Cultural Heritage and Mapping in the Philippines

What is Cultural Heritage?

• The 1987 Philippine Constitution commits the State to promoting, enriching, and conserving artistic and historical wealth.
• These cultural treasures are under the protection of the State.
• The State can regulate the disposition of these properties.
• Republic Act No. 10066 (National Cultural Heritage Act of 2009) envisions a balance between the past and present.
• It seeks to use a holistic approach to conservation, utilizing relevant disciplines and technologies.
• The act aims to cultivate stewardship for future generations.
• Objectives of the Act include protecting, preserving, conserving, and promoting cultural heritage, its properties, and the ethnicity of local communities.
• The act also aims to establish and strengthen cultural institutions and protect cultural workers.

Definitions of Cultural Heritage

• Cultural heritage refers to all products of human creativity revealing a people's identity.
• Cultural property includes churches, mosques, places of worship, schools, natural history specimens, and tangible/intangible items.
• Tangible cultural property includes items of historical, archival, anthropological, archaeological, artistic, and architectural value.
• Unique, significant cultural properties are considered national cultural treasures.
• Historical sites (shrines and monuments) are those with historic association.

Cultural Heritage in the Philippine Constitution

• The 1987 Philippine Constitution declares "Arts and Culture" (Article XIV) to foster the preservation, enrichment, and dynamic evolution of Filipino national culture.
•   The constitution mandates that arts and letters should be supported nationally.

Cultural Agencies and their Functions

• The National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) plays a role in categorizing and conserving cultural properties.
• The National Museum is responsible for the preservation and conservation of artistic and cultural heritage.
• The National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) is tasked with the recognition of historical sites.
• The National Archives of the Philippines safeguards official documents and archival materials.
• The Library of the Philippines, with respect to books, manuscripts, and records, is considered as the country's premier repository.
• The National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) has the authority to regulate activities harmful to the preservation of national cultural heritage.
• The National Museum (NM) aims to preserve, and enhance the Filipino heritage.
• Preservation and conservation of cultural heritage is included in education programs and initiatives across various educational levels in consultation with the NCCA.

Cultural Mapping

• Cultural mapping involves the identification, recording and classification of cultural properties for creating comprehensive community profiles.
• Cultural mapping is an approach to document and use cultural resources to build communities.
• The process identifies, records and classifies cultural resources/properties to describe, visualize and understand them.
• Understanding the distinct cultural resources is crucial for local development plans and initiatives.
• Cultural mapping requires collecting, recording, analysing, and synthesizing data on cultural resources and usage patterns in a locale..
• Key stakeholders and experts in cultural heritage are essential to the mapping process.

Phases of Cultural Mapping

• The scoping/negotiation phase involves stakeholder engagement, length determination, and logistical aspects of the project.
• Training of local team members through NCCA modules.
• Data gathering phase usually lasts three to six months with fieldwork and data encoding.
• Data validation is carried out to ensure an accurate and comprehensive profile.

Assessing Significance of Cultural Properties

• Assessments use historical, aesthetic, scientific, and social factors.
• Significance criteria are essential to evaluate the value of cultural items and guide decision-making.
• Heritage items could be significant to the local, regional, national, or international community.

This quiz explores various aspects of cultural heritage and mapping in the Philippines, including significant personalities, the criteria for cultural properties, and the role of Local Government Units. It examines the importance of heritage documentation and the misconceptions surrounding cultural mapping practices. Test your knowledge on Philippine cultural heritage!