Meeting with Fundacion Santiago

Editor's Note:  
Hereunder is Zaldy's letter regarding the meet with Fundacion Santiago.  Those who were there were: Beth, Aimee, Kara, Zaldy, Nicholas, Anna and Oni.  Beth has volunteered to sponsor one lunch for the seminar (if necessary).  Nicholas said he can contribute to the heritage research requirement of the group.  Anna has volunteered to be of service to the BOLBOCs secretariat.  

Hi Guys,

We had a good meeting last night with Fundacion Santiago's Kara Garilao at the Milky Way. The plans for the workshop to train the volunteer researchers to dig more into the history of San Juan and its assets which includes the heritage houses. The point of a deeper research of San Juan history is to give more meat for the spill to be prepared by Fundacion together with the Department of Tourism for our future tourist guides for the heritage houses and the other tourist attraction in San Juan such as the bird watching, the ruins in Pinagbayanan, the butterfly farm, lambanog farm, panutsa factory, the acacia trees in BEC, the beaches and many others.

Mayor Manalo has given us the permission to use the ABC office at the municipio to be used by the 2-day workshop which will start on Thurs., June 5, at 8:30am. Kara together with Mike, who is the resource person for the workshop, will manage the workshop. The workshop would need to borrow any material regarding the history of San Juan on top of the books we already have.

A surprise and good news is that we were able to meet Nicholas Sy, who does archival research services specializing in Spanish documents. He is from San Juan, the granchild of Annie Sy who is the daughter of Ong Siong Pia, the pioneer copra buyer in San Juan. He has joined out Bolboc Heritage and will definitely be an asset to our organization. 

Beth, Sylvia and Joy and myself will be in San Juan to help in the workshop. Carmen and Duane of course is always there and also volunteered to assist. Maybe some other members can be there to. I believe this is a good experience for us. Please feel free to email, or contact me or Sylvia for any suggestions.

 Zaldy

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Fundacion Santiago

In early March, the San Juan Heritage group met up with Fundacion Santiago (FS).  The meeting was held at Oni's CONCEP office in Makati.  Kara Garilao and Chaco Molina of FS provided the group with ideas on how they can help San Juan's heritage cause.  Bogs Bugayon of the Diwa Ng Batangas (provincial heritage group) was also present at the meeting.  After a long meeting, the participants agreed to visit San Juan in the coming days.

On the last week of March, the San Juan trip was implemented.  The Heritage group showed representatives of FS around San Juan town. Chaco Molina, Kara Garilao and two others from FS observed the heritage resources available in the town. The FS officials met Vice Mayor Anthony of the town. CAFENO was the main host of the group in San Juan.

 The San Juan Heritage group will meet this month to discuss how to best involve FS for the heritage development effort for the town.


See slide show for more photos.

SJuan Heritage 2013

Heritage advocates from San Juan Batangas assembled again after a long time. Those who came to the meeting were Tonet Trivino, Sylvia Marasigan, Zaldy Marasigan, Lorna Chavez and Gina Palileo. Oni and his wife Bili Mayo hosted the affair. 

The SJuan heritage group was organized some years ago but had not been actively meeting. Oni Mayo and Zaldy Marasi-gan are two of the officials of the original SJuan Heritage group. When called upon, Oni Mayo has represented the SJuan group in National and Provincial heritage affairs and activities since then. 

Today, the NHCP (National Historical Commission of the Philippines) has launch the LHNP program (Local Heritage Network of the Phiilippines). This is the Commission's effort to enjoin heritage groups of towns and cities to participate in heritage conservation effort.

 In line with this and the common desire to promote San Juan town, the meeting was called for the purpose of activating the group once again and to validate: 1) its organizational structure; 2) its group purpose; and 3) its prospective activities 

Oni M explained the history and purpose of the SJuan heritage group when it started out. Simplistically, its task is to promote: 

  • Conservation of heritage resources of SJuan; and 

  • Cultural and socio-economic development of SJuan particularly in regard to those developments arising out of heritage conservation. 

Essentially the structure and objectives of the group shall be retained. A follow up meeting is slated in the coming weeks. At that time, more prospective members are expected and where the group can discuss initial projects. Note: The Heritage Page is a blog that I’ve used for promoting Heritage in general. For the present, this shall be a SJuan Heritage internet facility for disseminating information about the group. Cheers.

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The HCS General Assembly Affair

 The HCS (Heritage Conservation Society of the Philippines) kicked off 2012 with a pitch for specific activities slated for the year. A general assembly was held by its officers at Gota de Leche building in Sampaloc last February 4. The event attracted a crowd of more than 30 heritage advocates who filled up the set chairs and even the stair steps in the Gota lobby. Apart from the HCS regulars, the other guests included representatives from other vested groups that deal in heritage work (heritage warriors, restoration specialists, archeologists, and NGOs),

The session started with the introduction of the guest speakers. Butch Zialcita, who is a director and pillar of the HCS, was the first speaker. He cited perceptions that need to be addressed if the country’s heritage effort is to further gain ground. The perceptions about heritage were practical ones and which were presented in question / statement form to the audience as follows:

              • Nakakain ba ito?

              • Ang bagay Kastila ba ay Pinoy?

              • Kapag luma, pangit

The above clearly touches on the root of the problem. Hence, it is one of the reasons why the thrust of the HCS today is to educate the public for the making of a truly sustainable heritage effort.

The second speaker was energetic and pragmatic Matek Villanueva (Dinky’s friend who gave up her Saturday golf to support HCS). Matek is the Chair and CEO of the Publicis, an advertising firm with a track record of successful advertising campaigns. Matek took the view of an outsider looking in and offered advise on how HCS might promote itself best. Matec stressed the need to define the market of the HCS when it embarks on its programs. Ever current in outlook due to the nature of her work, Matek ended by sharing her view on the importance of meaningfully involving the young in the HCS setup.

After the interesting talks, the floor was offered to others. Derik Manas introduced to the body the Diwa ng Batangan. The Diwa is a newly formed heritage group that he initiated together with other Batanguenos. This group is a pioneering endeavor (which can be a chapter under the HCS organization) and is meant to concentrate on heritage affairs in Batangas province. Afterwards, HCS President Dinky Einsiedel took on the main purpose of the assembly and laid out the proposed activities of HCS for the year. Outside the hall, ever industrious Dori Soriano of HCS effectively managed the registration table that included available merienda and products for sale.

See slide show for more photos.