Heritage advocates are appealing to the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) to preserve Camaren Bridge in Brgy. Buenavista II in General Trias City, Cavite, which is under threat of destruction due to a current road construction project.
The bridge is believed to have been constructed in the 17th or 18th century.
Heritage advocates such as De La Salle University associate professor Jeffrey Alfaro Lubang have been asking to stop the destruction of the bridge. “The spirit of our core identity lies in our material culture, and sadly, we are fast losing them,” Lubang said, as quoted by the Philippine News Agency (PNA).
The DPWH road project involves the construction of a new bridge in Buenavista. DPWH 1st district engineer Oscar Dela Cruz explained that the project passed all necessary protocol, including public consultation for feasibility. Although Dela Cruz acknowledges the views of the advocates, he also called for understanding of DPWH’s side, asking them to consider the economic viability and safety that the project would provide.
The construction of a new bridge is also apparently “in response to residents’ request for funding assistance, as indicated in Sangguniang Bayan Resolution No. 13-87 which has been approved for second reading on Aug. 22, 2013,” PNA reports. The resolution notes that the fund would be used to replace the “centuries-old, dilapidated bridge.”
Despite the bridge’s age, it has yet to be declared a historical landmark. However, the National Cultural Heritage Act (Republic Act No. 10066) notes that all heritage structures that are at least 50 years old are presumed as important cultural properties despite non-declaration of such by the relevant agencies.
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Photos courtesy of Kristian Noe Ignacio Romanaes on Advocates for Heritage Preservation Facebook
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Writer: PAULINE MIRANDA
