42. NAP AND THE ISABELA ARCHIVES

NAP AND THE ISABELA ARCHIVES

Dr. Troy Alexander G. Miano

07 September 2017

When I assumed my new post as Isabela Tourism Officer, I was also given a new task by the Governor to head the Isabela Museum & Library (IML) situated at the Old Capitol Building in Barangay Osmeña in the City of Ilagan. His marching order was to “restore the glory of the old Capitol building”. After the turn over, I immediately proceeded to the IML and gathered the employees for a staff meeting. I saw old friends who were the ones who prepared my coins, banknotes and stamp exhibits during the time of Governor Benjamin G. Dy and Faustino S. Dy, Jr. I also requested to see the century old minutes of the Provincial Board. I was so amazed with the pristine documents that immediately tasked one of my staff to digitize every page of all the books available including documents from the old treasury office. The records were very brittle and honestly, we have no idea how to preserve and maintain the papers in their original state. 

When I went back to the office, I received a communication from the Office of the Provincial Administrator instructing me to assist on the request of the National Archives of the Philippines or NAP in the conduct of a “Basic Records and Archives Management” seminar-workshop from September 6 to 7 this year. I believe that this was perfect timing since we were in dire need for technical assistance to preserve one of the heritages of the Province of Isabela. The activities and topics in the two-day seminar-workshop were: Overview/Salient Features of RA 9470; Introduction to Records Management Records Creation and Control; Mail Management; Files Management; Records Disposition Administration; Archives Administration; Storage Conditions and Security of Records/Pest Management; Preservation of Records; Disaster and their Effects on Paper/Disaster Preparedness on Records Recovery; and Presentation of NAtional Cultural Treasure (NCT) Declaration.

The NAP or Pambansang Sinupan ng Pilipinas is an agency mandated to collect, store, preserve and make available, archival records of the Government and other primary sources pertaining to the history and development of the Country. It is the primary records management agency, tasked to formulate and implement the records schedule and vital records protection programs for the government. The Archives was a result of the passage of Republic Act 9470 in 2007, but its roots can be traced back to the 19th Century when the Spanish colonial government in the Philippines established its Division of Archives.

Wikipedia further narrates: The nucleus of the institution was the Division of Archives, set up by the Spanish Colonial Government. In 1898, Spain ceded control of the Philippines to the United States of America through the Treaty of Paris. The ratification of the treaty paved way for the relinquishment of Philippine records in the Islands and in Spain to the new American government. Since then, the Archives was placed under the control of various government agencies. First, it was placed under the Executive Bureau as the Office of Archives in 1901.Within the same year, it was placed under the Department of Public Instruction. In 1915, it was transferred back to the Executive Bureau and was reduced to the Division of Archives, Patents, Copyrights, and Trademarks. The following year, this division was consolidated with the Philippine Library and Museum. In 1928, it became the Division of Archives under the renamed National Library.

The post-war period saw its transfer from the National Library to the Department of General Services. In 1958, President Carlos Garcia issued Executive Order no. 290 establishing the Bureau of Records Management under the said department with the responsibility to plan, develop, and coordinate government-wide programs, policies, rules, and regulations governing the use, storage, and disposition of current operating records of permanent or historical value. It was composed of three divisions namely Current Records Division, an Archives Division, and a Records Storage Division. It was the Archives Division which stored and rehabilitated records of permanent value and of historical interest.

The Bureau’s international linkages for the period were very much limited. Since it is within the American-patterned Department of General Services, its trainings were provided by the US Agency for International Development-National Economic Council. Three of its personnel were trained by UNESCO reprography expert Ramunajan Chari in 1968 on microfilming and archival documents reproduction through a mobile microfilm unit. The Bureau was represented by its director, historian Domingo Abella, in the International Council of Archives and its Southeast Asian Branch (SARBICA).

It was elevated to an office in 1972, with the establishment of the Records Management and Archives Office (RMAO), which was placed under the General Administrative Administration. Since 1998, it is placed under the National Commission for Culture and the Arts for purposes of policy coordination.

Old documents are very important. In the case of Isabela, I was able to unfold the missing Governor in the Hall of Governors in the Provincial Museum. Page 325, Book of 1909 revealed that former municipal president Romualdo Guzman Mina of Naguilian was appointed Provincial Governor of Isabela and presided the Provincial Board session on August 16, 1909 up to December of the same year. He replaced Governor Eliseo Claravall who filed his candidacy for Assemblyman. Without the minutes as the primary source, the name of Governor Mina would have been lost for eternity. History is a thing of the past but it is very important to study our past for us to make good decisions for the future.