The

Philippine
Cultural
Heritage


Philippine Culture
Heritage

Definition

Dimensions of Heritage

Tangible Heritage

Intangible Heritage
 What is
Cultural Heritage?

Cultural Heritage is an expression of the ways of living developed

by a community and passed on from generation to generation,
including customs, practices, places, objects, artistic expressions
and values. Cultural Heritage is often expressed as either
Intangible or Tangible Cultural Heritage (ICOMOS, 2002).
Source: http://www.unesco.org/new/en/culture/themes/illicit-trafficking-of-cultural-property/unesco-database-of-national- cultural-heritage-laws/frequently-asked-
questions/definition-of-the-cultural heritage/
 What is
Cultural Heritage?

As part of human activity Cultural Heritage produces tangible

representations of the value systems, beliefs, traditions and
lifestyles. As an essential part of culture as a whole, Cultural
Heritage, contains these visible and tangible traces form antiquity
to the recent past.

Source: http://www.unesco.org/new/en/culture/themes/illicit-trafficking-of-cultural-property/unesco-database-of-national- cultural-heritage-laws/frequently-asked-

questions/definition-of-the-cultural heritage/
 Philippines
Located in the continent of Asia, the Philippines is the second
largest archipelago in the world after Indonesia. There are more
than 7,100 individual islands counted within the Philippines
borders, of which only about 2,000 are inhabited.

The islands are clustered into the three major island groups of
Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao- while a further 5,000 islands are
yet to be named.

The Philippines covers 115,124 square miles of land and 706

square miles of water, making it the 73rd largest nation in the
world with a total area of 115,830 square miles.
 Tangible Heritage
Natural Heritage

— Environment — Flora and

Fauna
•Natural Landscape • Terrestrial
• Landforms • Marine
•Coastal and Inland Water Sources
 Tangible Heritage
• Man-made Built Heritage
- Cultural Landscape

- Historic Urban Sites / Heritage

- Archaeological Sites
Groups

- Monuments, Buildings or
Structures
 Tangible Heritage

Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park

Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Heritage Park, 2015 United Nations Educational, Scientific, and
Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage Site, 1993

Location: Middle of the Sulu Sea, 181 kilometers southeast of Puerto Princesa, Palawan
Tubbataha is every diver's heaven.
It is, after all, right smack in the center of the Coral Triangle, the global
center of marine biodiversity. Housed in almost 100,000 hectares of the
reef ecosystem are over 350 species of coral, almost 500 species of fish,
and various kinds of whales, dolphins, sharks, and turtles. It also
protects one of the few remaining colonies of breeding seabirds. It was
the first-ever national marine park to be declared in the country after it
was established in 1988 by former President Corazon Aquino.
 Tangible Heritage
Mount Hamiguitan Range Wildlife
Sanctuary
United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage Site, 2014
Location: Mati, San Isidro, Davao Oriental, Philippines

Forming a mountain ridge running north-south along the Pujada

Peninsula in the south-eastern part of the Eastern Mindanao
Biodiversity Corridor, the Mount Hamiguitan Range Wildlife Sanctuary
has an elevation range of 75-1,637 m above sea level and provides
critical habitat for a range of plant and animal species. The property
showcases terrestrial and aquatic habitats at different elevations, and
includes threatened and endemic flora and fauna species, eight of which
are found only at Mount Hamiguitan. These include critically
endangered trees, plants and the iconic Philippine eagle and Philippine
cockatoo.
 Tangible Heritage

Mayon Volcano

Location: province of Albay in Bicol Region, Philippines

Beautifully symmetrical Mayon volcano, which rises to 2462 m above the
Albay Gulf, is the Philippines' most active volcano. The structurally simple
volcano has steep upper slopes averaging 35-40 degrees that are capped by a
small summit crater. The historical eruptions of this basaltic-andesitic
volcano date back to 1616 and range from strombolian to basaltic plinian, with
cyclical activity beginning with basaltic eruptions, followed by longer term
andesitic lava flows. Eruptions occur predominately from the central conduit
and have also produced lava flows that travel far down the flanks. Pyroclastic
flows and mudflows have commonly swept down many of the approximately
40 ravines that radiate from the summit and have often devastated populated
lowland areas. Mayon's most violent eruption, in 1814, killed more than 1200
people and devastated several towns.
Tangible Heritage
Puerto Princesa Subterranean
River National Park

Inscribe in the UNESCO World Heringe Soes in 1999

Location: Saint Paul Mountain Range on the northern coast of Palawan
The Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park
features a spectacular limestone karst landscape with its
underground river. The river is unique because it flows
directly into the sea, and its lower portion is subject to tidal
influences. The area also represents a significant habitat for
biodiversity conservation. The site contains a whole ecosystem-
from mountain to the sea; and protects forests, which are
among the most significant in Asia.
 Tangible Heritage

