Call for preservation of heritage in Bohol

Unlike Crissie Hontanosas (“No past tense for Bohol’s fallen churches,” Opinion, 10/18/13), I am not a Boholano. But I love the churches she mentioned in the article. I first visited them many years ago (before Bohol became a tourist destination), and then again more recently. Like Hontanosas, I am hoping something can be done about heritage preservation.

A couple of corrections.  Baclayon’s is I think the oldest stone church in the country (1595). San Agustin Church in Manila was completed  only in 1601.

Our native ancestors were not slaves to the Spaniards but to their own chiefs and nobles. Spaniards could not, by  royal and papal decrees benefiting from the experiences of the Americans, own slaves; and Spanish policy, according to John Leddy Phelan, was to promote  free paid labor. The first thing Legazpi forbade was the quaint custom of killing favorite slaves to accompany their dead masters in the hereafter. Inquirer columnist Ambeth Ocampo recounts how Legazpi and Sikatuna had a blood compact as diplomatic equals.

May the sturdy spirit of Bohol live on and conserve its heritage, at least in spirit.

—BENITO LEGARDA JR., [email protected]