultural heritage. It aims to do this by instituting mechanisms for better management of cultural properties such as creation of categories and privileges for cultural properties, institutionalization of Heritage Zones, and documentation of traditional and contemporary arts.

"Investing in the preservation of our heritage would prevent cultural bankruptcy in the future," Angara stressed.

He said that the country has witnessed the defacement, if not complete destruction of buildings and other historically or artistically significant structures, bridges, parks and other public spaces or landscapes.

"Catholic churches have been unsystematically renovated, and relieved of precious and significant materials such as beautifully wrought religious images of ivory, and wood, and even the silver frontals of altars, he bewailed

A key feature of the measure is the establishment of the "Sentro Rizal."

"The Sentro Rizal seeks to strengthen efforts to instill values to citizens that will ensure protection, conservation and preservation of cultural heritage properties," he said.

Angara said that in establishing Sentro Rizal, he drew inspiration from the success of the Goethe Institute of Germany, the Instituto Cervantes of Spain, the Alliance Francaise of France, and the British Council of the United Kingdom in fostering their respective cultural identities. "The Sentro will promote our culture throughout the world. It will help instill pride and dignity to our national identity wherever we, Filipinos would go," Angara predicted.

The National Cultural Heritage bill is a consolidation of measures filed by Senators Bong Revilla, Jinggoy Estrada, Loren Legarda, Manuel Villar, Miriam Defensor Santiago, Antonio Trillanes, Mar Roxas and Angara.

It is the latest of cultural measures authored by Angara, a number of which had already become laws. Among them are the establishment of the National Museum and the National Commission for Culture and the Arts.

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