The Bonifacio Monument, Nominee As One of the Most Endangered Monuments on Earth in the 2010 World Monuments Watch

16 March 2009

                              click image to enlarge

Yesterday, as nominator, I had the honor of submitting by email the nomination form and nomination signature form for the inclusion of the Bonifacio Monument in the 2010 World Monuments Watch.  Joining me in making the nomination is Prof. Ding Reyes, as endorser in behalf of Kamalaysayan, Inc.. In the World Monuments Watch page of its website, this is what the World Monuments Fund has to say about the 2010 Watch:

World Monuments Watch 

Launched in 1996 and issued every two years, the World Monuments Watch calls international attention to cultural heritage around the world that is threatened by neglect, vandalism, conflict, or disaster. The 2010 Watch will continue this tradition of identifying endangered sites, while also encompassing sites with compelling issues or progressive approaches that could inform the field at large.

Watch listing provides an opportunity for sites and their nominators to raise public awareness, foster local participation, advance innovation and collaboration, and demonstrate effective solutions. The Watch nomination process also serves as a vehicle for requesting WMF assistance for select projects. 

Since the program’s inception, 544 sites have been included on the seven Watches. Nearly half the listed sites, representing 79 countries, have received WMF grants totaling $50 million. These WMF monies have leveraged an additional $150 million in assistance from other sources.

As the flagship advocacy program of the World Monuments Fund, the Watch is emblematic of WMF’s commitment to inspiring heritage stewardship, forging partnerships, and advancing conservation. 

In sponsoring the Watch program, WMF seeks to highlight emerging issues and opportunities in the field, confront urgent challenges, foster community engagement, and build capacities and constituencies for sustaining heritage protection in the long-term.

This is what we wrote in the Watch Listing portion of the Nomination form in justifiying inclusion of the Bonifacio Monument in the 2010 Watch:

The inclusion of the Bonifacio Monument on the World Monuments Fund Watch would leverage in a significant way the implementation of the plan of action outlined above.  Once the millions of Filipinos around the world notice the inclusion of the Monumento in the World Monuments Fund's 100 Most Endangered List, it will start a global rescue campaign unprecedented in the annals of Philippine cultural preservation and heritage conservation history. 

It will send a clear signal to Philippine government leaders and the National Historical Institute that the world community is watching and will not agree to a further desecration of the Bonifacio Monument.

Inclusion on the Watch will hasten submission by the Philippine Government to the Tentative List and should also help hasten UNESCO listing on its World Heritage cultural list. The Monumento World Heritage Global Campaign, convened by the nominator, has an online petition at http://www.gopetition.com/online/23996.html which seeks inclusion of the Bonifacio Monument in the list of UNESCO World Heritage cultural sites.

As a nation, let's join together in prayer and collective action so that the World Monuments Fund considers our submission and includes the Monumento in the 2010 World Monuments Watch. 

To God be the glory, always!