REAL PROPERTIES
(The World Heritage List)

We hear it every now and then, that this or that location is being considered as a World Heritage site. Is it just wishful thinking, tourism propaganda or are these sites really deemed worth the recognition? Before we enumerate those of our local wonders which actually made it to the World Heritage List, let’s get to know a little more about this list.

Based on the 1972 “Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage”, the World Heritage List was set up to identify, preserve and present man-made and natural wonders of our world. Setting up, managing and updating the List is part of the mission of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to ensure the protection of the world’s natural and cultural heritage.

Although each nation is responsible for its own cultural and natural treasures, the “Convention recognizes that such heritage constitutes a world heritage for whose protection it is the duty of the international community as a whole to co-operate.” (Article 6 (1)). Thus, once a creation (man-made or otherwise) is included in the List, access to “international assistance and co-operation, in particular, financial, artistic, scientific and technical” assistance, then becomes available (Article 4).

In any case, the prestige alone of being included in the List creates invaluable publicity and, of course, tourism.

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Philippine World Heritage Sites

To date, the Philippines has 5 properties included in the List (3 cultural and 2 natural). They are the ff: (You may click on each item to go to their respective UNESCO web pages.)

1.Baroque Churches of the Philippines (4 churches in Manila, Ilocos Sur, Ilocos Norte and Iloilo);
2.Rice Terraces of the Philippine Cordilleras (Ifugao)
3.Historic Town of Vigan (Ilocos Sur)
4.Tubbataha Reef Marine Park (Palawan)
5.Puerto-Princesa Subterranean River National Park (Palawan)

We must note that the Rice Terraces are also in another World Heritage List, a much shorter list comprising only 30 properties, but not exactly an elite club since it’s called the List of World Heritage in Danger. These are properties “threatened by serious and specific dangers” and “for the conservation of which major operations are necessary and for which assistance has been requested under this Convention.” (Article 11 (4))

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