PRESERVE. The Elihan Hill in Barangay Bulalacao, Sibalom where there are some Ati tombs in an undated photo. Engr. Jonathan de Gracia, a member of the Sibalom Municipal Committee on Tourism and Culture Affairs Committee, urged in an interview Thursday (July 11, 2024) for the Antique Provincial Board Committee on History and Cultural Heritage to pass an ordinance for the preservation and protection of the tombs of Ati ancestors. (Photo courtesy of Engr. Jonathan de Gracia)
SAN JOSE DE BUENAVISTA, Antique – The Antique Provincial Board Committee on History and Cultural Heritage is being urged to pass an ordinance for the preservation and protection of the tombs of the Ati ancestors.
Engr. Jonathan de Gracia, who is a member of the Sibalom Municipal Committee on Tourism and Culture Affairs Committee, said in an interview Thursday that in their municipality there are around eight Ati tombs in different barangays that are being excavated by treasure hunters hoping to find antiques or even Chinese porcelains.
“We need to preserve and protect the tombs of our Ati ancestors for they are part of our culture and history,”De Gracia said.
He said that these tombs had been neglected and now look like mounds of earth with grass growing on top of it.
It had been identified by the local people, however, because also of the narrations of their forebears.
These tombs are located in the remote barangays of Grasparil, Porras, Igparas, Indag-an, Villafont, and Calu-oy, all in Sibalom.
The two other tombs are in Barangay Bulalacao still of Sibalom.
“The local people claim that these treasure hunters who try to excavate these Ati tombs come from other neighboring provinces of Antique,” he said.
De Gracia added that he was even informed by a resident that in one of the excavations, there were skeletons believed to be of a dead infant found inside a Chinese porcelain jar. The infant could have been placed inside the jar before the infant was buried.
De Gracia urged the provincial board to pass an ordinance for the preservation and protection of these tomb, believing there are also similar Ati tombs in other municipalities.
The provincial board Committee on History and Cultural Heritage chaired by Board Member Egidio Elio is also in the process of coming up with a related ordinance for the installation of markers on declared statues, landmarks, and historic sites in the Province of Antique
The ordinance for the installation of markers, which now on second reading, if finally approved will have a penalty clause of PHP5,000 and/or six months imprisonment at the discretion of the court on any person, group or corporation that will remove, damage, destroy or deface any declared historical site and marker. (PNA)
