The Scop e and Limitations of Legal Instruments onCultural Property in the World Heritage

City of Vigan, Philippines

Yahaya Ahmad

Department of ArchitectureFaculty of the Built Environment

University of Malaya

Abstract

The World Heritage C ity of Vtgnn. Ph ilippines W<l S inscribed in the list of World Heritage Sitesin 1999 under criteria (ii) and (iv) of the Opera tional Guidelines, after its first submission in 1989wa s rejected by the World Heritage Committee. The heritage of the city is now sufficientlyprotected by eight legal instrumen ts, four enacted at national level and an other four at locallevel. However, these instruments have limited scope and limita tion and, if no t rectified, willnot be ab le to safeguard the heritage of the City aga inst rapid development. Presidential DecreeNo ,374/1974, which has not been revised, ha s sev era l weaknesses, such as in sys tem of incen tives,penalties, the broad term inology and scope of heritage as we ll as overlapping of tasks an dresponsibilities bet we en na tional agencies. The main Local Ordinance No. 04/2000: An OrdinanceEnacting the Preservation and Conservation Gui de lines for Vigan Ancestra l Houses providessolid guidance on the protection of heritage but req uires revi sion related to Section 2 on Definitionof Ancestra l Houses, Sectio ns 3-16 on Technical Gu idelines, Sections 17-22 on Vigan ConservationCouncil and Sect ion 24 on Penalties.

Keywords: Cultumt Property, Legnllll strl/11Iellts, Protections. Scope, Limitation

The World H eritage City of Vigan

The He ritage City of Vigan in the Republicof the Philippines wa s inscribed as theWorld Heritage Site in 1999 under criteria(ii)and (iv) of Operational Guidelines', afterits first submission to the Wor ld HeritageCommittee in 1989 wa s rejected . Located inIllocus Sur region in the Island of Luzonand abou t 480 kil ometres north of thecap ita l, Manila, Vigan was once a thrivingport that att racted imm igrants fr0111 all overthe world. First, the Ch inese carne and

I Crit er io n (i i) : exh ibit an important in ter cha ngeof human va lues, over a span of time or within acu ltur a l ar ea of the world , on deve lopments inarchitecture or technology, monumenta l arts, townplanning or land scape design.

opened businesses in the town centre andlater engaged in do mestic and foreign tradewith Europe, China , Jap an, and ot herSoutheast Asian countries . In 1521, thePh ilippines or Fellpinas as known by theearly Spanish, wa s founded and soon in1572 Vigan wa s conquered by the Spanish .Ove r mor e than 300 years th e Spanishestablished a colonia l government in Viganand in the Philippines as a whole, until herfirst independence on June 12, 1898. Theyestablished the town ofVigan according to

Criterion (Ivl : be an outstanding example of atyp e of building or ar ch itect ur al or technologicalen semb le or lan d sca p e which illust rates (a)significant stagcs fs) in human history.

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JOI/YIlnl ofDesign and theBuilt EIlVirol/lI1el/t

the Spanish Law of the Indies issu ed in1573, both in terms of its urban p lanningand architecture with a series of publicplazas and regu lar checkerboard streetpattern; as we ll as two-storey houses or

Figure 1: The Heritage City of Vigan. Typicalscene of Vigan with ho uses known asAncestral Houses lining both sides of narrowstreets with horse drawn carriages .

shophouses that have a uniform designboth in their planning and ma terials. Today,Vigan is the politica l, com m e rc ia l.educational and relig ious centre nor th ofLuzon and is the only town in thePhilippines that retains the legacy ofSpanish co lon isa tion in the country and inSoutheast Asia in general.

L egal Inst r um ents on C u ltura lPrope rti e sIn the Philippines, as well as in ot hercountrie s in the world , the duty ofprotecting national culture, arts and historicproperties is always on the shoulders of thesta te, and is normally formalised by legalinstruments at nationa l level. Even thoughthere was no provision within the CountryConstitution, ratified in 1899 and revisedin 1935, which related to the protection ofheritage, a number of acts from the 1950s

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address the issue of protection of culturalproperties , nat ionally . For e xamp le,Republic Act No . 597/1951 declares FortSantiago as a national heritage, RepublicAct No . 4039 / 1964 es tablishes FreedomShrine in th e Municipality of Kawit,Republic Act No . 4368 /1965 establishes aNational Historical Ccmmiss ion? and theRepublic Act No. 4846/1966 (amended byPresidential Decree No . 374/1974) providesprotection and preservation of culturalproperties in the country. The first clears tatement reco g ni s ing the nationa limportance of conserving arts, culture andhistoric properties and providing guidanceon the wa ys and m eans of protectingheri tag e was in cl u d ed in the thirdamendment of the co un try's Consti tution,ratified on 17'" January, 1973 in Manilaunder the late President Ferd inand E.Marcos tha t reads:

Section 9(2)Filip ino culture shall be preserved anddeveloped for national identity. Arts andletters shall be under the patronage of theState.

Soon in August 1973, Presidential DecreeNo . 260/1973 was enacted seekin g todeclare numerous si tes in the country asnational treasures. It has been continuouslyamended to include other sites, which arcdeemed as important to the country. Forexample, it was amended by PresidentialDecree No. 756 /1975 that re cognisessevera l properties in Vigan tha tareimportant to the country. In 1974 RepublicAct 4846/ 1966 was amended by theissuance of Presidential Decree No . 374/1974 that consolida tes the protection ofcultural propertie s across the coun try,whe re it remains a princip le lega linstrumen t in the Philippines un til thepresent day.

2 Now known as the National Historical Institute(NH I).

To complement these Presiden tialDecrees, and to consolidate the protectionof cultur al properties by means of lega lins trumen ts at local leve l, ord inan ceswere also enacted locally. For the HeritageCity ofVigan, for example, local ordinan ceswhich relate to the protection of the city' sheritage were pa ssed by the Mu nicipalityof Vigan only in the lat e 1990s. The se are:Ord inances No. 12/1997, No . 14/1997, No .06/1999 and Ordi nance No. 04/2000.

