List of World Heritage Sites in the Philippines
The UNESCO has designated six World Heritage Sites in the Philippines. The UNESCO World Heritage Sites are places of importance to cultural or natural heritage as described in the UNESCO World Heritage Convention.
The Philippines, following its ratification of the convention on Thursday, September 19, 1985, made its historical and natural sites eligible for inclusion on the list. The Philippines had its first sites included in 1993, and since 2014, has six sites on the list spanning nine locations. Of those six sites, three are cultural and three natural. The first 5 sites inscribed in the UNESCO Heritage List was initiated by ICOMOS Philippines, a non-profit heritage organization, which partnered with the UNESCO National Commission of the Philippines and the Heritage Conservation Society.
The Philippines has a cultural inventory, called the Philippine Registry of Cultural Property or PRECUP, and a natural inventory called the National Integrated Protected Areas System or NIPAS. Both of which were established by various Philippine laws. The intangible cultural heritage list of the Philippines is under the PRECUP.
In 2015, the 28 sites in the 'Tentative List' were revised. Currently, the Tentative List for possible nomination in the future contains nineteen submissions.
In November 2017, the Philippines was elected as a member of the Executive Board of UNESCO. In March 2018, the Philippines was elected as Vice President of the Preparatory Group of the Executive Board.
World Heritage Sites
In the 1990s, Filipino architect Augusto Villalón represented the Philippines in the UNESCO Committee and drafted the nomination dossiers of 5 heritage inscriptions. All the five inscriptions, which were the first five UNESCO sites in the Philippines, were declared as UNESCO World Heritage Sites from 1993 to 1999. These sites include the Baroque Churches of the Philippines ; Tubbataha Reef National Park, Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park, Historic City of Vigan, and the Rice Terraces of the Philippine Cordilleras After Villalón retired, the country had a 14-year drought in UNESCO World Heritage designations, which would be broken only in 2014, when Mount Hamiguitan Range Wildlife Sanctuary was declared as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.The table lists information about each World Heritage Site:
| Name | Image | Location | Regions | UNESCO data | Period | Description | Ref |
| Baroque Churches of the Philippines: San Agustin Church, Santa Maria Church, Paoay Church, and Miagao Church | City of Manila; Ilocos Sur; Ilocos Norte; Iloilo | Manila; Ilocandia; Western Visayas | 1993, 2013 ; ii,iv | All of the four baroque churches have been declared as National Cultural Treasures of the Philippines. | |||
| Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park | Palawan | Mimaropa | 1993, 2009 ; vii, ix, x | The site is an ASEAN Heritage Park, and a Ramsar Wetland Site. It is also located within the Palawan UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. | |||
| Rice Terraces of the Philippine Cordilleras: Batad, Bangaan, Mayoyao, Hungduan, and Nagacadan | Ifugao | Cordillera | 1995 ; iii, iv, v | The inscription includes 5 properties, namely, Batad Rice Terraces, Bangaan Rice Terraces, Mayoyao Rice Terraces, Hungduan Rice Terraces and Nagacadan Rice Terraces. The terraces have been declared as National Cultural Treasures of the Philippines. | |||
| Historic City of Vigan | Ilocos Sur | Ilocandia | 1999 ; ii, iv | The site is also one of the New7Wonders Cities. The Mestizo Section, House of Father Jose Burgos and Leona Florentino of Vigan has been declared as one of the National Cultural Treasures of the Philippines. | |||
| Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park | Palawan | Mimaropa | 1999 ; vii,x | The site is one of the New7Wonders of Nature, part of the Palawan UNESCO Biosphere Reserve and a declared Ramsar Wetland Site. | |||
| Mount Hamiguitan Range Wildlife Sanctuary | Davao Oriental | Davao | 2014 ; x | The site is a declared ASEAN Heritage Park. |
Tentative list
The following 19 sites are on the Tentative List for the Philippines, meaning that the government intends to consider them for nomination in the future:| Type | Site | Location | Period | Description | Image | |
| Natural: | Apo Reef Natural Park | Sulu Sea | Pleistocene Epoch | The site is the second biggest producer of juvenile marine fishes in the world, next only to the Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park. | ||
| Cultural: | Baroque Churches of the Philippines | Various Locations | 18th to 19th centuries | All five baroque churches have been declared as National Cultural Treasures of the Philippines. | ||
| Mixed | Batanes Protected Landscapes and Seascapes | Batanes | Pleistocene Epoch and 100 AD | The Mahatao Church of Batanes is a declared National Cultural Treasure of the Philippines. | ||
