Laguna Copperplate Inscription, UST Baybayin Documents, Obusan cultural archive added to Unesco register

MANILA, Philippines– 3 pieces of Philippine documentary heritage were included on Thursday to a register of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco).

The Unesco-Philippine National Commission or Unacom stated in a post on Facebook that throughout the 11th basic conference of the Memory of the World Committee for Asia and the Pacific in Jakarta, Indonesia on Nov. 5, “all three Philippine nominations were successfully inscribed in the” Unesco Memory of the World Regional Register.

Those 3 are: The Laguna Copperplate Inscription (LCI); The Baybayin Documents in the Archivo de la Universidad de Santo Tomas; and The Ramon Obusan Folkloric Group (RoFG) Audiovisual Archive.

“This remarkable achievement brings greater international recognition to the Philippines’ rich documentary heritage and opens new opportunities to preserve, share, and promote these invaluable treasures for future generations,” the Unacom stated.

An infographic in the Unacom’s post explained the LCI as the Philippines’ “earliest known historical document.” The LCI has “a record on debt acquittal etched into a thin copperplate as early as” the year 900, the infographic stated.

Another infographic in the Unacom’s post explained the University of Santo Tomas (UST) Baybayin Documents as “the oldest known manuscripts written entirely in” Baybayin. The manuscripts, the infographic stated, reveal “structural correspondences with Southeast Asian and North Indian writing systems…”

An infographic in the Unacom’s post stated that the RoFG Audiovisual Archive is made up of over 3,700 “ethnographic films and recordings (1970-2016) initiated by” Obusan who is a National Artist. “It documents indigenous dances, rituals, and community practices across the Philippines…,” the infographic stated.

UST stated on Facebook that it “is honored to be the home of a precious National Cultural Treasure that has now been inscribed in the” register.

“A little over a decade after Documents A and B of the Baybayin scripts became the country’s first archival National Cultural Treasure, the Asia and the Pacific Region now recognizes the value of this piece of our country’s history,” UST stated.

The university praised the Archivo de la Universidad de Santo Tomas and thanked the stakeholders “who help us care for these important pieces of our heritage.”
“As we advance to face the challenges of the modern world, may we do so with renewed respect for the treasured past that we care for in the present,” UST stated.

The 415-year-old university stated it was “a proud moment” not just for Thomasians however likewise for Filipinos.