FERRARIS, Christine Ann C. Dr.

Eric Zerrudo

MS Architecture Cultural Heritage Management

Site in the Philippines with Outstanding Universal Value

Site: Petroglyphs and Petrographs of the Philippines – Angono, Rizal

Criteria: (iii)to exhibit an important interchange of human values, over a span of time or within
a cultural area of the world, on developments in architecture or technology, monumental arts,
town-planning or landscape design;

Description

The Angono Petroglyphs and Petrographs is where the oldest work of art in the
Philippines is located.The site can be found on an elevated area, located inside a subdivision
which is privately owned.

The site was discovered by the late national artist, Carlos “Botong” Francisco in 1965, a
local muralist from Angono, Rizal. The site is considered the oldest work of art in the country as
it was engraved in the ancient civilization estimated around 3000 B.C. In the site, the are 127
animal and human figures engraved on the rockwall. The inscriptions evidently show stylized
human figures, frog, lizards, and other designs. Beyond the inscriptions found on its walls, the
site is a testimony to the rich history and civilization of the past.

The Angono Petroglyphs is engaved on a 25 meter rockwall with a height of 3.7 meters
from the floor level. There are 127 figures with 51 distinct types. The engravings however are
not decorative but are symbolic representations of the primitive people who did the inscriptions.
These are believed to be executed by different individuals drawing these images from memory to
which these images are associated with healing and magic. This site should be nominated as a
UNESCO world heritage site because of its cultural and historical significance and because of its
unique inscriptions dated from the Neolithic age, these Petroglyphs also have aesthetic, scientific
and social values. This rock art is unique in being executed with a deep engraving technique. It
has scientific value for further investigation of its cutural context and date, its place in local
folklore, and its ecological interest for being situated in a relict forest area. The rockshelter site
itself has a social value, having long been known to local people and having various traditions
associated with it. The symbolic value of the Angono petroglyhps is increasingly important to
the Filipino people as an outstanding example of thier heritage that has few parallels within
Southeast Asia.
References:

 http://www.artesdelasfilipinas.com/archives/152/the-angono-binangonan-petroglyphs
 https://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/5018/
 https://whc.unesco.org/en/criteria/
 https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/lifestyle/artandculture/357612/angono-petroglyphs-
phl-s-oldest-artworks-in-danger-of-disappearing/story/