| Cultural: | Butuan Archeological Sites | Agusan del Norte | 10th century | The site exemplified and concretized the capability of the pre-Hispanic Rajahnate of Butuan as a nation with great expertise in boat-making, seafaring, and gold manufacturing. | ||
| Natural: | Chocolate Hills Natural Monument | Bohol | Pleistocene Epoch | The site is the focal property of the proposed Bohol Global Geopark Reserve. | ||
| Mixed: | Coron Island Natural Biotic Area | Palawan | Pleistocene Epoch | The site is within the Palawan UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. | ||
| Natural: | El Nido-Taytay Managed Resource Protected Area | Palawan | Pleistocene Epoch | The site is within the Palawan UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. | ||
| Cultural: | Kabayan Mummy Burial Caves | Benguet | 100 AD | The site has been listed by the World Monuments Fund for immediate international conservation. It is a declared National Cultural Treasure of the Philippines. | ||
| Natural: | Mayon Volcano Natural Park | Albay | Pleistocene Epoch | The site is the central property of the Albay UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. | ||
| Natural: | Mounts Iglit-Baco National Park | Mindoro | Pleistocene Epoch | The site is a declared ASEAN Heritage Park. | ||
| Natural: | Mount Malindang Range Natural Park | Misamis Occidental | Pleistocene Epoch | The site is a declared ASEAN Heritage Park. | ||
| Natural: | Mount Mantalingajan Protected Landscape | Palawan | Pleistocene Epoch | The site is part of the Palawan UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. | ||
| Natural: | Mount Pulag National Park | Ifugao, Nueva Viscaya, and Benguet | Pleistocene Epoch | The site is the third highest point in the Philippines. | ||
| Cultural: | Neolithic Shell Midden Sites in Lal-lo and Gattaran Municipalities | Cagayan | Neolithic Period | The site is the largest shell midden zone in the Philippine archipelago. | ||
| Natural: | Northern Sierra Madre Natural Park and Outlying Areas Inclusive of the Buffer Zone | Isabela | Pleistocene Epoch | The site is the largest national park in the Philippines. | ||
| Cultural: | Paleolithic Archaeological Sites in Cagayan Valley | Cagayan Valley | Paleolithic Period | The site includes the location where the bone fragments of Callao Man, the oldest hominid found in the Philippines, was found. The site is also where Homo luzonensis, a new human species, was found. Callao Man has since been reclassified as part of Homo luzonensis. | ||
| Cultural: | Petroglyphs and Petrographs of the Philippines | Various Locations | Paleolithic Period | The sites in Singnapan, Alab, and Angono have been declared as National Cultural Treasures of the Philippines. The site in Angono has been listed by World Monuments Fund. | ||
| Cultural: | The Tabon Cave Complex and all of Lipuun | Palawan | Paleolithic Period | The site is a declared National Cultural Treasure of the Philippines due to the Tabon Man discovery in the area. It was listed by the World Monuments Fund. | ||
| Natural: | Turtle Islands Wildlife Sanctuary | Tawi-Tawi | Pleistocene Epoch | The site is a major green sea turtle breeding and hatchery zone in the Asia-Pacific. |
Tentative sites by Philippine regions
Exclusive UNESCO tentative sites are sites locating in a single community/region. Shared sites have entries in multiple communities/regions, such the Baroque Churches of the Philippines, which is distributed in three regions, and Petroglyphs and Petrographs of the Philippines, which is distributed in five regions.Central Luzon, Zamboanga, and Soccsksargen are the only regions in the Philippines without a UNESCO World Heritage Site or a tentative site under the Philippines' tentative list to UNESCO. Any institution, with the aid of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts, National Museum of the Philippines, Philippine National Commission for UNESCO, or the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, can file a comprehensive nomination of a site for the tentative list in UNESCO. Once a site is at the tentative list, it can finally be selected by UNESCO to undergo a process which would lead to its designation as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
UNESCO-related activities of the Philippines
Early activities (1977–2000)
In 1977, the Puerto Galera Biosphere Reserve was inscribed in the UNESCO World Network of Biosphere Reserves. During that time, countries who have yet to ratify the UNESCO Convention were allowed to nominate sites in the biosphere reserve network. However, UNESCO participation of the Philippines was extremely limited due to the dictatorship at the time.Biosphere Reserve was inscribed in the UNESCO World Network of Biosphere Reserves in 1990.
