Remember Huluga
By Antonio J. Montalban

THE ISSUE refuses to die. Not even with Oakwood and Jose Pidal. Not even after the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) of Region 10 ruled against the Cagayan de Oro city government with a Cease and Desist Order to stop the illegal destruction of the Huluga heritage site. The diversion road and bridge project of city mayor Vicente Y. Emano rams right through the middle of an archaeological site that to this day continues to yield precious artifacts of Philippine prehistory.

The issue refuses to die because of Emano's intransigence. He has ordered his lawyers not to concede, no matter if that were the only logical and legal recourse. One of his two lawyers privately confided to us that Emano ordered them to file a motion for reconsideration denying the site had been damaged, thereby contesting the DENR decision.

The damage is there for the whole world to see, recorded on film and television cameras. The motion of Emano's lawyers is certainly the latest version of "The Emperor's New Clothes," with all the emperor's sycophants singing "see, no damage" hosannas.

One such sycophant brought along last September 1 Father Joesilo Amalia of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts' Committee on Monuments and Sites, hoping that Amalia would issue a favorable media statement. Before leaving, Amalia met with the Heritage Conservation Advocates and got to see the real picture. He disclosed that he was not made to see the damaged portion of the site.

By Thursday, September 4, Amalia had reported his findings during a meeting of the NCCA committee in Manila. The committee's verdict: the road project should be re-routed; there is a breach of the assurance that the site would be spared from the project's path.

Pity the frustrated sycophant. Both the National Museum's Corazon Alvina and the UP Archaeological Studies Program's Dr. Victor Paz have sent letters to Emano, affirming that the road project had indeed damaged a portion of the Huluga Open Site. Emano refuses to face the problem squarely, that is, admit his wrongdoing and comply with what the law now requires of him.

Huluga has drawn all sorts of visitors, from students to teachers, tourists and media people. What makes Huluga doubly valuable is the on-the-spot education it provides. The artifacts are just on topsoil for the picking. It is a virtual field laboratory. Thanks to Emano and his denial team, the science of archaeology has suddenly been resurrected from the esoteric to the realistic.

Since June, Huluga has been visited in succession by some of Manila's famous. Eliza Romualdez Valtos, the former television news anchor now completing her masters in archaeology at UP, brought some artifacts to the National Museum for analysis. A week after, Presidential Assistant Tingting Cojuangco, in town for the staging of the Filipino ethnic fantasy drama "Ibong Adarna," dropped by Huluga and found herself scooping up potsherds with her bare hands. Unknown to many, the famous lady is an anthropologist, about to complete her doctorate in the field.

Other notables have joined in the chorus of protests. Tourism's Richard Gordon has issued a statement calling for the site's preservation and enjoining the people of Cagayan de Oro to "fight for their heritage." Then last August 5, Senator Loren Legarda filed Senate Resolution 656, directing a Senate inquiry, in aid of legislation, into the destruction of the site.

Emano probably thinks that by repeating his denials over sycophant radio stations, the damage will simply vanish like a phantom. But ghosts haunt. Just this past week, two statements of solidarity were issued from two of the three universities in Cagayan de Oro, calling for the preservation of the heritage site: one came from the student leaders of Xavier University (whose administration has been unusually speechless on the issue); the other, from the social science faculty of the recently minted Capitol University, whose executive vice president Dr. Fe Rosales Juarez has personally visited the site.

The lady of the land herself, President Macapagal has sent Agriculture Secretary Cito Lorenzo, the Cabinet officer for Region 10, to look into the controversy. The President can direct the compliance with DENR's August 15 order, coordinate with the National Museum (which is under the Office of the President) and release funds for the "rescue" of Huluga's archaeological heritage that the National Museum has recommended. But the day is late for a win-win solution. Damage had been done. There can only be a lose-win solution. Yes, this is about the rule of law. This is about the Strong Republic. Once Emano completes his compliance, the project can proceed for all it can do to the Strong Republic's Nautical Highway.

For Huluga is a test case for all onion-skinned local government officials who believe their every word is sacrosanct. As we write, Butuan City has decided to heed the call of local historians for a rerouting of the new Butuan diversion road to spare the Bonbon Shell Midden, a newly discovered prehistoric site in Butuan City, from destruction. There's a win-win solution.

Emano and his denial team can build a thousand roads and bridges, but they cannot restore a heritage site. They can hire a hundred thousand flying voters this coming elections, but the people of Cagayan de Oro will always remember their lost heritage site. They will always remember who ordered Huluga destroyed.

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