By Charissa Luci-Atienza "Our culture is our story as our nation." Deputy Speaker and Antique Rep. Loren Legarda
(Loren Legarda official Facebook page / MANILA BULLETIN) This was stressed by Deputy Speaker and Antique lone district Rep. Loren Legarda, as she pushed for the passage of her bill seeking to strengthen the conservation and protection of national cultural heritage. Under House Bill No. 6891, the House leader sought to amend Republic Act No. 10066 to mandate all local government units (LGUs) to conduct a cultural mapping of their areas for both tangible, and intangible and natural and built heritage. "The fundamental goal of cultural mapping is to educate and help the nation visualize its rich heritage while allowing for reflection of what it stands to lose as a result of its collective apathy," she said in her bill's explanatory note. Quoting the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Legarda said cultural mapping, or heritage mapping, is a vital tool and technique in providing society an overall framework in the preservation of its cultural heritage, either tangible or intangible. “Our culture and heritage are vital components of our identity and make us unique from the rest of the world. As we face a better normal, we should also remember who we are, through the culture and heritage that predate us. A better normal also means understanding and preserving one’s past for the sake of a better future,” the chairperson of the House Defeat COVID-19 Committee-New Normal Cluster said. Under House Bill No. 6891, cultural heritage mapping shall refer to the approach used to identify, record, and use cultural resources, and activities for building communities. It is a set of activities and processes for exploring, discovering, documenting, examining, analyzing, interpreting, presenting, and sharing information related to people, communities, societies, places and the material products and practices associated with the people and places, it said. The measure requires LGUs to conduct a comprehensive cultural heritage mapping of their areas, including tangible and intangible heritage, and natural and built heritage structures. It tasks the LGUs to mobilize and partner with concerned agencies, including the Commission on Higher Education (CHED), Department of Agriculture (DA), Department of Education (DepEd), Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Department of Science and Technology (DOST), and Department of Tourism (DOT) to ensure prompt and effective implementation of the proposed Act. HB 6891 provides the inclusion of indigenous knowledge systems, skills and practices through the appropriate "Schools of Living Traditions (SLTS)" Models in the list of cultural heritage education programs that will be implemented within one year from the effectivity of the proposed Act.