Preserving Tayabas
For about three decades now, Ryan Palad has been documenting, studying, and promoting the heritage of his hometown of Tayabas in Quezon Province.
A go-to historian of the city and a scholar, Palad has so far produced Tayabas’ first detailed book on its history in 2016, and advocated for the protection and conservation of its cultural patrimonies, many nationally recognized.
However, challenges remain particularly those related to development and redevelopment projects affecting the town’s unique cultural treasures, which include, among others, more than 20 Spanish-era bridges, old chapels, and a church dedicated to San Miguel Arcangel.
Preserving these heritage assets necessitated actual conservation and sweeping documentation efforts for them to be properly protected and to enable their continued use.
All these activities were chronicled in a book that should serve as a benchmark for others in documenting their own fight to conserve their respective heritages that are threatened primarily by human activities. Many government-funded projects, for one, are challenging the effectiveness on laws protecting heritage.
Palad’s “Tayabas: Documenting Heritage” is an excellent example of a publication that helps to preserve a locality’s identity, as well as provide case studies on conservation efforts anchored on research, in-depth analysis, and well-informed decisions.
A collection of scholarly studies, the book, according to International Council on Monuments and Sites-Philippines president Cheek Fadriquela, will “indubitably awaken” the Tayabasins and “embolden them to take affirmative action toward the conservation of their cultural heritage.”
Unesco National Commission of the Philippines director-general Ivan Henares also hailed it as “a much-needed reference for fellow advocates around the country and an inspiration to all.”
He described the author as the “institutional memory” for the heritage conservation of Tayabas.
Published by RJP Tayabas Books for the Tayabas Studies and Creative Writing Center, the book contains easily understandable academic essays on the conservation of movable objects; a tourism plan for the city; archaeological heritage through its cemeteries; threatened stone bridges; and its intangible cultural heritage asset, the Santacruzan.
It also has a proposal for the Conservation Management Plan of one of Tayabas’ Spanish-era chapels, the Nuestra Señora de las Angustias.
A significant contribution to the field of heritage conservation in the country, the book is a call to heritage-rich Tayabas to be well-informed and pursue an educated, scientific approach to preserve its ever-threatened patrimonies.
As Palad warned, “if ignored, we are bound to make our city an ordinary place, bereft of character and soul.”
