RESOLUTIONS

4th Philippine National Archives Congress

November 11-13, 2015
Vigan Convention Center, Vigan City

The Congress is attended by the Head of the Subcommission for Cultural

Heritage of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA),
the Executive Director of the National Archives of the Philippines (NAP),
the Mayor of the City of Vigan, Members of the NCCA National
Committee on Archives, archivists, records managers, librarians,
information officers and other government and private officers.

Congress presentations covered these topics:

Defying Risk and Danger: Survival of Archives Across Time
Empowering Archivists Through the National Archives of the
Philippines
Empowering our Archivists: Establishment of Archives for Cultural
Heritage Preservation
Archives and Records Management Census in the Philippines:
Initial Findings and Implications Towards Agenda Setting for the
Profession Developing a Professional Certificate Program for
Archiving and Records Management in the Philippines

Arising from the presentations, workshops and plenary presentations of

outputs from workshop groups, resolutions were adopted. These
resolutions are in accordance of the objectives of the Congress: (1) To
formulate guidelines to mitigate the impacts of natural disasters in
Archives, and (2) To develop a module to professionalize the archival
education in the Philippines. The following are the resolutions:
Have a disaster management plan. Train staff on rescue, recovery,
and rehabilitation of records. Disaster plan also means having the
basic emergency supplies to accomplish these.
Given the disaster risks across the country, we propose that the
NCCA and NCA conduct disaster management workshops towards
 the development of individual disaster plans of various archives
holdings and institutions across the country.
Given the need for a quick and efficient coordination and
response to disasters that affect archives, records and other
cultural heritage, we propose the establishment of a National Blue
Shield Committee
Despite the enactment of the National Archives Act of 2007, there
are still gaps in the implementation thereof, and thus we propose
strict enforcement and compliance.
Given that most of the gaps occur in the local communities, we
propose more initiatives in archives and records building at the
level of the barangay, local community and indigenous peoples
Involve people in the community (local, regional, national,
international) in disaster management planning. We should put in
mind that affected people would not be able to perform rescue,
recovery, and rehabilitation work immediately.
More trainings, workshops, and short certificate courses should
be made available to people who want to do archival work. This
should be done regularly and not be ningas kugon.
Develop among the people and communities the capacity to
recover and rebuild from any disaster. Volunteerism should be
encouraged. Local volunteers should be included in training
programs.
Institutionalize sound records management programs in all
offices. Records loss can be minimized if:
a) archival records, vital records were stored in secure places and
not on the ground floor of a building and/or low-lying areas
that can be reached easily by flood waters/mud.
b) Good quality paper and ink were used in records creation.
c) Forms were designed according to standards (good quality
recording materials, number of copies created and filed,
quality and durability of recording materials, etc.)
d) Archival records are duplicated/back-up copies are made
and/or properly dispersed. Duplication/dispersal of records is
the main protection method for vital records.
e) Offices have a Records Disposal Schedule to understand what
information to keep and what to dispose. Have a clear view of
salvage priorities, regular disposal of temporary records and
identifying priority collections is important.
 Develop a counterpart National Risk Reduction and Disaster
Management Plan for Cultural Assets program, which the NCCA
can spearhead.
Establish/ set the protocol for international volunteers/ aid for
records recovery
Plan for a national freezing facility (for use by archives in the
aftermath of a big disaster)
Establish a national volunteers program for records rescue,
recovery and rehabilitation
A condition survey of all cultural property listed in the Philippine
Registry of Cultrual Property (PRECUP) should be made so that we
will know which collection/s are to be saved first in case of
emergency/ disaster.
Membership to associations to include call for volunteers in
cultural heritage recovery.
Public education on Disaster Management and Preventive
Conservation.
Include Retrieval of Records program in PDRRMO (Provincial
Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office)
Continuous support from top management.
Have a system/network to have coordination (ex. Online library)
for researching available resources
Permanent employee or trained personnel to manage the archives
whether from municipalities or other government agencies; not
co-terminus with Mayor
Provision or section on construction methods and standards in the
National Building Code for Archival Storage.
Partnership with private organizations.