STRONG CULTURAL LEADERSHIP URGED

In recent years, Filipinos have shown concern over cultural-heritage issues. From the photobombing of the Rizal Monument in Luneta, to the earthquake that destroyed churches in Bohol and the restoration efforts for the Banaue Rice Terraces, Filipinos have seen their cultural conservation awareness raised.

May is National Heritage Month (NHM), and the celebration will be spearheaded by the Subcommission on Cultural Heritage ( SCH) of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA). Theme is “Mga Pinuno Para sa Pamana.”

Delan Robillos, vice chair of the SCH, said there’s a sense of urgency behind this year’s celebration. He calls not only on the leaders of various institutions but also private individuals to take the lead in taking action on pressing cultural heritage issues confronting the country.

Consequences

“The government, private sector, other community stakeholders—each one of us has an important role to play. The consequences of what we do today—what we will save or forget—will be part of our heritage in the future,” Robillos told the Inquirer.

NHM celebration will kick off at the St. Matthias Parish Church in Tumauini, Isabela, on May 2. The ancient church, built by Dominican missionaries, is a declared National Cultural Treasure and National Historical Landmark.

Opening ceremony will launch a commemorative stamp, which features “Women as Keepers of Heritage,” by the Philippine Postal Corporation.

On May 6, the NCCA will have a send-off concert by award-winning choir Los Cantantes de Manila, at the Colegio de San Juan de Letran in Intramuros.

Social media play a big role in this year’s celebration. The NCCA has initiated the competition, “#TanglawNgPamana,” which seeks to engage the public by urging them to submit audio-visual presentations promoting cultural heritage.

During the past few years, Robillos noted that young people had become very active on social media in pushing their heritage advocacy.

Robillos said that there were still a lot of things to do, and the nation “shouldn’t only be talking about heritage and safeguarding heritage during the month of May. It should be a yearlong or lifelong consciousness.”

NHM is mandated by Presidential Proclamation 439 issued in 2003.

Visit www.ncca.gov.ph and NCCA’s social media accounts.