Fifteenth International Conference on Interdisciplinary Social Sciences

Abstract

In 2014 tourism, heritage development, culture and arts was added to the list of indicators in the review of the performance of provinces, cities, and municipalities in the Philippines in delivering basic services to their constituents. A “cultural” mechanism was set up to which local units had to abide such as the presence of a local culture and arts council, a budget appropriated for the conservation and preservation of cultural property, and the availability of a cultural property inventory. This was an innovation since the usual or predictable indicators were those in the realm of public administration such as fiscal policy, financial sustainability, disaster preparedness, sustainable education, business friendliness and competitiveness, and safety, peace and order. The paper looks into the response of local government units to the new system in the last three years, rates the gains that have been made in transmitting heritage awareness and appreciation on the local or community level, and probes the relevance of this measure to the future of heritage promotion and preservation in the country.