Chocolate Hills

Location: Bohol, Philippines

The Chocolate Hills form a rolling terrain of haycock-shaped hills mounds of a

generally conical and almost symmetrical shape. Estimated to be from 1,268 to about
1,776 individual mounds, these cone-shaped or dome- shaped hills are actually made of
grass-covered limestone. The domes vary in sizes from 30 to 50 metres (98 to 164 ft)
high with the largest being 120 metres (390 ft) in height. Bohol's "main attraction",
these unique mound-shaped hills are scattered by the hundreds.

During the dry season, the grass- covered hills dry up and turn chocolate brown. This
transforms the area into seemingly endless rows of Hershey's "chocolate kisses" The
branded confection is the inspiration behind the name, Chocolate Hills
Tangible Heritage
Baroque Churches of the
Philippines

Inscribed in the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1993

These four churches, the first of which was built by the Spanish in the
late 16th century, are located in Manila, Santa Maria, Paoay and
Miag-ao. Their unique architectural style is a reinterpretation of
European Baroque by Chinese and Philippine craftsmen.

1. Church of the Immaculate Conception of San Agustin (Manila)

2. Church of La Nuestra Senora de la Asuncion
3. Church of San Agustin (Paoay)
4. Church of Santo Tomas de Villanueva
 Tangible Heritage

San Agustin Church

Location: Intramuros

Built in 1587, the San Agustin Church is the oldest stone church in the Philippines, the only one that remains as
the original evidence of the 16th century Spanish architecture. It has defied several earthquakes and the heavy
shelling of both Japanese and American forces in 1945 and now stands as a reminder of the grandeur of the past.

The structural design of the church is extraordinary. It boasts of the only example in the country of a barrel vault,
dome and arched vestibules, supporting its choir loft, all made of stone. Its façade is notable for its two pairs of
columns- the lowest pair in Doric style, the upper pair in Corinthian topped by a pediment surmounted by a Cross.
The main door, carved out of Philippine molave, has a bas-relief of St. Augustine and his mother, Santa Monica.
San Agustin Church represents the art and technology of Spanish. Chinese, and native cultures fused together "to
suit human sentiments and faiths that found expression in customs and traditions that were evolved through the
centuries."
 Tangible Heritage
Nuestra Señora de la Asuncion
Church

Location: Santa Maria, llocos Sur

The Church of Nuestra Senora de la Asuncion in Santa Maria is unique for its utter disregard for the
traditional Spanish urban plan of constructing the church to face the plaza, and less imposing religious
and official buildings grouped around. It also has a citadel appearance as the church, with its convent and
bell tower, stands alone on the crown of a solitary hill encircled by a stonewall, with stone stairways
leading to the church.

It is the only church in the Philippines exuding the ambience of a Mediterranean hill town with its
convent built parallel to the church façade and its bell tower detached from the main church. Evoking a
Chinese pagoda, the bell tower of octagonal shapes of decreasing diameter is crowned by a small dome,
tapering to the sky with an oriental grace.
 Tangible Heritage
Church of San Agustin

Location: Paoay, Ilocos Norte, Philippines

Paoay's San Agustin Church, built in 1604, is one of the most outstanding variants of "earthquake baroque" in
the Philippines, where the primary consideration was to design the structure for earthquake protection.

The façade of San Agustin Church is astounding but its most prominent feature is the phalanx of buttresses that
juts out perpendicularly from the sidewalls, purposely to strengthen the walls and the entire structure against
earthquake damage. Fourteen massive S-shaped buttresses rise in rhythmic cadence from the ground to the
roofline.

The church is an eye-catcher as it emerges from a beautiful open space, unlike many other churches located
within urban settings.
 Tangible Heritage
Miag-ao Church or Church of
Santo Tomas de Villanueva

Location: Iloilo, Philippines

Built in yellow-orange sandstone, the large fortress-church of Miag-ao was

completed in 1797. It served as a fortress against raids of marauding Moro pirates.

