Saving the rule of law and our heritage

In the past few days, two things have shocked us in the newspapers: the current World Bank corruption scandal and the potential destruction of the Dingras church façade in Ilocos Norte. The corruption scandal now has all of our attention. We are watching and waiting to see what the next turn will be. In any case, we are sure the press is happy. As they say, no news is good news and bad news sells.

In the case of the Church of San Jose Dingras façade, we owe a debt of gratitude to Augusto Villalon for bringing this issue to light. We believe as well that the Heritage Conservation Society of the Philippines was one of the first to ring the alarm. According to historian Tegalado Trota-Jose, the current structure may well date from the 1700s. It has survived fires, earthquakes, typhoons and the passage of time for centuries, but now it may not survive the year. There is no denying that it is a sturdy structure and one of the most uniquely beautiful free-standing facades in the country, and possibly Asia. We ask, what purpose would be served by tearing this structure down? As many have pointed out, the rubbled façade of St. Paul Church in Macau has become a major tourist attraction. In destroying the Dingras church facade, we may well be destroying a potential tourist attraction. We are sure that a competent conservation architect would be able to prepare plans to reinforce the wall, preserve the façade and rebuild the area to create a true tourist destination.

The city of San Antonio in Texas was faced with a similar issue. The façade of the city’s original theater was slated to be torn down. When the people of the city learned of the situation, they were very much against it. Because of their advocacy, the façade was incorporated instead into the new building that was being constructed. Thus, a crucial piece of the city’s architectural history was preserved. San Antonio also has five church missions built between 1690 and 1716, a very similar time frame for many of our churches. The City of San Antonio, in the 1970s, enacted a law turning these five missions into parks and heritage sites. They have become major tourist attractions and an integral part of what is now recognized as one of the four most interesting cities in the United States. If cities such as Macau and San Antonio can turn their churches into attractive tourist destinations, there is no reason why the Philippines cannot. Some of our churches are utterly unique in their architectural form. Historian T.B. Macaulay once wrote: “No man who is correctly informed as to the past will be disposed to take a morose or despondent view of the present.” Following this line of thought, we then wonder if our current political and cultural situation may have similar roots: the loss of a connection to our past and the poor state of education system.

A piece of legislation was recently presented in the Philippine Congress on heritage preservation and conservation which, when passed, may well be able to save the Dingras façade and others like it from destruction. With the hullabaloo surrounding the current scandal, we are sure this will be shelved. You see, corruption has far-reaching and unexpected effects: the loss of irreplaceable pieces of our cultural heritage may be one of them. We regretfully remember the razing of the Manila Jai Alai fronton, where now stands a shopping center. With the destruction of the Manila fronton, we lost an important piece of our architectural history. It is something we can never recover. Today, we fear that historic sites such as the old Luneta hotel are in danger of being lost forever. We must save our history.

On one side, our politicians seem bent on destroying what little confidence the Filipino people have in our government and our press is along for the ride. On the other, some people seem bent on destroying our heritage past. What is left for the Filipino?