Goodbye, Heritage, Hello, Hamburger

One of the liberties we have lost in this globalized and traumatized world, is the freedom to choose how, what and where to eat. Like movies, music and the news, food is now a pre-processed, content and culture-challenged product that is constantly being shoved down our gullible sub-altern throats.

Many today have little choice but to queue up at the corner fastfood parlor – for the illusion of sustenance – as little time is left to prepare meals, given that many hours are wasted in the daily commute to and from work. This of course is symptomatic of the greater failure of urban transport and city planning. It also is evidence of the darker side of global comsumerism.

The settings for consumption of this limited option in meals are also becoming threats to the sites and structures of our already diminished heritage. Hamburgers are on the verge of conquering that last enclave of public space left in many of the historic cores of our towns and cities – the church courtyard.

Recent news from the Heritage Conservation Society (HCS) paints a scary future for hundreds of conventos and simbahans nationwide. If a landmark battle now being waged in Balayan, Batangas is resolved in favor of french fries and value meals then the Catholic Church may soon have to rename all our churches in honor of San Ronaldo McDo (and all his other fellow saints of high-cholesterol and empty calories).

Burghers Of Balayan vs. Balayan Burgers

Feisty and fearless John Silva of the HCS reports that despite the issuance of a Cease and Desist Order (CDO) early this month to stop the construction of a golden arched restaurant on the grounds of Balayan Church, Batangas, construction has not stopped.

Silva’s HCS report informs us that: " Golden Arches Corporation, a McDonald’s USA franchise operating in the Philippines leased land owned by the local Catholic parish to build a fast food restaurant. The lease is contested by the National Museum, the National Historical Institute, the National Commission for Culture and the Arts, the Heritage Conservation Society and the townspeople of Balayan."

John’s report continues that these agencies and civic groups point out that "…the 18th century church and its grounds, which will be covered by the restaurant, (are) historical landmarks and are protected by laws. The opponents successfully lobbied to have the Department of Environment and Natural Resources issue the first CDO last December because of public outcry. In March 20, 2002, the order was mysteriously rescinded and Golden Arches was allowed to resume construction. Because of renewed public protest, another CDO was issued to Golden Arches last April 2, 2002 and an investigation began the next day."

The report rounds off with a bulletin from the vigilant townsfolk of Balayan who observed that despite the CDO, construction activity continues unabated. They report that the contractors have concealed their ongoing work by taping the windows of the almost-completed structure. Construction workers and carpenters have also been seen entering and leaving the premises.

Concerned local groups and the HCS see the continuance of construction work by an American-owned company as "a defiant stance against a principal government body assigned to protecting the country’s heritage and environment." A boycott of McDonald’s products has been called by the HCS. The group is asking its members, supporters and the general public "to avoid eating all McDonald’s products until the restaurant is dismantled." The movement, the HCS also reports, has already spread to over 2 million Filipino-Americans in the US as well as Catholic parishioners in California who call Batangas their home province.

Heritage To Go or Heritage Gone?

At a meeting to try and resolve the issue the parish priest of Balayan and lawyers of McDonald’s defended the project. Representatives from the National Historical Institute, the National Museum director Corazon Alvina, and Heritage Conservation Society director Trixie Angeles sought to enlighten them on which of the many Republic Acts and Presidential decrees covering heritage landmarks they were infringing on.

Another report from the HCS on this meeting underscored national Museum Director Cora Alvina’s retort to attempts by the McDonald’s lawyers to justify the project. She cited examples where McDonald’s has in fact complied with heritage laws. These were in historical sites like Leiden in the Netherlands and the Spanish steps in Rome. McDonald’s outlets there were made to blend with the heritage architecture but here, (the report stated) "in the Philippines, McDonald’s USA seems to overlook our heritage laws and sensibilities and does not follow the rigor they imposed when building in other countries. Why the double standard?"

At that point, the report went on, the lawyers of McDonald’s, headed by Attorney Emmanuel Mutuc, asked for a compromise. Everyone strongly disagreed, John Silva recounts, "I opined firmly that there can be no compromise. The only recourse McDonald’s had was to dismantle the structure and to clean up the area they had disturbed. Attorney Angeles had earlier responded that there could be no meeting ground since that would mean breaking the laws. It would also mean that if McDonald’s won in Balayan, a precedent would be set and church properties throughout the land would be open season to McDonald’s, and any other fast food restaurant."

Yes, the truth is that this could set a precedent for complete national commercialization of church grounds. Professor Manolo Noche of UST and a member of HCS reminds us that many of our church yards have been already "desecrated and sold lock stock and barrel by church authorities in the guise of (replenishing) church coffers." Professor Noche points to the examples of Camiling, Tarlac, Dagupan and Bolinao, in Pangasinan where "various establishments have taken root on the sides of the church thus marring the view of the massive stone walls and buttresses of these noble buildings." Noche estimates that there are over 700 church grounds all over the country. These may be targeted next once Balayan falls.

Hamburgers or History

Goodbye History, Hello Hamburger is the title of a favorite book written by the noted architectural critic Ada Louise Huxtable. Ms. Huxtable wrote for the New York Times in the 60s to the 80s and eventually sat on the newspaper’s editorial board. She was immensely influential in the heritage conservation movement in that great city. Her insightful essays helped stem the tide of historic holocaust that threatened Gotham a few decades ago.

We are teetering on the brink of such a holocaust today. Our past is being erased in the name of fast food and the fast buck. If we blink now, then Balayan will go, if we blink again more church courtyards, plazas, and landmarks will disappear.

Of course the problem is bigger than just Balayan, Big Macs or inutile CDOs. It is our whole paradigm of urbanization and development. We have to realize that things are screwy when we find more value in cheap meals than in irreplaceable built heritage or when we bow down to the gods of profit while desecrating the holy ground of our places of worship.

We should question the efficacy of our government’s programs to deal with larger issues of urban and economic development. We should question our own loss of values and address the deterioration of our social and political framework. In the meanwhile we should protect what we have left of our dignity and heritage. No amount of cheap hamburgers can replace the history of a nation, re-vivify our city centers or re-sanctify our churches.

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For more information on the Balayan controversy or for ways to help Balayan and the HCS please contact John Silva at 521-2239 or 522-2497. Feedback is welcome, please email the writer at citysensephilstar@hotmail.com.