[MSN] COMMENTARY: History Lost in Cagayan de Oro.

[Museum Security Network Mailinglist]

COMMENTARY: History Lost in Cagayan de Oro   
Written by Elson T. Elizaga, Heritage Conservation Advocates / MindaNews

Thursday, 21 September 2006


CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY -- In the middle of last year in Toronto, I received an
email from a staff member of Anemon Productions, a Greek company of five
filmmakers and producers. Located in Athens, Anemon "produces documentaries
and television programmes for Greece and the international market and offers
production and post-production facilities as well as film archive research
expertise."

The email requested our organization, the Heritage Conservation Advocates 
(HCA), to submit an article and photos illustrating the state of 
archaeological looting in the Philippines. Our contribution would be 
included in "HISTORY LOST, a multi-media traveling exhibition about the 
illicit trade of antiquities in Greece, Cyprus and the world." The exhibit 
is now in the Benaki Museum in Athens.

After discussion with other members of the HCA, I sent a 500-word article 
with photos to Anemon. The following is an expanded version:

"Archaeological looting in the Philippines is quite common: Three hundred 
years of Spanish rule and 40 years of American occupation have created a 
population largely apathetic to its roots. Widespread poverty and stories 
about alleged treasures buried by Japanese soldiers during the Second World 
War have prodded many people to take anything of perceived value from caves 
and other sites. 

"This condition has made archaeological work in the Philippines frustrating.

Archaeology to most people is a vague occupation, and archaeologists are 
sometimes suspected as treasure hunters. Their presence in an area may cause

looting instead of protection of fossils and relics. When archaeologists 
leave a site after hours of painstakingly slow scraping, they might find in 
the morning that their carefully made plot has turned into an ugly, gaping 
hole. 

"In Cagayan de Oro and vicinities are looted archaeological sites. Years 
ago, treasure hunters blasted the Tagbalitang Caves with dynamites. Several 
potteries and other artifacts were destroyed, but a Xavier University (XU) 
group saved a few relics. Later, the place was bulldozed for some kind of 
land 'development'.

"In 1991, a National Museum archaeologist made a survey of Kros Rockshelter,

an XU property. Already the site showed indications of disturbance. Still he

found human bones, pots, and shards. But when an XU team examined the site 
in 2001, they found a tunnel apparently made by treasure hunters. The 
previous visit of the archaeologist could have made some people suspicious. 

"In 1999, the mayor of Cagayan de Oro initiated a plan to make a road-and-
bridge project that would cut the Open Site of Huluga, the venue of a 
prehistoric community. The plan would also require the destruction of 
ancient burial caves. Despite or probably because of persistent protests by 
the HCA, the mayor gave order to bulldoze the Open Site. The caves were 
spared but remain unprotected.

"Dr. Erlinda Burton, an archaeologist and current curator of Museo de Oro of

XU, discovered a midden in Huluga in 2003. It contained small animal bones 
and fossilized snails. She requested the landowner to protect the area. But 
the landowner - who served as guide to the National Museum archaeologist and

is an employee of the city tourism office - surrounded the site with a 
fence, and dug a deep hole there instead. He was not stopped by members of a

Christian chapel beside the site, or by the village and city politicians.

"Recently, the mayor of Manila desecrated the archaeological Arroceros Park,

despite protests by heritage conservationists.

"Incidents like these indicate that in many parts of the Philippines, 
archaeological and historical sites are seen merely as raw material for 
possible financial gain. They are not considered sacred, and not worthy for 
study and promotion. The situation is made more difficult by a centralized 
National Museum which does not have deputies in the provinces. It is also 
made confusing by the current President whose idea of cultural preservation 
is to declare her personal residence in Iligan City a national heritage."

Elson T. Elizaga is the webmaster of heritage.elizaga. net, the website of 
The Heritage Conservation Advocates (HCA). The HCA has an online forum that 
accepts non-HCA members. Send email to elson at elizaga. net