Cayetano asks ‘How protected are national heritage buildings?’

Senator Alan Peter Cayetano. FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — The devastating fire that raged through the Manila Central Post Office prompted Senator Alan Cayetano to file a resolution seeking an inquiry into the adequacy of protection given to national heritage buildings and artifacts.

Through Senate Resolution No. 635, Cayetano urged the chamber’s culture and arts committee to investigate the blaze that struck the nearly century-old structure.

He said the intention of the resolution was “to put in preventive and mitigating mechanisms and secure proper funding to prevent the same tragedy from happening to other national treasures.”

“The state should make use of this unfortunate event as a learning opportunity on how buildings of cultural, artistic, and historical significance to the Philippines should be better taken care of as it is important that future tragedies of this scale be prevented,” the resolution reads.

Cayetano stressed that the government must exercise good management to protect national assets.

But, he noted, it is “far from being fully equipped and prepared” to protect national heritage buildings and structures, especially with the “meager funds” allotted to care for them.

Earlier, Senate President Pro Tempore Loren Legarda and Senator Robin Padilla also called for a thorough investigation into the fire that gutted the Manila Central Post Office – a structure declared by the National Museum as an “important cultural property (ICP).”

Under the National Cultural Heritage Act, ICPs may receive government funding for their protection, conservation, and restoration.

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