Heritage group’s call: Bring ‘Rizal’ back on Rizal Day

TAYTAY LANDMARK The local government of Taytay, Rizal, says it has moved for safekeeping the statue of national hero Dr. Jose Rizal when it started demolishing the old town hall. —PHOTO COURTESY OF TAYTAY ADVOCATES OF CULTURAL HERITAGE

Heritage advocates in Taytay, Rizal, are commemorating Rizal Day on Dec. 30, even if it meant laying floral wreaths at the ruins of the hero’s monument that was recently taken out as part of a local government building demolition.

John Tobit Cruz, a village councilor and a petitioner to preserve Taytay’s old municipal hall, said a virtual program would also be held to “bring Rizal back,” as the country remembers the 1896 execution of national hero Dr. Jose Rizal.

On Monday, Cruz said only “about 5 percent” of the old town hall remained, as the demolition continued despite the Dec. 11 cease-and-desist order (CDO) of the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP).

Municipal engineer Ronaldo San Juan told the NHCP in a Dec. 15 letter that stopping midway the demolition might only be dangerous to the public.

“[At] present, the condition of the structure is so dangerous that it poses an imminent risk to the life and limbs [of] people who go near it. The CDO, sadly, will extend the risk or even increase the risk,” San Juan said.

Moved for safekeeping

In the Dec. 4 and Dec. 9 letters to the NHCP, San Juan said the Rizal monument, which the local government considers an important cultural property, was “moved temporarily for safekeeping … in order to avoid any unintentional damage [from] the demolition of the nearby condemned building.”A part of the monument is a statue of Inang Laya (Mother Freedom).

The structure was taken out during the demolition that started on Nov. 20 to give way for the construction of the 245-bed Rizal Provincial Hospital System-Taytay Annex.

The NHCP instructed the municipal government to restore the statue. It said both the building and monument were at least 50 years old and were protected by the he­ritage law “and must not be modified or demolished without due process.”

But the local government said the old building could no longer be considered a cultural property since it underwent “extensive renovations and reconstructions” by local officials from 2014 to 2016.

Misled“It is sad, however, that you might have been misled to conclude that the Old Taytay Municipal Building is over 50 years old and that it is presumed to be an important cultural property. This is because the same is no longer the original structure that once exis­ted,” San Juan told the NHCP.

But Cruz said: “Even if they flatten it all the way, the site [remains a cultural property].”

In a letter to NHCP on Monday, the Taytay Advocates of Cultural Heritage said the building existed as early as 1960 and its base structure or foundation was “retained” even during the 2014 renovations of its facade and interior. —MARICAR CINCO