GERONIMO, JIMMEL GRACE C.

T2 APPLICANT

CULTURAL HERITAGE AND ARTS MANAGEMENT IN THE PHILIPPINE SETTING

It's not just the revenue to be generated and tourism contribution that make the Cultural Heritage and Arts

Management important in the Philippine setting, but also the historical and cultural value. Sure it allows our

country to promote tourism and be known around the world for having such aesthetic features and places to go to,

but it's actually more than that. It makes us have a deeper understanding about the country where we live in. It is

also important to know about the connection of our very own artists and the audience, since they are not only

Filipinos, if we are going to talk about its endowment to tourism. Also, those tourists who visit these can have a

firsthand experience of what it's like to live in the past here in the Philippines. Without these, we cannot fully take

care of our culture and history—and if that happens, how are we going to know about the past? How can we be

educated about the physical integrity of our sites? These questions are not only being asked today—they were

asked before, and they will be asked in the future. It will be passed from generation to generation. Heritage and

arts, tangible or not, moveable or immovable, make up our whole cultural heritage. We are to pass the legacy to the

next generation for them to learn and nourish. Heritage is not just about the preservation and restoration of old

things that people may find significant for future studies. Heritage is what makes us today and how we are going to

identify ourselves—and how did the past influence us to be like that. In the future, when we cannot speak of the

past, these heritages will speak for us. People from the future should have a grasp of what to learn from the past—

which happens to be today. Besides, cultural heritage can be very vulnerable to destruction, and it is nonrenewable.

Weather changes will occur, resources will be outnumbered, and tourism will affect them.

One example of Philippine Cultural Heritage which I strongly believe that needs to be preserved is the San

Agustin Church—one of the Walled City of Intramuros' beauty left. It also houses the San Agustin Museum, where

some artifacts, documents, furniture and statues are found. Being the oldest church in the Philippines, the beauty of

San Agustin Church is not only limited to its aesthetic value but also to its historic and cultural value. Its resilience

all throughout the years made it survive despite being taken down and rebuilt for so many times. It has survived

numerous wars and earthquakes and was rebuilt by several times—I agree that those are evidences that make it fit

to receive extra care. The church has been a witness to all the things and events happened in Manila; even wars, but
it did not go down. It survived. Moreover, for the Christianity in the Philippines, it binds people through their faith

and puts the congregation together. It has been a place for the Christians to thrive. Ultimately, the museum found

there is also important as many archeologist and historians can use it in educating people (not limited to students or

Filipinos but also to tourists studying our country and even the ones who's just travelling) about the events that

occurred in the past—specifically, in the Spanish occupation. We can also study those artifacts found there for

future references, especially for those working on that field.

Of course, preservation is not an easy task to accomplish. Challenges, such as funding, finding the right

people to gather in this advocacy, educating people about the importance of keeping our cultural heritages safe will

surely go along the way. For me, the best way to overcome these obstacles is education. The government will not

be able to fund a lot on these matters—let's accept that; so it's better if we tell people about our advocacy and reach

out for help. If a lot of people knew the importance of Cultural Heritage and Arts Management, then many will join

the advocacy and we can brainstorm more on what to do. We can also gather and collect funds and even people

who'll aid in taking care of these sites. We must know first exactly why are we going to take care of it and if we

fully understand, then we sure can do something about it. Education is everything.