The church is amazingly beautiful because of its two asymmetric pyramidal towers
and its finely sculptured, yellow sandstone façade. Its façade's carving is the pinnacle
of Filipino naïve art, in which craftsmen abandon all restraints to interpret Western
decorative styles in the local folk idiom. The central element in the façade is Saint
Christopher, clad like a Filipino farmer with rolled-up trousers. He carries the Christ
Child on his back while holding on to a lush coconut tree for support. Beside him are
guava and papaya trees, flanked by ornamental urns. The scene merges Western
Catholic iconography with a folk interpretation of coastal Iloilo countryside
 Tangible Heritage

Historic Town of Vigan

Inscribed in the UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 1999

Location: Vigan locos Sur, Philippines

The 16th century town of Vigan is "an exceptionally intact and well-preserved example of a European
trading town in East and East Asia." Its architecture reflects the fusion of cultural elements from the
Philippines, China and Europe, resulting in a culture and townscape that has no parallel anywhere in
East and Southeast Asia.

Seemingly impervious to time, spared from rebellion and the ravages of war, Vigan has remained
unchanged and its many preserved historic sites more than 180 edifices - make it look like "a piece of
Spain." With its grand cathedral, massive mansions with red-tile roofs and spacious balconies,
narrow cobblestone streets, horse drawn carriages, and friendly faces peering out of large windows,
Vigan is a place where "time stood still."
 Tangible Heritage

Rice Terraces
Inscribed in the UNESCO World Heritage Siter in 1995
Location: guo Province. Condillera Region Philippines

The 2,000-year old Banaue Rice Terraces the most extensive anywhere in the world-were carved into the mountains of Ifugao
by ancestors of the Batad indigenous people. The terraces are located approximately 1.500 meters (5,000 feet) above sea level
and cover 10.360 square kilometers (about 4,000 square miles) of the mountainside.

Known as the "eight wonder of the world." the terraces were carved with only simple tools and bare hands. They are fed by an
ancient irrigation system, an ingenious complex of bamboo pipes and canals, drawing water from streams created by
bubbling springs located in the mountain rainforests.

Considered as a monument to man's genius in turning a rugged and forbidding terrain into a source of sustenance, the rice
terraces stand to be the most awe-inspiring man-made landscape in the Cordilleras. They are also invariably called "The
Stairway to the Sky
 Tangible Heritage
Magellan's Cross

Location: Cebu City, Philippines

Magellan's Cross holds a very big part of the history of

Cebu. It is believed to be a Christian cross planted by the
Portuguese and Spanish explorers headed by Ferdinand
Magellan. It was planted upon their arrival in Cebu on
March 115, 1521. That day also marked the birth of
Christianity in the land.
 Tangible Heritage

Batanes

Location: Batanes, Philippines

Characterized by a complex of terrestrial. wetland and marine ecosystem, the Batanes group of islands consist
of 10 small islands bounded by the Eashi Channel on the north, by the Pacific Ocean on the east, by the South
China Sea on the west and the Balintang Channel on the south. It is one of the last remaining areas in the
Philippines having unique natural physiographic features (wave-cut cliffs, cave- like outcrops, secluded white
sand beaches) resulting from its position where strong winds and fast currents have etched out its distinct
morphology. It is an important flyaway for many migratory bird species, and the deper portions of the marine
environment are the few remaining sites where pink and red corals (Corallum sp.) are found. The site is the
only area in the Philippines where traditional architecture is of stone in response to the wind and monsoon
stresses rather than of the more typical, tropical, impermanent materials (wood, bamboo, thatch) commonly
used in village architecture. Due to its isolation from the rest of the country, the traditional culture of the area
has likewise remained intact.
 Tangible Heritage

Rizal Park

Location: Bananes, Philippines

Still widely known as 'Luneta' (its name until the 1950s), Manila's iconic central park
is spread out over some 60 hectares of open lawns, ornamental gardens, ponds, paved
walks and wooded areas, dotted with monuments to a whole pantheon of Filipino
heroes. As the place where José Rizal was executed by the Spanish colonial authorities,
it's also of great historical significance. The Rizal Park Visitors Centre provides a map
detailing some 40 sights within the park.

Rizal Park an atmospheric place to take a stroll, particularly late afternoon, early
evening and on weekends. Here you'll find the Rizal Monument, fronted by a 46m
flagpole and guarded by sentries in full regalia, which contains the hero's mortal
remains and stands as a symbol of Filipino nationhood.
 Intangible Heritage
Culture
-Traditions (Oral and Written)

-Values - Customs

-Trade and Skills

 Intangible Heritage

Hudhud Chants of the Ifugao

Inscribed in 2008 (3.COM) on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural

Heritage of humanity originally proclaimed in 2001)

