Sites of Remembrance in Legazpi City, Philippines: Conservation through Cultural Heritage Tourism

Abstract

Countries commemorate disasters to link stories of the past with the present. This linking creates shared national narratives that temporally reinforce identities across the geography of the nation and among diverse citizenry (Drozdzewski, 2019). This paper presents the mapping of the sites of remembrance in Legazpi City through Mayon Volcano Natural Park (MVNP) cultural mapping in the bid for MVNP to be included in the UNESCO's World Heritage List. The study employed the qualitative research method and purposive sampling technique utilizing the standard method and survey form from the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA). The mapping of the sites was presented through georeferencing using ArcGIS Arcmap 10.5 to visualize their exact locations. The researcher gathered the background information of the sites, stories associated with the sites, significance, and conservation. Findings revealed that the sites of remembrance were built in memory of the victims of the Mayon volcano eruption. Although the local barangay authorities perceived the potentiality of the sites for cultural heritage tourism, they were unable to present a clear conservation plan to protect these cultural assets from environmental and social degradation. The study gives light to the role of tourism in cultural heritage preservation and conservation. Future researchers may conduct a study on the memorial sites of the municipalities near the foot of Mayon that have recorded casualties in past disasters.