Last week, an occasional visitor to Palta Small commented on the Department of Public Works and Highways’ removal of the waiting shed at the junction of the national highway and the provincial road.
The structure, occupying just a few square meters, should not have been removed as it was already part of the local history, the observer said.
Just a few months back, a post on the waiting shed at the Gogon junction also earned views on social media.
The structure has been there for as far as most people in their 50’s can remember.
Demolishing the concrete waiting shed would probably earn the same comment as the fate of its Palta counterpart.
But as far as existing law is concerned, any objection to such a plan would not prosper.
Recently, the Court of Appeals ruled on a petition for certiorari filed by the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) against the Ombudsman and current and former officials of Taytay, Rizal, over the demolition of the old municipal building and gym for the construction of a new provincial hospital.
NHCP Chairperson Rene Escalante opposed the demolition, saying that structures at least 50 years old are classified under RA 10066 as “Important Cultural Properties (ICP) are therefore protected from modification or demolition.”
In its decision, the Ombudsman initially held two of the officials liable for grave misconduct but later reconsidered and dismissed the complaint.
It likewise junked the charge for violation of RA 107666 but found probable cause to indict the same two officials for the crime. However, it would later dismiss the same after granting a motion for recon.
In ruling on the NHCP petition, the CA’s 14th Division, aside from noting that the Commission availed of the wrong remedy and filed the petition beyond the required period, stressed that Section 5 of RA 10066 is very clear.
“The mere fact that a structure is at least 50 years old will not automatically be covered by the presumption that that they are important cultural properties, as it must first attain the status of a cultural property,” the appeals court emphasized.
The Ombudsman has stated in its decision that the former definition of an ICP under RA 10066 has been amended by RA 11961, which refers to an ICP as “a cultural property that has exceptional cultural, artistic, and historical significance to the Philippines, and has been officially declared as such by law or the pertinent cultural agency or agencies.”
Anyone wishing to preserve the Gogon waiting shed or any other 50-year-old structure for that matter, would have to work for its declaration as an ICP.
*****
ENTERING HEAVEN. A minister dies and is waiting in line at the pearly gates. Ahead of him is a guy dressed in sunglasses, a loud shirt, leather jacket and jeans.
St. Peter addressed the guy, “Who are you, so that I may know whether or not to admit you to the kingdom of heaven?”
He replies, “I’m Joe Cohen, taxi driver.”
St. Peter consults his list, smiles and says to the taxi driver, “Take this silken robe and golden staff and enter the kingdom of heaven.”
When it was the minister’s turn, he stands erect and booms out, “I am Joseph Snow, pastor of Saint Mary’s for the past forty-three years.”
St. Peter consults his list and says to the minister, “Take this cotton robe and wooden staff and enter the kingdom of heaven.”
“Just a minute,” says the minister. “That man was a taxi driver and he gets a silken robe and golden staff, How can this be?”
“Up here, we work by results,” says St. Peter. “While you preached, people slept; while he drove, people prayed.”