The Hudhud consists of narrative chants traditionally performed by the Ifugao community, which is well known for its rice terraces
extending over the highlands of the northern island of the Philippine archipelago. It is practised during the rice sowing season, at harvest
time and at funeral wakes and rituals. Thought to have originated before the seventh century, the Hudhud comprises more than 200
chants, each divided into 40 episodes. A complete recitation may last several days. Since the Ifugao's culture is matrilineal, the

wife generally takes the main part in the chants, and her brother occupies a higher position than her husband. The language of the
stories abounds in figurative expressions and repetitions and employs metonymy, metaphor and onomatopoeia, rendering transcription
very difficult. Thus, there are very few written expressions of this tradition. The chant tells about ancestral heroes, customary law,
religious beliefs and traditional practices, and reflects the importance of rice cultivation. The narrators, mainly elderly women, hold a key
position in the community, both as historians and preachers. The Hudhud epic is chanted alternately by the first narrator and a choir,
employing a single melody for all the verses.
 Intangible Heritage

Tugging rituals and games

Inscribed in 2015 (10.COM) on the Representative List of the Intangible

Cultural Heritage of Humanity

Tugging rituals and games in the rice-farming cultures of East Asia and Southeast Asia are enacted among communities to
ensure abundant harvests and prosperity. They promote social solidarity, provide entertainment and mark the start of a new
agricultural cycle. Many tugging rituals and games also have profound religious significance. Most variations include two
teams, each of which pulls one end of a rope attempting to tug it from the other. The intentionally uncompetitive nature of the
event removes the emphasis on winning or losing, affirming that these traditions are performed to promote the well-being of
the community. and reminding members of the importance of cooperation. Many tugging games bear the traces of
agricultural rituals, symbolizing the strength of natural forces, such as the sun and rain while also incorporating
mythological elements or purification rites. Tugging rituals and games are often organized in front of a village's communal
house or shrine, preceded by commemorative rites to local protective deities. Village elders play active roles in leading and
organizing younger people in playing the game and holding accompanying rituals. Tugging rituals and games also serve to
strengthen unity and solidarity and sense of belonging and identity among community members.
 Intangible Heritage

Buklog, thanksgiving ritual system of

the Subanen
Inscribed in 2019 (14.COM) on the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent
Safeguarding National Commission for Culture and the Arts of the Philippines, 2018

Buklog is an elaborate thanksgiving ritual system of the Subanen, an indigenous people in the southern Philippines. The head of a host
family, usually a village chief called "timuay plans the ritual system to express gratitude to the spirits. The rituals ensure harmony
among family, clan and community members, as well as among the human, natural and spiritual worlds. They include asking the
spirits for permission to gather materials from the forest, presenting coin offerings, inviting the spirits of the departed to feast,
invoking spirits of water and land, and music and dance. Afterwards, participants dance on an elevated wooden structure called the
'Buklog a sacred and social space- which resonates with a sound believed to please the spirits. This is followed by a community dance
marking the renewal of spiritual and social relationships within the community. Though the ritual system remains the community's
strongest unifying force, there are several social, political and economic threats that compromise its viability, notably the influx of other
cultures into the Subanen's traditional homeland, changes in family dynamics and economic constraints. Therefore, although the
Subanen have developed highly adaptive mechanisms to ensure their culture survives, the Buklog is now regarded as highly vulnerable,
facing several severe interrelated threats and constraints
 Intangible Heritage

Ati-Atihan Festival

The Ati-Atihan festival is celebrated every January,

culminating on the month's third Sunday. 800 years old,
the festival is known as the oldest festival in the country
and the precursor to both Cebu's famous Sinulog festival
and Iloilo's Dinagyang- all of which are held today in
honor of the Santo Niño (a statue of The Child Jesus).
But despite its Catholic affiliations today, the roots of
this festival had nothing to do with religion at all.
 Intangible Heritage

Sinulog Festival

The Sinulog festival is one of the grandest and most colorful festivals in the Philippines with a very rich history. The main
festival is held each year on the third Sunday of January in Cebu City to honor the Santo Niño, or the child Jesus, who used to be
the patron saint of the whole province of Cebu (since in the Catholic faith Jesus is not a saint, but God). It is essentially a dance
ritual which remembers the Filipino people's pagan past and their acceptance of Christianity.

The festival features some the country's most colorful displays of pomp and pageantry: participants garbed in bright-colored
costumes dance to the rhythm of drums, trumpets, and native gongs. The streets are usually lined with vendors and pedestrians
all wanting to witness the street-dancing. Smaller versions of the festival are also held in various parts of the province, also to
celebrate and honor the Santo Niño. There is also a Sinulog sa Kabataan, which is performed by the youths of Cebu a week
before the Grand Parade.

Aside from the colorful and festive dancing, there is also the SME trade fair where Sinulog features Cebu export quality
products and people around the world flock on the treasures that are Cebu.
Filipinos -
Americam
Relations
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ofPresentation