A representative of the National Museum said workers building the subway tunnel below Plaza Independencia in Cebu City will undergo “heritage training” to help preserve pre-Spanish artifacts dug up in the site.The information drive will target engineers and other construction workers to make them aware of laws on the protection and preservation of cultural and religious artifacts, said Angel Bautista, head of the cultural properties division of the National Museum. The move, Bautista said, is part of efforts to curtail further looting in the site, where pre-Spanish pottery, ceramics and other objects have reportedly been taken and believed sold to antique collectors. Security will be tightened and a team of heritage experts will be monitoring the excavation. “The National Museum conducted an extensive archaeological investigation in the site because of the plans to make the subway tunnel,” Bautista said. This is in line with Republic Act 4846 or the Cultural Properties Preservation and Protection Act, which declares it the policy of the state to preserve and protect the cultural properties of the nation. Bautista said that a clearance was issued after the probe was performed on the project site. He said the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) complied with the law. “The site of the subway tunnel is a very significant area because of the kind of materials that were excavated. There were local pre-colonial trade ware ceramics, period ceramics and Vietnamese wares,” he said. “There was already trading activities before the Spaniards came so whatever can be found here would give us an insight in the pre-Spanish history of Cebu.” “This (port of Cebu) is the oldest, smallest and a unique port,” said Bombom Miano, curator of the Fort San Pedro Museum. “This is also the area of the first Spanish settlement.” In an earlier interview, Bautista said two Cebuanos were deputized by the National Museum to closely monitor the site. They are Jobers Bersales, head of the University of San Carlos Archeology Department and Malou Samson, USC Museum curator. Bautista met with the Metro Cebu Development Program on Tuesday and DPWH officials to discuss the reported looting in the area. He said he could not estimate the cost of the stolen artifacts because they do not put monetary value on cultural and religious artifacts. | 
