Leyte’s heritage advocates have called on again to keep Leyte’s historic buildings, ancestral houses, monuments and other cultural landmarks from being lost in the face of neglect and too-fast modernisation.

The Carigara Heritage Society (CHS) asked for the restoration and protection of the municipality’s heritage buildings because they form the collective memory of Carigara and need to be preserved for future generations.

Council Member and CHS president Myla Aguilar told the Council that maintaining these landmarks would benefit the younger generation in recognising their cultural heritage and reinforce the town’s identity.

“Maintaining heritage buildings enhances the pride of residents and their sense of belonging, generates opportunities to increase the cultural tourism and local economic value of these structures,” Aguilar said.

Aguilar is the author of Municipal Ordinance 2025-016, which recognises local cultural properties, designates a heritage zone in Carigara, and establishes the Carigara Council on Culture and the Arts. The council is expected to serve as the city’s counterpart of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts, which is responsible for safeguarding and promoting cultural heritage and arts in the nation.

Following its founding in August 2025, the CHS has stepped up its activity to facilitate residents and especially young people to “rediscover” the history of Carigara. It has embarked on various projects, including the “Heritage Spokes” tour, which showcases the town’s historic structures and ancestral houses, as well as Leyte’s and Carigara’s rich architectural heritage and history.

“All old buildings have a story.” “Without them, we’re without a part of ourselves,” Aguilar said.

Carigara is believed to be the first town to be founded in Eastern Visayas, even before 1571. It was the first capital of the province and the headquarters of the Jesuit mission and was the hub of Christian evangelisation in Leyte. Its old centre still retains buildings that show a thousand years of religious, business, government and family activities.

In preserving historic structures, the CHS said, the preservation of the old buildings is also the preservation of the stories, traditions and collective memory of a town like Carigara, which is one of the oldest in Leyte.

But the conservation of the historic core could also help attract new businesses to the area, according to the heritage advocates. They said that other parts of the Philippines have seen an increase in the number of tourists, researchers, pilgrims and entrepreneurs, which has led to job creation and building of community pride in conserving their heritage sites.

The group said each restored ancestral home, preserved historical marker and historical narrative, as well as each maintained monument, ensures Carigara’s history continues as a living legacy, not a fading memory.

The conservation of the cultural heritage of the town of Carigara is a process of guaranteeing the preservation of the spirit of Carigara, so that future generations can discover the history of the municipality through the places and traditions through which it has developed over the past centuries.