The Philippines ratified the UNESCO Convention on September 19, 1985, effectively becoming a member of the organization on the same date. However, activities concerning UNESCO nominations were only made after the successful People Power Revolution of 1986, which restored democracy in the Southeast Asian nation. UNESCO activities and preparations came afterwards, notably through staunch heritage conservationist and architect, Augusto Villalón, who UNESCO hails as "one of Asia’s most renowned experts in heritage conservation" and "the father of heritage conservation in the Philippines". In 1990, the Palawan Biosphere Reserve was inscribed in the UNESCO World Network of Biosphere Reserves.
From 1993 to 1999, five UNESCO sites, spanning nine locations, were inscribed in the UNESCO World Heritage List through the initiative of the Philippine government and Villalón's Heritage Conservation Society. These sites included the Baroque Churches of the Philippines, Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park, Rice Terraces of the Philippine Cordilleras, Historic City of Vigan, and the Puerto-Princesa Subterranean River National Park. In 1994, the Olango Island Wildlife Sanctuary was declared as a Ramsar wetland site under the Ramsar Convention of UNESCO. In 1995, the Philippines hosted UNESCO's "Regional Thematic Study Meeting on Asian Rice Culture and its Terraced Landscape" in the capital, Manila. In 1997, the Philippines participated in the "Asia-Pacific World Heritage Youth Forum" held in China and the "Asia-Pacific Heritage Site Managers' Workshop" held in Thailand. Villalón afterwards retired from the UNESCO Commission in 1999. The National Museum nominated the Philippine Paleographs in 1999 to the UNESCO Memory of the World Register and was inscribed on the same year, becoming the first international documentary heritage coming from the Philippines. Additionally, three sites, namely, Naujan Lake National Park, Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park, and Agusan Marsh Wildlife Sanctuary, were declared as Ramsar wetland sites under the Ramsar Convention of UNESCO.
Pre-Heritage Act decade (2001–2010)
In 2001, the Heritage Conservation Society started its appeal to the officials of Batanes to establish conservation programs for a possible UNESCO inscription as the Batanes Protected landscapes and seascapes has been a UNESCO tentative site in 1993. On the same year, the was declared as one of the Eleven Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity. However, UNESCO also enlisted the Rice Terraces of the Philippine Cordilleras in the List of Sites in Danger, prompting local officials to initiate a province-wide conservation program for the terraces. Before the year ended, the Nelson Tower was named as an Honourable Mention in the UNESCO Asia Pacific Heritage Awards.In 2003, Radio Veritas Asia, Raja Broadcasting Network, and Punzalan Personal Archives nominated the Radio Broadcast of the Metro Manila People Power Revolution in the UNESCO Memory of the World Register. The nomination was inscribed on the same year. Additionally, the Gota de Leche Building was named as an Honourable Mention in the UNESCO Asia Pacific Heritage Awards.
Additionally, the country nominated Batanes to the world heritage list, but it was deferred by UNESCO due to lack of conservation. The site officially was put in deferred status in 2005. In 2005, the was declared as a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity. On the same year, the Far Eastern University was named as an Honourable Mention in the UNESCO Asia Pacific Heritage Awards.
