Culion, Palawan Leprosy Archives Inscribed in Asia-Pacific’s “Memory of the World” Registry
A Philippine delegation attends the Eighth General Meeting the United Nations Education, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Memory of the World Committee for Asia and the Pacific in Gwangju, Republic of Korea on 30 May 2018. (UNESCO photo)
GWANGJU 25 June 2018 — The United Nations Education, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Memory of the World Committee for Asia and the Pacific (MOWCAP) inscribed the Culion Leprosy Archives to the MOWCAP Regional Register, during its Eight General Meeting in Gwangju, Republic of Korea on 30 May 2018.
Housed at the Culion Museum and Archives in Palawan, the Culion Leprosy Archives boast of a wide collection of rare journals and reference materials on leprosy, as well as clinical records and letters of the island’s residents since 1906.
The Leprosy Archives also feature publications such as the International Journal of Leprosy and Other Mycobacterial Diseases, of which the first editor-in-chief was Dr. Windsor Wade.
The Culion Leprosy Archives garnered a majority vote from the 28-member MOWCAP after having been strongly recommended by the MOWCAP Register Sub-Committee for inscription.
Dr. Arturo Cunanan, Chief, Culion Sanitarium and General Hospital (CSGH), spearheaded the nomination of the Archives, with the support of the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) and the facilitation of the UNESCO National Commission of the Philippines (UNACOM).
The Archives are the second documentary collection to be inscribed from the Philippines after the inscription of the papers of former President Manuel L. Quezon in 2010.
The Regional Register also includes Cambodia’s Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum Archive, Australia’s Landmark Constitutional Documents of the Commonwealth of Australia, Fiji’s Polynesian Immigrants Records from 1876-1914, and Viet Nam’s Royal Literature on Hue Royal Architecture (1802-1945), among others.
In addition to being part of a prestigious list of documents and archives, the inscription also allows documentary heritage workers and custodians to become part of an active community that advocates for the preservation of, and access to, documentary heritage the inscription has also helped custodians and Member States promote, publicize and pool resources to maintain collections.
The Philippine delegation to the Eight General Meeting of MOWCAP was composed of Philippine National Committee for Memory of the World Chair Nick Deocampo, NHCP Chairperson Rene Escalante, and UNACOM Programme Officer Joana Rizza Bagano.
The Philippine National Committee for MOW envisions increased promotion of Philippine documentary heritage and more inscriptions to the National, Regional, and International MOW Registers. END
