I attended the 3rd Heritage Conservation Summit held in Iloilo last October 25, 2014. It was supposed to be a three-day event, with the first day meant for an exclusive group of heritage building owners and the third day for a tour around Iloilo. I lived in Iloilo for two years so I decided against the tour, and since I'm not a heritage building owner I also skipped that one. (I learned later on that they opened the activity to everyone).
The last time I set foot in Iloilo was 14 years ago. Everything has totally changed of course. The airport is new, SM was not there yet, and even the hotel where I stayed (Sarabia Manor Hotel) was located somewhere else back then. First on my list when I arrived was to eat La Paz Batchoy. I prefer eating Batchoy only when I'm in Iloilo! The next item on my list was to find my old friends. Thanks to the internet, we managed to get connected again.
The summit was a huge success: more people came than expected, everything was on time, the audience actively participated, the place was full of people until the end, and the talks were very relevant. I also got to talk to a lot of people who are advocates of heritage conservation. It was refreshing to share ideas with non-architects. In my table alone there were two ladies from Dumaguete (an interior designer and a teacher in tourism), there was a lady who already migrated to New Zealand (a retired public school teacher), the owner of the Ruins in Bacolod and his three friends.
Iloilo did a very good job in revitalizing their downtown. When I stayed there I didn't notice that all the buildings lining up the street of Calle Real were American period structures. Now that they cleaned up the building, everything just looked different and fascinating. There is a lot to learn in Iloilo in revitalizing a heritage district and I am inspired to bring everything I learned to Cebu.
In the conference, speakers from Iloilo, Escolta, and Vigan shared their success stories. There were also people from agencies who can be partners in the revitalization efforts who shared how they can help. There were also a couple of tech experts who shared some tools in documenting heritage sites and structures using the internet and other visualization software. It had the complete ingredients for the theme of the summit.
In Cebu, where I stay, the mayor just announced that he is setting aside funds to revitalize Colon Street, I wondered if his plan is based on some studies. His effort to revitalize the American-period Osmena Boulevard was a blooper when he announced that he was going to bring it back to its glory during the Spanish era. I am now inspired to organize a similar conference focusing only on Colon St. By inviting the building owners to listen how their businesses can flourish when the place is revitalized, I'm sure that the mayor's plan will be a total success.
I am sure that every participant in that summit is moved, one way or another, to do something for their own hometown. My idea for a conference on Colon Street is just one of the many ideas I came up with. I guess this is the best measure of success of the summit, when it managed to move everyone to action. I am now looking forward to the next summit. I missed the first two previous summits, I am determined not to miss any of it in the future.
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| Participants of the summit take a group pic. I was at the right. We were so many I didn't fit in the picture. My pose went to waste. |
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