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By Rommel C. Lontayao, Reporter
The Intramuros Administration has announced
plans to build a museum at the ruins of the San Ignacio Church.
Bambi Harper, administration chief, said
the new ecclesiastical museum will house artifacts, sculptures, and
numerous works of art during the Spanish colonial period.
“We will transfer most of our museum
collections to the ecclesiastical museum to be built on the area
where the ruins of San Ignacio are located,” said Harper, who
admitted that there was barely enough space for the museum items to
be stored in the administration office located at the fifth floor of
the Palacio del Gobernador building.
Architect Augusto Rustia, head of the
agency’s Cultural Property Conservation Division, said almost all
of the items, numbering more than 8,000 pieces, will be transferred
to the San Ignacio ecclesiastical museum if plans for its
construction push through.
“Out of the more than 8,000 museum items
that we have, more than half are religious objects, such as busts
and sculptures of saints. It is only appropriate that we place them
in an ecclesiastical museum, built near the ruins of an old
church,” Rustia said.
He confirmed that there are now too many items
that are being kept in the Intramuros Administration office and in a
storage room.
“We have to display these items, because it
would be unfortunate if they will just be kept inside the bodega,”
he said, adding that if the items will be put in a museum,
conservators will give proper and due attention to the artifacts.
He said that though the Intramuros
Administration has a conservator who periodically checks on the
condition of the items, it would be more appropriate to have them
regularly checked by art conservators of a museum.
Rustia added that the agency will try to
retrieve some of its items currently on loan.
“There are institutions such as the
National Museum and the National Historical Institute who still have
in their possession a number of items owned by the Intramuros
Administration. The lending of the items was effected by MOAs
[memoranda of agreements]. We will try to retrieve some of the
items,” he said.
Meanwhile, aside from the ecclesiastical
museum to be built on half of the 3,190-square meter area of the San
Ignacio ruins, Harper said other new structures and establishments
will be built in the Walled City as part of the redevelopment of
Intramuros.
“Aside from museums, we will try to build a
bookstore, a drugstore, a supermarket, and other establishments to
attract businesses to invest in Intramuros while keeping in mind not
to destroy the historical and heritage component of the area,”
Harper said.
She also believes that
government-initiated projects such as the relighting of the walls,
and strict implementation of building requirements in the area and
organizing events such as the Flametree Festival would restore the
lost glory of Intramuros.
“We cannot attract investors when there
is no order. The government’s responsibility is to put some order
in Intramuros because at present, there is no order,” she added.
Harper said she is optimistic that “there are
things that we can do despite all the problems in Intramuros.”
She pointed out that Filipinos should
recognize that the root problem is “that many never treated
Intramuros as a special heritage site.”
“Intramuros is the only tourist
attraction in Manila. It is an asset that can give us, not only
money because of tourism, but also a sense of pride in our culture
and heritage,” she said.
The Walled City is home to many of
Manila’s historical landmarks such as forts, plazas, churches,
museums, schools and ruins of old structures built during Hispanic
times.
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