Protecting San Fernando's Heritage

It was a painful lesson for San Fernando.  Way back in 1995, the City of San Fernando lost one of its most important heritage houses, the Abad Santos House.  Ironically, Fernandinos remained silent.  No one fought to save the house, apart from the Office of the Mayor, which found itself powerless amidst the bigger threat of lahar.

Once the residence of the couple Vicente Abad Santos and Toribia Basco, in that house were born their children: Pedro (founder of the Socialist Party of the Philippines and Assemblyman); Jose (Secretary of Justice, Justice of the Supreme Court, Patriot and Martyr); Antonio (Municipal President of San Fernando); Quirino (Municipal Councilor of San Fernando) and his son Quirino, Jr. (Associate Justice of the Court of Appeals and Secretary-General of the House of Representatives); and Salvador (Associate Justice of the Court of Appeals); and to their daughter Emilia, Agapito del Rosario (Mayor of Angeles, Patriot and Martyr).  It was an abode where great people once lived.  And nothing was done to save it.

San Fernando has to learn from this experience before more of these structures are lost.  That is why the City of San Fernando Historical and Cultural Society, together with the City Government of San Fernando, is pushing for the creation of the City of San Fernando Heritage District.

Just a few days ago, the National Historical Institute acceded to our request to send a survey team to San Fernando to determine which sites could be considered for national recognition.  Among those which are considered top priorities for markers are the City of San Fernando itself, the Cathedral of San Fernando, the Old Pampanga High School Building, the San Fernando Train Station, PASUDECO, and several heritage houses.

We call on the Sangguniang Panlungsod to help us in this effort.  Local legislation is needed to protect the poblacion area.  As we safeguard our historical structures, we must also ensure that any new building put up must not destroy the beauty of these old edifices.  Many heritage conservationists complain that the trend in Filipino architecture, for quite a while now, is designing new buildings without taking into consideration its surrounding structures. Thus, almost all the time, modern-looking buildings destroy the elegance of areas dotted with century-old houses.  Why not make even just the exterior of these new buildings look old?

The sad news is that San Fernando can no longer be declared a national historical landmark.  And the reason behind that is that fact that there are already so many alterations, unsightly buildings sprouting here and there, destroying the elegance of our historic core.  We may not be a Vigan, but if heritage conservation was done early on, we could have found ourselves at the level of other heritage towns such as Taal in Batangas, Silay in Negros Occidental, and San Miguel de Mayumu in Bulacan.

     A bamboo and nipa banquet hall is built for the arrival of the Secretary of War 
     William Howard Taft in San Fernando on August 12, 1905.  Taft would later become 
     president of the United States of America.

The town of San Fernando was founded in 1754.  Two years from now, in 2004, we will be celebrating our 250^th founding anniversary. Another celebration during that year is the centennial of the transfer of the capital of Pampanga from Bacolor to San Fernando.  And many activities have been lined up to commemorate these events.  During that year, we also hope to inaugurate the City Museum and Library of San Fernando.  The success of these endeavors will mainly rely on the amount of support that Fernandinos are willing to give to keep the culture and history of the City alive.

     The Pampanga Sugar Development Company (PASUDECO) Sugar Central in
     Brgy. Sto. Niño, City of San Fernando.  It is still processing sugar until today.

The business community could also make projects of their own, to revitalize our historic core.  The Pampanga Lodge, for example, could be converted into a first-class bed and breakfast facility.  In fact, that is the trend in tourism in other countries.  The PASUDECO Sugar Central could improve its facilities in order to be an educational destination as well.  If done, students as far as Manila could be invited to visit, in order to learn how sugar is made, as well as the history of sugar farming and its contribution to the province and the nation. A museum could even be created to augment these educational trips. 

The San Fernando Train Station could be converted to a Death March Museum and Memorial.  It is ironic that when American veterans fly back to the Philippines, they visit Bataan and Capas, but rarely pass by San Fernando, despite the fact that it was a major transit point.  And this is mainly because the train station was left to rot.

     The Old Pampanga High School Building.  The Save Pampanga Movement will house
     the Museong Kapampangan and Kapampangan Cultural Center in this building.

That is why we laud the efforts of the Foundation for Lingap Kapampangan, Inc. for their efforts to restore the Old Pampanga High School Building, to become the future Kapampangan Cultural Center.  In fact, once completed, the Museong Kapampangan in Clark will be transferred to this historic building.

Monuments, fountains, and small parks will also be erected around the historic core.  And we thus call on the city's architects, artists and landscapers to assist us by offering their services and help us actualize these dreams.  In the end, all these projects cannot be realized without funding, so we call on all civic groups such as the Rotary Clubs, the Jaycees, the Lions Club, Homeowners Associations and other professionals groups, to help by adopting a project.

Finally, the celebration of our heritage will not be complete without awareness among Fernandinos of our rich cultural and historical heritage.  We thus call on the ordinary citizen to join our efforts even just by understanding and learning what our City has stood for during these past 250 years.  Only when we look back and value our rich history and heritage can we finally make real our vision of a progressive city that will be a catalyst for development in Central and Northern Luzon, and a major contributor to the global community.

Please send your comments or suggestions to ivanhenares@yahoo.com.

We would like to request those who will be using the information above, especially for publication, to properly cite the author and the Kapampangan Homepage.  The above column was published in Sun*Star Pampanga.