NCCA: Marawi historical sites to be restored

THE National Commission on Culture and Arts (NCCA) said plans to restore the historical sites in Marawi City believed destroyed due to the war between government troops and Maute terrorist group are already being discussed.

Republic Act number 10066 or the National Cultural Heritage Act of 2009 mandated the creation of NCCA to protect, preserve, conserve and promote the nation's cultural heritage, its property and histories, and the ethnicity of local communities.

NCCA Executive Director Rico Pableo Jr., in an interview last Monday, July 24, said the commission saw the great need to rehabilitate the heritage landmarks and sites once the battle in Marawi ends as the preservation of the cultural properties is prioritized by virtue of the National Cultural Heritage Act of 2009.

Pableo said there is still no assessment on the weight of the damage and what landmarks were destroyed but he said the commission has already sought that there is a large scope of cultural sites affected by the continuous gunfight in the area.

Marawi City is home to several old churches like the Maria Auxiliadora Cathedral, museums such as the Aga Khan Museum of Islamic Arts, and trademarks like the old Torogan house.

The budget of the restoration, Pableo said, depends on the assessment of the cultural properties destroyed.

"We already done many restoration activities in the country like the recent one in Bohol after a 7.2-magnitude earthquake hit them and damaged ten iconic churches," he said.