The Agora
(Erico Joseph T. Canete)
IF YOU BEHOLD THE CENTURY-OLD CHURCH OF BACLAYON, and what you see are simply material components like coral stones, hardwood, timber, G.I. sheets, you only see the physical realm. Yet, beholding these physical attributes of the church simultaneous with the intellect’s abstraction out from the phantasm of these images in the world of the senses, the world above physics (metaphysics) like the concepts of labor, sacrifice, obedience, faith of our ancestors as intertwined in history and heritage, manifest. Looking at it dualistically, both the world of the senses and the world of abstraction, you’ll discover reality’s oneness, authenticity and goodness, summed up into beauty.
Heritage and preservation of the 1881 Spanish – era public market were among the issues which raised antagonism on the lease offer of the recent study of the LGU Baclayon on the unsolicited proposal, “Lease Offer” of Baclayon Public Market by 23 Harbor Builders Incorporated (Investor). Yet, unknown to many, in the Proposed Lease of Contract one reads, “III Lease Period. 1. The lease shall be for a period of twenty-five (25) years commencing upon turnover of the leased premises. The leased premises shall be turn over only upon the issuance of the NHCP Clearance.” This manifests that the LGU respects the law and authority of the NHCP over heritage structures hence, enhancing the virtue of responsible preservation of Baclayon’s history, heritage, and culture.
This provision then protects our tangible heritage. The market won’t be demolished. It won’t be destroyed. It would still stand where it stands now. Its existence would serve as auxiliary to imagine and remember people, past experiences, and memories that beget nostalgia. We can still quench the thirst of our sense appetite of the longing to reminisce the old days or yesteryears while singing John Lennon’s song, “In my life, I love them all.”
With its preservation, we can still indulge our intellectual memory to wonder to the metaphysical reality of the past digging the rationale behind the construction of this Spanish-era heritage by the Augustinian Recollect, Fr. Jose Maria Cabañas, that is, for further development and general welfare of the Baclayanons.
Developing while preserving the market is a celebration and devotion to his intent.
Preservation of the old public market is an avenue for us to wonder to the metaphysical reality on the need to preserve the old custom and tradition of “tabo.”
Leasing our old public market does not automatically mean privatization of ownership, but a privatization of management or operation. The LGU of Baclayon retains the ownership while granting a private entity contractual rights to manage the property.
It’s all in the proposed contract.
As they say, we can’t privatize history. True! How can it be? It’s our story. It’s our heritage. It’s our collective culture. Leasing the market in a limited period of time is neither assimilating history, heritage and culture nor annihilating the said tributes in the hands of the investor.
Again, the Baclayon Spanish-era market remains!
I am assessing this concern using both the physical and metaphysical realms guided by Immanuel Kant’s synthesis and reconciliation on the feud between the Empiricists and Rationalists; “Thoughts without content are empty. Perceptions without conceptions are blind. Understanding can see nothing, and senses can think nothing.”