TheScopeandLimitations ofLegallnsinnneuts

All the above-me ntioned Presidenti alDecrees and Ordinances are now in effectand toget he r, the se leg al instrumentsprov ide general principles, me thodologiesand directions of conservation fo r theCity of Vigan as we ll as specific guidancefo r appropriate int ervention s uch asconserva tion, restoration, adaptation andreconstru cti on of histo ric properties inVigan (Table 1).

National Level

Local Level

Table 1Lega l Instruments on Cultural Property that provid e

protection for the Heritage City of Vigan

1973

1974

1975

1978

1997

1997

1999

2000

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/011,.,,01ofDesigll and tileBull! Enuironment

Presidentia l Decrees at Na tionalLevelFollowing the recommend ations ma de byUNESCO and ICOMOS d uring the WorldHe ritage Co nve n tio n in 1972 that allmember co un tries s ho uld un der takeapprop riate legal actions to safeguard theirhistoric prop ert ies:

(UNESCO, 1972:Article 18)Member Sta tes sho u ld, as far aspossible, take all necessary scien tific,techn ical and administrative, legal andfinanci al measures to ensure theprotection of the cultura l and nat uralheritage in their territories.

The governmen t of the Phi lippines enactedfour national laws in the 1970s.These laws,Presidential Decrees, were aimed not onlyat recognising prop erties that are im portantto the country, but also to provide generalguidelines as to how these properties shouldbe managed as well as to lay down commonfounda lion s so tha t specific ordinances canbe developed and tailored specifically toad d ress the differ ent charac te ri s tic ofhistorical prop erti es at local levels.

For example the Presidential DecreeNo. 260/ 1973 recogni ses eigh t historicalmonumen ts in the co un try as being ofna tional im por tance and places thesemonu me n ts a nd si tes on th e list o fNa tio nal Cultural Treasures ", to beadminis tered by the Na tiona l Museum.The Decree further recog nises ten churchesnati on-wide as important religi ou sbu ildings and includes these on the list ofNatio nal Sh ri nes", to be ad mi nis tered

) The eight Na tiona l Cultural Treasures are ; TheSta .Ana Site Mus e um in Manil a, The Rom anCatholic Churches o f Paoay and Baca rra in IllocusNo rte, The San Agustin Church and Liturgic alObjects in Manil a, Fort Pilar in Zamboa nga City,The Pctrog lyphs of the Rockshe lter in Au gono Riza l,The Pet roglyphs of Alab in Bontoc, The MummyCaves in Kabayan , Benquet, Sagada and Alab andThe Ifugao Rice Terraces of Banau e.

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ins tead by th e Nat io na l H is tor ica lIn stitution . To fur th er s treng then theprotection of cultura l and natura l heritagena tiona lly, th e govern me n t o f th ePhilipp ines in 1974 amended Act 4846'by int roducin g Presiden tia l Decree No.374/1974. This Decree, which remains theprincipal legal in s trument in thePhili pp ines un til toda y, introduces severalimportan t s te ps , co nso lid a ting themanagement of historic properties in thecountry; in pa rticular, these are moveableproperti es and are listed under the list ofNational Cultural Treasurers. FOI' historicalbuildings and sites the Decree adop ts:

a. Te rmino logy re la ted to h isto ri cproperti es were broug h t in line withthose accepted by the World HeritageConvention, 1972and ICOMOS in Paris.Unlike UNESCO 's terminology andscope tha t defines her itage as 'culturalproperty' that clearly gro uped them into'monuments', 'groups of buildin gs' and'sites' , The Decree defines herit age as'Cu lt ural Properties ' to include allhistorical properties:(PO No. 756/1975:Section 3a:2). .. old bu ildi ng s, monument s, shrines,documents and objects which may becl ass ifi ed as antiques o r ar te fac ts,landmar ks, an th ro po logica l a ndh ist orical s ites, and s peci mens o fnatura l history which are of cultural,

~ "Na tional Shrines arc places of worship or placesthat may be conside red sacred; sites of s ignificantbatt le s or o ther no te w orthy mil it ary ev e nts;ances tral houses; s ites o f the birth, death , exile,detention or imprisonment of national heroes; andsites of ancient and irreplac eab le human works"(NC AA, 2001:47). The ten Na tional Shrines are :The Barescalu Churches in Malolos, Bulacen, TiradPass, Cervantes, lllocosSur: The Miagao Churchesin Miagao, Ilo ilo; The Site of the Battle o f Mactanon Mactan Isl an d in Ccb u: Th e Sa n Sebas tianChurch in Qu tapc, Manila; and The Church andConvent of Santo Nifio in Cebu City .

s Sections 2 to 22 of the Repub lic Act 4846(1966)were amended .

historical , anthropological orscientificvalue and significance to the nation ,.. .but makes no di sti nction betweencultural and natural properties;

b. Recognises tha t historic properti es arcnot only limited to objects, monumentsand buildings, but al so si tes . Th e'his torical s ites' is de fined as "anyplace, provin ce, city, town and / or anylo cation and s truc ture w h ich hasplayed a significant and important rolein the history of ... [thclcountry an dnation" (section 3i);

c. Es tab lishes the list o f ImportantCultural Propert y' (Section 2 and 3b);

d. Limits the scope of Nationa l Cultur alTreasures to "only the rareand uniqueobjects" and lithe remainder, if any,sha ll be treat ed as cultura l p roperty(Section 7);

e. Prohib its an y change of ow nershi p(Section 8:4), excav ation (Section 12:5)and any form of intervention (Section13 :5) witho ut a p p ro va l from theNati onal Museum; and

f. Imposes penalties for any violation ofthe Act to a fine of not more than tenthousands pesos [£1 I 8]' orimprisonment for a tenn of not morethan two years or both, and establi shesa unit under the National Museumcalled Division of Cultur al Properti esto pro secute violators of this Act (Section21:7).

It is impor tant to note th at the lis ts ofNati onal Cultural Treasures and NationalShrines as mentioned in Presidential Decree

6 Important Cultural Properties are those havingexcep tional historical and cultural sig nificance tothe country, but are not sufficie ntly outstandingto me rit the clas s ifica tion of Na tional Cult uralTreasu res.