In December 2005, the Philippines participated in the UNESCO Regional Workshop on Periodic Reporting Follow-up for North-East and South-East Asia, held in Malaysia. The country also participated in the Seeing with Young Eyes – Teacher Training Workshop of UNESCO in 2006, which was also conducted in Vigan in 2001. In August 2007, the "Living Landscapes and Cultural Landmarks: World Heritage Sites in the Philippines" was launched by Villalón. On the same year, the Batanes nomination was put in "referred status", pending for the dossier to be submitted by the local Ivatan authorities.
In 2007, the U.P. Center for Ethnomusicology nominated the José Maceda Collection to the UNESCO Memory of the World Register. The documentary heritage was inscribed on the same year. In 2008, the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists were established; both the and the were inscribed on the same year.
, a UNESCO tentative site.
Middle of 2008, all the documents were ready except for the Batanes dossier. UNESCO set early 2010 as the deadline for the dossier for site inscription, however, the local officials of Batanes failed to make a dossier, and thus, the site was officially taken out from referred status. Due to this, the nomination reverted to zero. This failure led the Heritage Conservation Society to focus on the nomination of Davao Oriental's Mount Hamiguitan Range Wildlife Sanctuary, which became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2014. In September 2008, the Philippines participated in the "Workshop for the World Heritage property of Lumbini, the birthplace of Lord Buddha" held in Nepal. In 2009, the boundaries of Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park was expanded.
In April 2010, the Philippines participated in the "Sub-regional Workshop on the second cycle of Periodic Reporting in Asia and the Pacific" held in China. In late 2010, conservationists from the Heritage Conservation Society went to Batanes again to initiate a second nomination attempt. The organization found that non-traditional concrete structures were being established by locals in various sections of the islands, effectively diminishing the site's cultural value. The society appealed to the local government to stop the non-traditional buildings, but the local government retaliated against the conservationists. A report noted that traditional Ivatan houses were being converted into hollow block houses for the benefit of local politicians. In 2011, the government of Batanes formally nominated their province in UNESCO, but failed due to lack of cultural protections, lack of a holistic dossier, and the establishment of non-traditional buildings which have been approved by the provincial and municipal governments of Batanes at the time. Prompted by failures of past officials, the local governments of Batanes afterwards converged and declared a province-wide cultural and natural conservation program. The National Museum of the Philippines initiated the establishment of a branch museum in the province to preserve Ivatan heritage. The Heritage Conservation Society and National Commission for Culture and the Arts aided the conservation programs led by the Ivatan officials. The Philippine government has stated that once all conservation programs are deemed successful and fulfilled, the Philippines will again nominate Batanes to the UNESCO world heritage list.
Heritage Act enacted (2010–2016)
On April 10, 2010, the National Cultural Heritage Act formally came into effect. The law created the Philippine Registry of Cultural Property and took other steps to conserve, preserve, and restore Filipino cultural properties. In October 2011, two typhoons severely damaged the UNESCO-inscribed Rice Terraces in Ifugao, prompting a massive rehabilitation program. In 2011, the University of Michigan Library in partnership with the Philippine government nominated the Presidential Papers of Manuel L. Quezon. They were added to the UNESCO Memory of the World Register.In mid-2011, the Philippines participated in the UNITAR Series on the Management and Conservation of World Heritage Sites with a theme of "Preparing World Heritage Nominations: Continuity and Change within UNESCO's New Manual". The country was represented by the Heritage Conservation Society, the Batanes government, and the National Museum of the Philippines. Three factors were cited for the lack of world heritage declarations in the Philippines, namely, the lack of awareness about UNESCO World Heritage among local stakeholders, especially the indigenous communities, local governments and residents that live around these potential sites, the absence of competent people who are fully aware of the processes involved in preparing and providing the correct documents for nomination as World Heritage, and the lack of government funding to prepare and support these nominations, among many others. It was also noted that describing a nominated property as "unique" is the worst argument one could give for UNESCO nomination as all sites are not unique and there are always similar properties it can be compared with. The Outstanding Universal Value based on at least one of the ten criteria should be clearly established as well, according to UNESCO. According to UNESCO, the most important part of the nomination is the comparative analysis of the site as extensive comparison with other similar properties is vital to prove OUV and push nomination forward. Due to this, the Filipino delegations acknowledged the need to rewrite the dossier for Batanes, as it had been rejected before due to lacking information for an actual nomination to be accepted by UNESCO. Due to these findings, the Philippine government would later establish three legs for the UNESCO Pamana Workshop from 2016 to 2017 for the tentative sites and possible tentative sites of the country.
