Tabuk City, Kalinga – Cultural properties in Kalinga, may now have the opportunity to be declared as national cultural treasures and national historical landmarks, sites or monuments as the Provincial Tourism Service Office is gearing up to have these validated and registered to the Philippine Registry of Cultural Property (PRECUP).
Being registered in the PRECUP would also ensure that such cultural properties are protected, preserved and conserved.
As recalled, Kalinga has the potential having been recognized by the World Affairs Council as a province with rich cultural traditions and arts.
What can be considered as a Cultural Property?
Article II of Republic Act No. 10066 defines cultural property as products of human creativity by which a people and a nation reveal their identity.
Cultural property can be public or privately-owned, movable or immovable, and tangible or intangible like churches, mosques and other places of religious worship, schools and natural history specimens and sites.
Local Cultural Inventory of Cultural Property
During the Second Quarter Meeting of the provincial and municipal tourism offices, a workshop and training on Local Cultural Inventory (LCI) was conducted to guide the tourism officers in compiling the cultural properties for submission to the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA).
Provincial Tourism Officer Lorraine Ngao-i during the event discussed the amended guidelines of the Philippines Registry of Cultural Property.
She said that though the tourism officers were tasked to submit the requirements, the owners of cultural properties and those with recommendations are encouraged to visit their municipal tourism office to inform them of their cultural properties. The tourism officers will then validate the claim based on the listed criteria before it is included the LCI.
The City and Municipal Tourism Officers, she said, were duly equipped with appropriate procedures on the standardized annual submission of LCI.
The LCI will serve as a catalog of the identified tangible and intangible cultural properties being maintained by the Local Government Unit (LGU).
LCI is also a requirement for Kalinga to pass its Seal of Good Local Governance.
Privileges for Cultural Property
Cultural properties declared as national cultural treasures and national historical landmarks, sites or monuments shall be entitled to priority government funding for protection, conservation and restoration especially in times of armed conflict, natural disasters and other exceptional events that endanger the cultural heritage.
Support to the Cultural Advocacy
Meanwhile, Natividad Sugguiyao of the Provincial Indigenous People Mandatory Representative (IPMR) expressed support to the program, saying the office is open for tourism officers in need of assistance.
Sugguiyao likewise encouraged the documentation of tangible and intangible properties, but asked the officers to conduct ‘onsite validation’ first.
“Through the Office of the Governor, the IPMR is very supportive of the endeavor especially with the presence of legislative support,” Sugguiyao said.
Sugguiyao is a former Provincial Tourism Office and retired provincial chief of the National Commission of Indigenous People.
.png)
Comments