The Scopeand Limiui!ions of Legal lllsirulllellis

No. 260/1973 or in those decrees enactedbefore 1973, do not contain any monum ents,buildings or sites from Vigan or the IllocusSu r region . The first legal in st rum entrelating to cultural prope rties that a ffectedthe city directly is the Presidential DecreeNo. 756/1975 enacted after a series of firesde stroyed do zens of histor ical buildings(Ricardo, 1998:2) including the Semina ry in1968, The Decree recognised two buildingsin Vigan as having national importanceand placed these buildings under the list ofcultural properties'. One was the house ofPadre Jose Burgos on Burgos Stre et, nowfunctioning as Burgos Museum and theother, the house of Leo na Florentino onCrisologo Street that now houses the tou ristoffice and a cafe. It also recognised Mestizosec tion of Viga n as having nationalimportance and placed this section unde rthe list of histor ical sites". Howe ver, to whatextent the properties within this section wereprotected by the decree wa s unclear , sincethe decr ee onl y menti on ed "Mes tiz osec tio n II w itho u t li sting the pro per tieswithin the section or defining its boundary.The Decr ee (P O No . 756 /1 975) wasimpor tant to Vigan since it recogni sed thehi storical val ue of p rop ert ies in the cityand, more importantly , it provided somedegree of protection against mistreatment,since Par agraph 5 of the Decree prohibitedany demolition , repair or renovation ofprop ertie s recognise d, w it hou t prio rappro val from the Na tional Museum inManila:

(Para graph 5:1)... no demolition, repair or renovation ofbuildings in these areas [listed eitherunder N ational Cultural Treasures orNa tional Shrines ] shall be undertaken

7 Calculated based on exchange rate of £1 to 85pesos .8 By virtue of Sec tions 3a and Za of PresidentialDecree No. 374/ 1974,~ By virtue of Section 3i of President ial Decree No.37 4/1974,

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IOl/malof Desigl/and tile Built Ellvirol/lIlel/ l

without prior study, consultation andapproved by the National Mu seum.

To provide s imila r protec tion to th oseproper ties list ed in the Na tional Shrineslist, w hich lay under the respon sibility ofthe Na tio na l Hi st orical In stitute s ,Presidential Decree No. 260 / 1973 wasame nded by Presidential Decree No. 1505/1978. It prohibits any inter venti on wit houtapproval fro m the Chairman of Na tionalHistorical Institutes and imposes pen altiesthat carry imprisoruuent of one to five years0 1'a fine of one thou sand to ten thou sandspesos [£11.8 to £118] or both (Section 5:1).

The commit ment of the Republic ofthe Philippines to ensure the protecti onand conse rvation of cultural properties andsites in the country during the 1970s wa shigh. Under the leadership of Pre sidentMarcos, the co untry acted fast echo ing therecomm enda tions made by UNESCO andICOMOS in the 1970's, primarily those atthe World Heritage Con ven tion (1972),ICOMOS (1972), UN ESCO (1972), lCOM OS(1975) and UNESCO (1976). Properties thatare recognised to hav e important historical,cu ltural and social va lues to the countrywe re in cl ud ed eithe r under the li st ofNa tional Cultural Treasurers, ImportantCultural Properties, Cultural Properties,Historical Sites o r Nati onal Shrines andhence protected aga ins t mistreatment andexp loitation and placed the manageme nt ofthese properties under either the NationalMuseum an d N ational H istorical Institu te(Dclumen, 2002:3).

However, there (Ire several glaringweaknesse s of th e sco pe of p ro tec tionprov ided by these inst ruments:

a. Section 12 of P resi den t ia l Decreeprovides a clause for viola tion and non­compliance to the Decree that imposesa maximum of ten thou sand pesos[£118] or imprisonment for a term of notlucre than two years or both; and thissec tion has no t been revised ever since.A fte r thirty years no w , the tenthou sands pesos may not be substantial

86

enough to prevent the non-compliancesespecially from medium to large-scalerestoration projects.The develop ment ofa shop p ing co m plex next to the SI.Paul's Cathedra l will not be off-tangentfrom the recommended conservationprincipl es if pen alties are higher andp ro perly imposed. UN ESCO (1972)recommends that besides mon eta ryfines, the Member States should alsocons ider includin g a provision for the"res to ra tion of an effected s ite to itso rigina l s tate in accordance withest abli shed scien tific a nd technicalstandards (Article 48) by the heritageowners and their consultants.

b. No sys tem of incentive is provided forheritage ow ners that could encouragethem to main tain an d restore theirheritage properties. In the absence ofincenti ves and low penalties, the effor tto encoura ge proper mai nt en ance,preservation and restoration amo ngheritage owner s and users in th ePhilippines will be hard to achieve. InVig an , fo r exa m p le , th e poormaintenance and severe defccts o fancestral hou ses may no t be so seriousif options of attractive incenti ves aremade av ailab le by the government orthe local authorities for utilisation ofthe homeowners.

c. Th er e seems to be a s ubs tan tialoverla pping o f tasks a ndresponsibilities between the Nationa lMuseum and the National HistoricalInstitute. This was recognised by thegovern men t, and in 1992 by vir tue ofRe p ub lic Act No . 735 6/1 992 th eNatio nal Commissi o n for Cultureand the Arts (NCAA) wa s es tab lishedw ith the objectives, amo ng othe rs, tocoordinate the activ ities of nationalins titu tes o n art s and cu lt uralproper ties , in cluding those o f th eNa tiona l M U SeUI11 and the Natio nalHis torica l Ins titut e . O n one ha nd ,thi s effor t sho uld be praised ; on theother hand , there are no w thre e

national agencies in the country thatare in cha rge o f co nservation andpreservati on of cultural properties, inparticu lar of buildings and historicalsites. Without clea r jurisdiction andrespon sibilities for eac h, the generalpublic, especially are a t a loss.

d. Unlike the UNESCO (1972)recommenda tions that limi t the scopeof cult ura l proper ties as e i ther"mo numents, groups of buildings orsites", the de finitions and the scope ofherit age, in particular, immovableheritage, in the Ph ili p p in es areconfusing:NationalCultural Treasures,Import ant Cultura l Properties, CulturalPrope rt y, Hi s torical Sites, NationalCult ural Shrines, National Shrines toname a few .