By November 2011, the Batangas government proposed to establish a "Hollywood sign" on top of the Taal Volcano, which at the time was a UNESCO tentative site, receiving criticism. The government later retracted the proposal. In March 2012, the Swiss-based Jaeger-LeCoultre initiated an auction which benefited the conservation programs for the Puerto-Princesa Subterranean River National Park. In June 2012, the Rice Terraces of the Philippine Cordilleras was officially removed from the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Danger, marking the country's most successful cultural landscape rehabilitation achievement. In the same month, the Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park was declared as a Ramsar wetland site under the Ramsar Convention of UNESCO. In September 2012, the Philippines participated in the "Joint International Symposium: Involving Communities for Better Conservation and Management of Asian World Heritage Sites" held in South Korea. In October 2012, the Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park won the Future Policy Award for marine resource management, the first Philippine site to receive the prestigious international conservation award. On the same month, the Heritage City of Vigan was recognized for "best practice in World Heritage Site management."
In January 2013, an American vessel ran aground in the Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park. The United States government afterwards paid 87 million pesos in compensation. In March 2013, the Las Piñas-Parañaque Critical Habitat and Ecotourism Area was declared as a Ramsar wetland site under the Ramsar Convention of UNESCO. In June 2013, the Philippines participated in the "International World Heritage Youth Forum: Living with Heritage: Temple, Environment and People " held in Cambodia. In May 2013, a Chinese vessel crashed in the Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park, destroying approximately 3,902 square meters of coral. Additionally, brutally-killed endangered pangolins from the Palawan Biosphere Reserve were inside the Chinese ship. Pangolins are protected under Philippine laws and the international treay, CITES, where the Philippines is a signatory. In September 2013, the Philippines launched the "Pamana: World Heritage in the Philippines" funded by UNESCO. In October 2013, the 7.2-magnitude Central Visayas earthquake damaged and destroyed numerous cultural properties in the Philippines. Three weeks later, in November 2013, Typhoon Haiyan, the most powerful typhoon of the century, hit the country, destroying and damaging more heritage sites. On the same month, the Philippines was elected in the World Heritage Committee. In early 2014, the faithful restoration of the sites began, and would continue for approximately one decade.
In April 2014, the Philippines participated in the "UNESCO Asia Pacific World Heritage Project on Marine Biodiversity & Climate Change Awareness among Youth" held in New Caledonia. Afterwards, the National Commission for Culture and the Arts launched the Sagisag Kultura, a long-term cultural mapping program that lists and discusses the cultural icons of the Philippines, both intangible and tangible, living and non-living. In June 2014, the Mount Hamiguitan Range Wildlife Sanctuary was inscribed in the UNESCO World Heritage List, becoming the sixth world heritage site of the country since the country's last inscription in 1999.
Biosphere Reserve was inscribed in the UNESCO World Network of Biosphere Reserves in March 2016.
On March 20, 2015, the UNESCO Tentative List of the Philippines was revised after recommendations from the UNESCO due to changes within the proposed sites, notably due to human causes and natural causes such as the 2013 central Philippines typhoon-earthquake. Among the sites that were removed from the tentative list were Taal Volcano Protected Landscape, Panglao Island, Mount Apo Natural Park, Maragondon Church, San Sebastian Church, Baclayon Church, Spanish Colonial Fortifications of the Philippines, Agusan Marsh Wildlife Sanctuary, Liguasan Marsh, Mount Matutum Protected Landscape, Mount Kitanglad, and Mount Kalatungan. In April 2015, a new management plan was launched for Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park which focuses on the site's "Outstanding Universal Value".
