Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago and Sen. Manuel Lapid. INQUIRER FILE PHOTOS
MANILA—Two senators have filed resolutions seeking a Senate study on how the country could protect its cultural and historical landmarks from earthquakes and typhoons.
Senate Resolutions 313 and 317 filed by Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago and Sen. Manuel Lapid, respectively, both seek the formulation of a national policy to protect heritage sites from natural calamities in the wake of the earthquake that wreaked havoc on Bohol and Cebu last Oct. 15.
Centuries-old Catholic churches were among those that the earthquake heavily damaged in both provinces.
“Among the earthquake’s reported casualties were the churches of Loboc and Baclayon, two of the local churches that were once considered for the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization world heritage list,” Santiago said in one of her resolution’s premises.
Santiago said both churches were built by Jesuit priests. She said the Loboc church was originally built in 1602 and reconstructed in 1638 while the Baclayon church was completed in 1727 using coral stones cut into square blocks and piled on top of each other with bamboo tools and cemented using egg whites.
“The Loboc church, which houses a 19th century pipe organ, is classified as a baroque church and submitted for inclusion in the World Heritage list in 2006,” Santiago said.
Santiago also cited the damage the earthquake caused on Cebu’s 16th century Basilica of the Holy Child, “which lost its bell tower.”
Santiago said there was a need for Congress to look into the actions taken by the local government units of Bohol and Cebu as well as by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts and the National Historical Institute “on the preservation and retrofitting of old buildings and landmarks because these are irreplaceable monuments of Philippine history.”
Lapid, in his resolution, said there was a need to ascertain whether policies and programs should be initiated to ensure that the country’s cultural and historical treasures “are resilient to disasters” and to determine up to what extent they can be made “disaster-proof.”
“There is a need to craft further legislation that may aid in the preservation and conservation of our cultural and historical landmarks, as they sit precariously against natural disasters and to address the resulting loss brought about by any damage that may be suffered by them, as highlighted by this unfortunate calamity,” Lapid’s resolution said.