The weaknesses identified above are soglaring that they warran t detailed studiesby the govern me n t. Af ter all , the abov einstruments are now thirty years of age,eno ug h to justify major rev ision.

Ordinances a t Lo cal Level.Th e Presidential Decrees at na tional levelp rovide pro tection for cultur al property inthe Philippines and se t a s trong fou ndationfor the developme n t of specific laws andgu ide lines rel ating to the protect ion ofproperties a t p rov incia l and local levels. Inthe case of Vigan, as menti on ed earlier, nota single ordinance or guideline relating tothe protec tion of cultural p roper ties wasenacted, eit her by IlIocus Sur province orby the Viga n tow n d uring the 1970s and1980s. When the firs t submiss ionrequesting inscription in the list of WorldHeri tage Sites was made in 1988, thehis toric properties in Vigan were protectedby the four nationa l decrees, as mention edand recognised by th e ICOMOS report(1989). However, during the seco nd halfof the 1990s, there were four ord inancesrel a ted to th eprotection of cu lt u ra lproperties in Vigan formula ted by th eMu n icipali ty o f Viga n th at helped to

TileScopeand Liiniui tione ofLegnl/llstrulllellts

s ha pe, impro ve an d cons oli da te theprotection of historic properties in Vigan .These are:a. Ordina nce No . 12/ 1997 tha t defines the

boundaries ofcore and buffer zones.b. Ordinance No . 14/1997 that de fines the

conservation terms, princi p les andprocesses.

c. Ordinance No . 06/1999 tha t amendsthe conservation zones.

d. Ordinance No . 04/2000 that providesdetailed guidelines on the methodologyof conserva tion and preserva tio nsu itab le for ancestral hou ses of Vigan.It also formali ses th e crea tion of am anageme nt bod y within theMunicipality of Vigan calle d Viga nConse rva tion Council (VCC), that inge neral takes res po ns ibili ty of overal lmanagement of historical properties inViga n. It is this Ordinance tha t givesresponsib ility and the power to the localauthori ty to protect the he ritage of thecity.

a. Ordi na nce No . 12 /1997Ord ina nce No. 12/1 997 that defines theCore and Buffer Zones ofV igan was passedby the Municipality (Sillggllllinllg Bnynll)ofViga n on Sep tember I", 1997, in time forthe submission of the second nominationd ossier to the World Heri tage Centre in1998. It was intended to conso lida te Vigan'slaws on cult ura l pro pe r ties p rior to theeva lua tio n for inscription to th e Wo rldHeritage List:

(Preamble:1)Whereas, the Historic Tow n ofViga n isincluded in the ten tative list of WorldHeritage Sites and must mee t variouscriteria in authenticity, integrity andgood ma n ag emen t of it s cult u ra lproperty. As such, there is a need toprovide the local legislati ve support toguarantee its pro tec tio n andp reserva tion for the present and futuregeneration.

This Ordinance is significant because itclarifies Presidential Decree No . 374/1974

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[ournnl o/Desigllol/dlite Built Enulronntent

by defining and incorporating the "MestizoSection" in to core and buffer zones. The corezone is defined like an L-Shape with plazasa nd p ub lic buildi ngs on one end a ndMestizosect ion on the other end.

(Section 4:2)The co re forms like an L-Shape. Itencompasses the two plazas, Burgosand Salcedo and the forma l buildingsaround o n the north and northwest end;the entire mestizo dis trict cen tered onfour ma in streets : Gov. A . Reyes ,Plaridel, Crisologo and V.de los Reyesbounded by Diego Silang Stree t on thesouthern end. The area being boundedby th e follo wing s t re e ts a nd lotnu mb ers: . _.

The boundaries of this zone are carefullydemarca ted to follow the rear site boundaryof lot nu mbers (Section 4: 2-3), bringingund e r protection both the proper tiesinside the lots and the stree ts in fron t. Asrecommended by th e internati onalguide lines and as required by Operati onalGuidelines, the buffer zone is also defi ned(Section 5:3 -4), w i th the p urpose o fproviding authenticity of se tting and toprotect the ca rl' zone. Even then, the Bureauof the World Heritage Committee, whenreviewing Vigan's nomination to theWorld Heritage Site at its twen ty-thirdsession 1999 in Pa ris, acce p ted ICOMOS'recommen d ation (ICOMOS, 1999:3) thatmin or modification to the delineation o fthe core and buffer zones of Viga n must bemade prior to its acceptance to the Worl dHeritage List. Through the Director, Mr.Mounir Bouchenaki, the World Herita geCentre as the secretaria t to the Bureauinstru cted the Municipality of Vigan to actaccordingly (UNESCO, 1999).Therefore, on30'h Aug us t 1999, Ord ina nce No. 6/1999was en acted. Changes were made to complywith the request from the Worl d HeritageCentre. Within the Core Zone, the DivineWorld of Vigan College at its north- eas terncorner was excl uded due to its mod ern fourstorey structure and inappropriate use as a

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petrol station and the form er Vigan CentralSchool at the south end of the Buffer Zonewa s also excluded due to its usc as anextension to the b us terminal (lCO MOS,1989:2-3).

b. Ordinance No. 14/1997A mo n th after Ordinance No.12/1997was enacted, another ordinance was alsopa ssed by the Municipali ty of Vigan.Ordinance No . 14/1997 wa s int ended toprovide the administrators, professionalsand the public with the knowledge of theco mmon p rinciples a nd strateg ies ofconservation, as prac tise d in ternationally:

(Parag rap h 2:1)These are s ta nd ard in ternat iona lpractices on conservation tailored foruse in the Historic Town of Vigan tomaintain its au then tici ty , integ rity,and pro tection as a heritage site in thepresent and into the future.

The in trod uction of this ordina nce at thetime of nomination subm iss ion to the WorldHe ritage Centre in Paris, was ca refullyplanned and executed so that Viga n wo uldbe see n no t on ly to possess 'ou tstand inguniversal values', but also to have cleardirection as to how the city sho uld or willbe conserved. Generally, six main aspectsof conservation related to the Historic Townof Viga n a re now defined, in closeresem bla nce o f the Bu rra Cha rt er o fAus tra lia". They are :

Sect ion 1: De finition of termsSect ion 2 :Conservation PrinciplesSection 3: Conservation ProcessesSection 4: Documentationand

RecordingSection 5 : Compatible UsesSection 6 : Penalt ies

The broader defini tio n of 'cu lt ura lproper ties' as d e fin ed by Pres id en tia lDecree No. 374/1974 is further de fined as"Place, Cu ltural Significancc and Fabric"to follow the genera l terms and pri ncip lesad opted by the Australia ICO MOS in 1988

(3" Revision) and Ne w Zealand ICO MOSin 1992.

(Section 1.1:1)Place m eans the geogra p h ic a re adefined in Ord inance No:12 describedas the H is to ric To w n o f Vigan,consisting of a core area and a bufferzo ne , includ ing a ll th e g rou p o fhis tor ical buildings and the ir settingand associ a ted co n ten ts li st ed inAnnex 2 [Listi ng of Ance s tral Housesand Historical Buildings]; monuments;shrines ; landmarks; s treets, pla zas,open spaces , river s iden tified o fcultural significance found w ithin.

(Section 1.2:1)Cultu ral Significance m ea ns th eaes the tic, eco nomic, ed ucational ,environmen tal, historic, religiou s, orsocial va lue of the Place d efined inSection 1.1 above w hich helps us toundersta nd our past, co ntributes to theenrichmentof our present envi ronment,and pass on to fut ure generations .. .

(Section 1.3:2)Fab ric means all the physical materialand a ttribu tes perceived by the sensesfound in e very nook and corne rincluding excava tions in the his toricTown of Vigan i.e. bricks, hardwoodtimbers, lime mortar, ca piz windows,iron grills, lam ps, pied ra china tiles andclay tiles, 18'" cen tury pe riod furn itureand furn ishings , fa una and flor acom m on ly found in th e a rea li kepalmera, bougainvill ea, suntan, adelfa,hibiscus and cactus.

By ado pting the above definition, the ran geof heritage in Vigan now includes bothtangible and intan gible that covers not only

10 The Burra Charter was ado pted by AustraliaICOMOS (the Austra lian Na tiona l Comm ittee oflCOMOS) on 19 1"Aug us l 197 9 at Burra, Sou thAustralia. It was revised on 23'JFebruary 1981, 23April 1988 and on the 261hNov 1999.

The ScopeandLimitationsofLegal ills/mlllell/s

his tor ical buildings and ances tra l housesbut also the ope n spaces, the plazas, thes tree ts , s tree t fu rn i tu re , fu rni sh ing ,cultures, flora a nd fauna . Howev er, itdeviates for the terms and scope defined bythe national Decrees as di scussed above.Thus, it creates a gap between the two levels.

Ordinance No.14 / 1997 also clarifies man yother principles regard ing the interventi onof historic proper ties in Viga n.

a. (Section 3)It clarifies the d iffe ren t concep ts ofconservation , preservation, restoration ,reco ns truc tion, ad ap ta tion andmain tenance , it hel ps theadministrators, the professionals andthe public to fully un de rstand the realconcep t of cons e rv a tion, and thedi fferent levels of intervent ion that canbe int roduced in order to protect andenhance the value of histo ric proper ties;

b. (Section 4)It emphasi ses the im portance ofdoc um entati on in an y in terv entionwo rk suc h as the need to cond uctd eta il ed s tud ies prior to a n yintervention, the importance of havinga w ritten s tatement of conserva tio npolicy, the need for cataloguing andarchiving , and the val ue of havingcon tinuous s tudy on soci o logica l,archaeological excav ation;

c. (Section 5)It provides examples of suitable and notso suitable uses of historic buildingsand si tes within the core and b ufferzones;

d. (Section 6)It imp oses penalties for non-com plianceto the law, a fine of 2,500 pesos [£291and /orsix months imprisonment,

Unlike Australia's Burra Charter w hich isbroader in nature, as it provides an overallumbrella fo r the whole co untry, thi s

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ordinance on the other hand is very specific for the protection of culturalproperties at local level i.e. Vigan. It providesconservation terms, scope and principlesf or all including authorities, professionals,consultants, contractors and the generalpublic. To a large extent this Ordinance hashelped many parties locally to understandthe general principles of conservation aspractised internationally.

Similar to Presidential Decree No. 374/1974,this Ordinance also fails to encourageproper maintenance, preservation andrestoration by homeowners for notproviding conservation incentives, as wellas very low fines for non-compliance, Withonly 2,500 pesos or £29 maximum penalties,it provides 'loopholes' for abuse.

c. Ordinance No. 04/2000While Ordinances No. 12/ 1997 and No. 6/1999 define the core and buffer zones ofhistoric Vigan and Ordinance No. 14/1997provides conservation principles,Ordinance No. 4/2000 provides guidelinesfor repairs and restoration as well asestablishing a local management body.Ordinance No. 04/2000: An OrdinanceEnacting The Preservation andConservation Guidelines for ViganAncestral Houses, was approved by theMunicipality of Vigan on 24'" April 2000 intwenty-four sections. This Ordinanceprovides technical guidelines, in somedetail, on the processes and methods ofpreservation, restoration and conservationof ancestral houses, open spaces,streetscapes and new architecture.a. (Section 2) : Definition of ancestral

housesIt places the itnportance of 'age' over'architec ture' by formally defining'ancestra l houses' as "structures, which

11 There was no research made on the number ofnew houses built within the Core and Buffer Zonesafter 1946. But through observation, no new housesare being built within the core zone, but there areseveral vacant lots and mined ancestral houses.