In May 2015, the Philippines applied for better protection for marine World Heritage Sites at the UNESCO-affiliated International Maritime Organisation. In August 2015, the Philippine Heritage Map was launched by Arches, Getty Conservation Institute, World Monuments Fund, National Commission for Culture and the Arts, National Museum of the Philippines, and the National Historical Commission of the Philippines. On the same month, the Philippines participated in the UNESCO-initiated World Heritage Volunteers 2015 Action Camps. In September 2015, the Philippines participated in the "10th International Training Programme on Disaster Risk Management of Cultural Heritage" held in Japan. In December 2015, the Punnuk – tugging ritual of the Ifugaowas included in Tugging Rituals and Games of the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists.
In January 2016, the Philippines participated in the international dialogue on "Understanding rights practices in the World Heritage system: lessons from the Asia-Pacific and the global area" held in Switzerland. In March 2016 the Albay Biosphere Reserve was inscribed in the UNESCO World Network of Biosphere Reserves. On April 14–15, 2016, the first leg of the UNESCO Pamana Workshop of the Philippine government was administered in Puerto Princesa, Palawan. In the same month, the International Maritime Organization approved “in principle” the "Particularly Sensitive Sea Area Status" for Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park.
In June 2016, the Heritage Conservation Society and the United States embassy conducted a cultural-tourism program for the Agusan Marsh Wildlife Sanctuary, a step closer for the site's re-submission in the UNESCO tentative list. On September 15–16, 2016, the second part of the UNESCO Pamana Workshop was administered in Mati, Davao Oriental. In October 2016, the Negros Occidental Coastal Wetlands Conservation Area was declared as a Ramsar wetland site under the Ramsar Convention of UNESCO.
Present prospects (2017–present)
In January 2017, Nickelodeon announced an underwater resort within the UNESCO tentative site of Coron Natural Biotic Area, which is also part of the Palawan Biosphere Reserve, receiving criticism from various sectors and majority of Coron residents. The planned resort was later aborted in August 2017. On March 23–24, the third and final leg of the UNESCO Pamana Workshop was administered in Legaspi City, Albay on March 23–24, 2017. In May 2017, the Philippines participated in the "UNESCO Expert Meeting for the World Heritage Nomination Process of the Maritime Silk Routes" held in the United Kingdom. In July 2017, the Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park was declared by UNESCO to have been protected from international shipping impacts. On the same month, the Philippines participated in the "World Heritage Young Professionals Forum 2017 " held in Poland. In September 2017, the Philippines participated in the "Capacity Building Workshop on Nature-Culture Linkages in Heritage Conservation in Asia and the Pacific" held in Japan. In October 2017, the Philippines participated in the "Photo Exhibit: Coral Reefs on UNESCO's World Heritage List" held in France. In November 2017, Baguio was declared as a "Creative City for Crafts and Folk Arts" and was inscribed in the UNESCO Creative Cities Network, becoming the country's first inscription in the network.In 2018, the NCCA initiated a 3D laser scan program for all UNESCO cultural world heritage sites in the country as preparation for disasters in the future. The project ended in March 2018. On 30 May, the Culion Leprosy Archives was inscribed the UNESCO Memory of the World Committee for Asia and the Pacific, a step closer to the international memory list. In July 2018, the Philippines participated in the "2018 Capacity Building Workshop on Nature-Culture Linkages in Heritage Conservation in Asia and the Pacific" held in Japan. On October 1, 2018, it was revealed that a planned highrise building of Summithome Realty Corporation near San Sebastian Church had negatively affected the site's possible re-inclusion in the UNESCO tentative list, sparking criticism.
On November 19, 2018, UNESCO warned the Philippines on the possible delisting of the Baroque Churches of the Philippines from the world heritage site due to a planned China-funded bridge that would negatively impact the buffer zone of Manila's San Agustin Church. Despite receiving criticism, the government stated that the planned bridge will still commence. The bridge has staunchly been rejected by some officials of the NCCA. In May 2019, an NCCA report noted that the bridge construction has stopped. The Filipino heritage community has disputed the reports as construction in the field is still ongoing up to the present. In December 2019, the Buklog, thanksgiving ritual system of the Subanen, was added to the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists.