GHF in the News - 2010 News Archives

Intramuros among 200 heritage sites facing ruin

October 2010

Philippine Daily Inquirer
10/21/2010

MANILA, Philippines—Manila’s famous Walled City of Intramuros and Fort Santiago
are among the more than 200 global heritage sites in the developing world that are facing “irreversible loss and damage,” according to a recent report by the Global Heritage Fund (GHF).

The two remnants of the Spanish era in the Philippines are suffering from “insufficient management and development pressures,” the GHF, a California-based non-profit organization, said in a 68-page report titled “Saving our Vanishing Heritage.”

Of the approximately 500 global heritage sites in 100 of the lowest-income countries of the world (less than $3 to $5 a day per capita income), over 200 are facing destruction, the report said.

The GHF surveyed over 1,600 accounts published between 2000 and 2009 concerning the state of conservation of hundreds of major sites in the developing world and identified five manmade threats—development pressures, unsustainable tourism, insufficient management, looting, and war and conflict.

These threats cause 90 percent of the loss and destruction of the global heritage sites, the group said.

Revenue potential
If a worldwide effort was made for their preservation and responsible development, the GHF estimated that developing countries could generate over $100 billion a year by 2025 in “critically needed income and investment”.

“Beyond their economic value, global heritage sites represent humankind’s history, societal development, and scientific progress,” the GHF report said.

Serving at one time as the Philippines’ capital, Intramuros is a 64-hectare fortress built in 1571, separated from the rest of Manila by towering walls. Inside are Roman Catholic churches, like Manila Cathedral and St. Augustine Church.

Manila Cathedral is the fifth stone church of the city, and appears as a giant cross from the air. St. Augustine Church, built in 1599, is the oldest stone church in the Philippines.

Colegio de San Juan Letran and Ateneo Municipal used to operate inside Intramuros before World War II reduced many of the buildings to ashes.

The Walled City also housed the Governor’s Palace, the official residence of Spanish officials sent to the Philippines, and Fort Santiago, where national hero Jose Rizal was detained.

Shrine of Freedom
The fort was Spain’s major defense position in the Philippines. Its construction began in 1571 and was completed about 150 years later by Filipino forced labor.

The fort is also called the “Shrine of Freedom” in memory of heroic Filipinos who were jailed or killed there by the Spaniards and Japanese. Perhaps its most famous prisoner was Rizal, who was led from the fort to Bagumbayan (now Rizal Park) on Dec. 30, 1896, to be executed by a firing squad.

Other endangered heritage sites are found in Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Kenya, Iraq and Haiti.

Not UNESCO site
“Fewer than 80 of these sites are UNESCO World Heritage Sites,” the GHF report said. “The rest are without international recognition.”

Both Intramuros and Fort Santiago are not recognized as UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

“The global community can reverse this escalating crisis through satellite-based site monitoring, proper planning and training, performance-based management, scientific conservation, community-based development, and private-public partnerships—all within our reach and requiring minimal investment,” the foundation said.

Eliza Victoria, Inquirer Research
Sources: Global Heritage Fund, Inquirer Archives