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have been in existence for not less thanfifty years, the architecture of which isof Hispanic and Chinese influence".This simplified definition means:• New houses built just after the

country's independence on 4th July1946 from the United States, if any,can now be considered as 'ancestralhouses"? or the houses built todaywill also be considered as 'ancestralhouse' in fifty years time . This'magic' number is subjective innature and makes no references toany known legal instruments eitherat local or national levels and noreferences to the time in which thesehouses were built, "fran) mid 181h

to late 19'" centuries" (ICOMOS,1999:2) except to (MoV andUNESCO 1999:3) that states "astructure Inay be consideredancestral or has a cultural value ifit is at least 50 years old"

• No detailed design characteristic isprovided for reference except "thearchitecture of which is of Hispanicand Chinese influence", and is thusopen to variable interpretationsandpractices;

• It allows for modern buildings,which have distant character fromthe ancestral houses to be built onvacant lots of Vigan which willsoon dilute the urban characteristicofVigan;

b. (Sections 3-16): Technical guidelinesOne of the streng ths of this Ordinancelies in the detailed technical guidelineson ma intenance and restoration ofancestral houses which was preparedby a team of three local experts, a monthbefore the official vis it by the ICOMOSexperts to evaluate the nomination ofVigan to the World Heritage: Hon.Francisco Ranches Junior, Chairman ofTourism, Dr. Ferdinand Lamarca, VicePresident (Planning, Research and

Section 4

Section 9

Section10

Section 11

d. (Sections 17-22) : Establish ViganConservation Co uncil (VCC) and itsTechnical Working Group (TWG).To consolida tc the management of .cultural properties in Vigan, thisordinance formalises the creation ofVigan Conserva tion Council (VCC)andits Technical Working Gro up (TWG).Both VCC and TWG were firstintroduced by Mayor Eva Marie S.Med ina by the issuance of ExecutiveOrder No . 03/1999 on the 3'" March1999.Legally, VCC, whose members arethe leaders of all the major stakeholdergro ups in Vigan, is now responsiblefor planning, eva luating, approving or

TheScope aiu! Lintitations ofLegal lns!rumcnts

of d ifferent colour schemes, but doesmake itcompulsory for thehome ow nersto use the traditiona l lime-wash on limeplastering.

c. (Sec tion 16) : Guide lines on newarchitectureThe Ordinance also provides guidelineson the introduction of new architecturein Vigan wi th the hope that the newbuildings will blend themselves we llw ith the ex is ting con texts and thusenhance the value of heritage in Vigan.Specifically, it provides limita tion interms of building heights, roof formsand materials, as well as the finishesof external walls. Wh ile the guide linestrictly controls the building heights,which should be applauded, it allowsthe use of modern rna terials with lesscontro l and fails to la y down theprinciples behind these guidelines, aswhat was recommended by ICOMOS(1972).Th is could be one of the reasonsfor less successful in tervention ofthe new shopping complex next toSt. Paul's Cathedral. The problem willbe mo re ser ious when a proposal ismade to fill in the vacant lot betweenancestral ho uses w here the desire tomaintain the continuity of form andfunc tion is higher, and Section 16 isclearly inadequa te to face suchproposals .

These gu idelines are wide ranging andprovide methods of repair, maintenanceand restora tion of ex isting ancestralho uses, which arc mostly in a bad stateof repair. TI,e issuing of these gu idelinesis very timely since one of the problemsfaced by Vigan and the Philippines ingeneral is the absence of clearmethodologtes of conserva tion ashighlig h ted by Delumen (2002: 2).However, these guidelines have severalshortcomings. Section 5, for exampleprovides the methods of repair andmaintenance for brick wa lls and limeplastering, but no t on cleaning, repairand maintenance of timber wall pane ls,in particu lar, the 'wood-brick' houseswhich feat ure wall panels on the firstfloo r;Section 7 provides guidelines onreplacing window jam bs, but not oncleaning and replacing the mostimportant features of ancestral houses:mph and persiana windows. Similarly,Section 10 allows for rep lacement ofmo ulding and decorative elements ofthe ceiling from wood to alternativematerials, and Section 13 allows the use

Section 12Section 13

Section 5Section 6Sect ion 7Section 8

Extension) of the University of NorthernPhilippines (UNP) and Archt. FatimaRabang Alonzo, Dean of Archi tectureInstitut e at UNP as follows:Section 3 Guidelines for the

FoundationGuidelines for theGround Floor FlooringGuidelines for Walls .Guidelines for FloorsGuidelines for WindowsGu idelines for SecondFloor and StaircaseGuidelines for Electricaland Mechanical Sys temsGuidelines for Roof andCeilingsGuidelines forArchitecturalOrnaments and DetailsGuidelines for SignagesGuidelines for Paints

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loumal of Design aud fil e Built Enuironment

reject ing any p hysical in te rven tionand development w ithin the core andbuffer zo nes of Vigan. The TechnicalWorking Gr ou p (created within VCC)is a working committee to evaluate,revi ew and make recommend ations toVCC for fur th er dclibern tion anddecision. Detail s of VCC and its scopeare d iscussed fur ther under sub-chapter7.2 (Management Str uct ures of Vigan).

e. (Section 24): Pena ltiesTo encourage proper co nse rva tionmethodologi es a nd to prevent a nywrong in terventions to histor ic cultur alprop er ties in Vigan, this Ordinanceprov ides clauses for Penalties for thosefound v io la t in g this ordinance asfollows:

i. Firs t Offence 1,000.00 pesos [£12]ii. Second Offence 1,500.00 pesos [£18]iii. Third Offence or more 2,500.00pesos

[£30]

Com p ared to the penalties imposeunder Section 20 of Presidential DecreeNo. 374/ 1974, enacted almos t thirtyyear s ago, w hic h stip ulates tha t:

(Section 20:6)Any viola tio n of the pro vision s ofthis Act sh all, u pon conv ictions,s ubject the offender to a fine of notmore that ten thou sand pesos [£118]or imprisonment for a term of no tmore than tw o years 01' both up on thediscretion of the cour l. ..

the fines imposed under this Ord inanceare small. Even though the re has beenno case o f v iola tio n s ince thein trod uc tio n of thi s Ord inance 2000until the present d ay, as notified bythe Mayor's Office during the studyvisi t, sma ll fin es, sur ely will not be

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enough to restrain illegal interven tionas well as non co mpliance with theguidelines.

ConclusionAs a whole, the Heritage Ci ty of Vigan isnow sufficiently protected by means oflega lins trumen ts, both at nati onal and locallevels. Even thou gh the government of thePhilippines ratified wholly to the Worl dHeritage Co nvention only in 1985, it tookimmediate steps to consolida te their legalinstruments relating to the protecti on ofcultura l properti es as recommen ded by theCo n ven ti o n s in ce 1973 (P resident ia lDecree No. 260 /1 973). At nationa l levelPresidential Decree No. 374/ 1974 remainsthe princip a l lega l inst r ument on th eprotection of cultu ral property in the countryand has prov id ed so lid foundat ions fo rth e in troduction of more s pecific lega lins truments at local levels. However, theseins trumen ts hav e several w eak nesses,such as sys tem o f incentives, penalties , thebroad tenninology and scope of heritageas we ll as o verlapping o f tasks andresponsibil ities between nati onal agencies.At local level, the cultural proper ties inViga n are p rot ected by four Ordinances :No. 12/1997, No. 14/1997, No. 06 / 1999and No. 4/2000, of which Ordinances No .14/1 997 and No. 4/ 2000 rem ain the mostimpor tant instruments to dat e, The form erprovides genernl conserva tion principlesand the latter prov ides extensive technicalg u ide li nes on repai r, maintenance o fancestral ho uses, as well as on introductionof new buildings within histori cal con texts.Ord ina nce No. 4/ 2000 rem ains the mostuseful d ocum e n t wi th re ga rd tomaintena nce , repair and res tora tion ofances tral hou ses and to the respon sibili tiesan d functions of Vigan Co nserva tio nCo uncil. To better prot ect the heritage inVigan by mean s of lega l instruments, it isprop osed tha t Local Ordinance No . 04 /2000 be rev iewed . To reflect the conten ts ofthe Ordinance , that not on ly focuses onrestor ation g u id e li nes of a nces t ra lhouses , but o pen spaces, s treetsca pe,

new architecture and es tablishment ofmanagemen t council, it is proposed thatthe ti tle of the Ordinance be changed suchas 'An Ordinance Enacting ConservationGuidelines for Cultura l Prope r ty ofVigan and the Es tab lis hmen t of ViganConserva tion Counci l'.

Spec ifically, it is also recomme nded thatamendments be made on the follow ingsect ions :

a. Seciion Z: ScopeTh is secti on limits the sco pe of thisOrd ina nce to cover on ly ances tralhouses in Vigan, but the whole contentsof this Ordinance really is much widerto include open spaces, streetscape andnew architecture. Therefo re, it isrecommended that the words 'ancestralho uses' be changed to 'cultura lproper ty' . Th is sec tion also provides aforma l defini tion of ancestral housesthat limits its exis tence to at least fiftyyears and "which is of Hispanic andChinese in fl ue nce". To encourageuni formity in design, and to avoidmistreatmen t, it is recommended thatspecia l characteristics of ancestralhouses be drawn.

b. Section 5: Guidelinesfor walls.Section 5(a) to 5(d) provi de de tailedguidelines on repairand restorationof Inasonry wall; and no guide lineis given for repair and restorationof wooden pa nels or walls.Therefore, it is recommended thatsub-sections on repair andres to ra tion of wooden walls beincluded :

• Section 5(e) Cleaning of timberpanels and wa lls

• Section 5(1) Repai r o f timbe rpanels and wa lls

• Sec tion 5(g) Replace men t oftim ber panels and wa lls

TheScope and Liniiuuion« of Legal/Ilstl'/Illlfllts

c. Section 7: Guidelinesfor toindotosSection 7 provides guidelines forre pl aci ng window jam bs; but noguide lines are given on cleaning andreplacement of capiz and persiannwindows. Therefore, the Researchrecommends for inclus ion of sub­sections:• Section 7(b) Cleaning of capizand

persiana wi ndows• Sec tion 7(c) Repl acement of capiz

and persia/In windows

d. Section l i):Guidelinesfor roofandceiiing«Sec tion 10(d) specifies me thods andmaterials for replacement of mouldingand decora tive elements of the ceiling,but allows for re pl a ce m ent withdifferent materials:

(Section 10:7)Missing and broken mouldings anddecorative elements of the ceilingmay be replaced by copying thedime nsion of any exis ting por tionof the wood element, and by usingmaterial that closely resembles theold wood species.

Since these elements are of wood,small in numbers and are impor tantfeatures in ancestral ho uses, imitationshould not be allowed. Therefore, it isalso recommended for the amendmentof this clause:

(Section 10:7)Missing and broken mould ings anddecorative elements of the ceilingshould be replaced by similardesign and in the same materialsas the old one .

e. Section Ts: Guidelines for paintsSections 13(a) to (e) provide guidelinesand choice of colours for internal andexterna l paints, but are silent on thespecific typ e of pa int. Since all theInasonry wa lls of ancestral houses arcplastered with lime; then it is importantthat only lime wash be used. To protect

93

[ournal ofDesign and theBuil! Enuironment

against mistreatment, it is recommendedfor inclusion of Section 13(f) that reads:

Both interior and exterior wallsshall be painted with lime wash,and the usc of modern acrylic paintis prohibited.

f. Section 16 : New ArchitectureSection 16 provides guidelines for newarchitecture in Vigan that controlsbuilding heights, roof forms, roofmaterials, exterior walls, and specialfeatures and allows for the use ofmodern materials and constructiontechniques . To some extent theseguidelines are too detailed. In theabsence of clear principles on newarchitecture, these guidelines can easilybe mistreated and abused . It isrecommended that a clear principle onnew architecture be included assuggested by ICOMOS (1972a).

g. Section 24: Pellol ClouseThis Section provides penalties for non­compliance to this Ordinance, but theamount is far too small for it to beeffective:

Any person found violating thisordinance shall be subjected to afine of:a. First Offence rt.ooo [£12]b. Second Offence 1,500 [£18]c.Third Offence or more 2,500[£30]

Therefore, it is recommended forrevision of these fines to an amountsubstantial enough to prevent violation,and to consider other options such asimprisonment as included in Section 5of the Presidential Decree No . 1505(RaP, 1978) and reconstruction asrecommended by UNESCO (1972):

(UNESCO 1972: Article 48)..and should include provision for therestoration of an effected site to itsorig inal state in accordance with

94

established scientific and technicalstandards.

To encourage restoration by the privatehomeowner, it is recommended theOrdinance to include awards andincentives in various forms such aspublicity, plaque, tax exemption andmonetary rewards, to name a e w .

The amendments to the current legalinstruments are necessary so tha t theheritage of Vigan will be better protected andsafeguarded for now and futuregenerations.

ReferencesDelumen, B., 2002. Cultural HeritageProtection Activities in the Philippines:Problems and Needs. Available at http://www.nara .accu.or.jp / english / topics /technological/philippines.htm!. Accessedon 18'h Feb 2003.

ICOMOS, 1972. Resolution of theSymposium on the Introduction ofContemporary Architecture into AncientGroups of Buildings . 3'd GeneralAssembly, Budapest, June 1972.

ICOMOS, 1975 . Resolution of theIn terna tiona I Sym posi UIl1 on theConservation of Smaller Historic Towns.4'h General Assembly, Rothenburg, May1975.

ICOMOS, 1989. Report to the WorldHeritage Committee on Vigan, Philippines.September 1989.

ICOMOS, 1999. Report of Vigan(Philippines) No: 502Rev. September 1999.

ICOMOS Australia, 1999. The AustralianICOMOS Charter for Places of CulturalSignificance. Australia, 1979. (The BurraCharter 1999)

ICOMOS New Zea land, 1992. Cha rter forthe Co nserva tion of Places of Cultu ra lHeritage Value, New Zealand, October1992.

Municipality of Vigan, 1997. OrdinanceNo.12/1997: An Ordinan ce Defining TheCo re and Buffer Zo ne o f th e Hi st oricTown of Vigan and th e Historical ,Cu lt ura l, Ed uca tion, Aes the ti c andEcono mic Parameters of Its Preservationand Developm ent. Sep t. 01, 1997, Vigan,Philippines.

Municipality of Vigan, 1997a. OrdinanceNo.14/1997 : Ord inance Provid in g theGuidelines in the Conservation of theHistoric Town of Vigan. Oc t. 6'h, 1997,Vigan , Philippines.

Municipality of Viga n, 1999. OrdinanceNo .06 / 1999: An Ordinance AmendingCertain Provi sions of Ordinan ce No. 12/1997 by Red efining the Boundaries of theCo re and Buffer Zones of the HistoricalTown of Vigan . Aug. 30"', 1999, Vigan,Philippines.

Municip ality of Vigan, 2000. Ordinan ceNo .04/2000: An Ordinance Enacting thePrese rvation and Conservation Guideli nesfor Vigan Ancest ral Houses.24'hApr il 2000,Vigan, Philippines.

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Republic of the Philippines, 1965. RepublicAct No. 4368 : An Ac t to Establish aNati onal Historical Commission , to Defineits Powers and Functions, Authorizing theAppropriate of Funds Therefore , and forO ther Purp ose s. June 1965. Manila,Philippines.

TheScope attdLimitations ofLegnl lnstn unents

Rep ublic of th e Philippines, 1973a .Co ns ti tu tio n o f th e Re pu b lic o f th ePhilippin es,1973, Manil a, Philippin es.

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Republi c o f the Philippines, 1978.Presid enti al Decree No. 1505: AmendingPresidenti al Decree No. 260, As Am ended,By Prohibiting th e Unauthori sedMo difica tion, A lteratio n, Repair andDes truction of Origi nal Fea tures of AllNa tional Shrines, Monuments, Landmarksand Othe r Important Historic Edi fices,Manila, Philippines. [un n -,1978. Manila,Ph ilippines.

Republic o f th e Ph ili p p ines, 1987.Constitution of th e Republic o f thePhilippines, 1987, Manila, Ph ilipp ines.

Rep u blic o f th e Phi lipp ines, 1989.Nomina tion of Vigan For Inclusion in theWorld Heritage List , UNESCO . Manila,Philippines.

Republic of the Philippines, 1991. RepublicAct No. 7160 : Book 1lI - Th e LocalGovernment Code of the Phil ippines, 1999.Manil a, Philippines.

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Iournn!afDesigllalld tile Bllilt Environment

Republic o f th e Phili pp in es, 1992.Rep ublic Act No. 7356 : An Act Creatingthe Nat ional Commission for Cult ureand the Arts, Es tabli sh in g a Na tio na lEndo w me n t Fu nd for Cultu re and theArts, and for o the r Pu rposes. April 3'd,1992. Manila, Philippines .

Repub li c o f the Ph ilipp ines, 1996 .Exe cu t ive O rder No. 358/ 1996Creating a Presidenti al Commiss ion forthe Prese rv ati on, Co ns e rv ation an dPreservation of the Vigan Heritage Village.Manila, Phili ppines.

Re pu b lic o f th e Philippines, 1998.Nomina tion Dossier : The His toric Townof Vigan, Manila, Phili ppines.

Ric ardo, Fav is 1998. Pl ann in g Forthe Conser vation and Sus ta inab leDevelopment of Historic Vigan. 7'"Seminal'on the Conserva tion of As ian Cultura lHe rita g e . To ky o Na tio nal Res earchInstitute of Cultural Properties, Tokyo.

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UNESCO, 1972. Reco mmendat ionConcern ing the Pro tecti on , at Na tionalLevel , o f th e Cu lt ur a l an d NaturalHeritage, Paris .

UNESCO, 1972a. Conven tion Concerningthe Pro tection of the World Cul tural andNatural Heritage, Pari s, 1972. (The WorldHeritage Convention)

UN ESCO, 1976. Recommendati onConcerning The Sa feg ua rd ing andCon tem porary Role of Hi s toric Areas.191h Session of General Conference, 26 th

Oct - 3D'" Novembe r 1976, Nairobi.

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