By Dick Detering

It all started on October 15, 2013. Bohol was hit by a 7.2 magnitude earthquake. More than 200 people were reported dead, 8 were missing, and 976 were injured. The bell tower of the centuries old Baclayon church collapsed and most of its debris could be found on the highway. Today, two months later, many rocks have been removed but the highway is still closed to all traffic in one direction and to all heavy traffic in both directions. Responsible for this are the NCCA (National Commission on Culture and Art) and the NHCP (National Historical Commission). These commissions prohibit anyone from fully opening the important highway because it has plans for church restoration. Nobody knows how long this is going to last but residents and business people are becoming more and more nervous. Traffic is detoured through dirty barangay roads.

People start complaining more and more. Here is what they are saying: "Leaving things as they are, makes the situation more dangerous. The church ruin attracts many daily visitors and also local children who start taking more risks by going too near to the half collapsed bell tower. This situation could cost lives in case of an aftershock or strong winds" and: "Leaving the highway partly closed creates a daily economic damage of at least one million pesos. Think about longer travel time for business traffic, more fuel usage, faster wearing out of tires due to traveling over bad roads, inconvenience for local residents (noise, dust, danger for children who are used to live along very quiet roads that are now full of highway traffic), strain on police officers whose daily task it is to manage these new traffic flows.

They are now forced to neglect other important tasks such as preventing and combating criminality. And this is happening while there is a security alert because of a complete prison outbreak in Tacloban City. And then there's the problem of people living along the provincial road who are traumatized by the earthquake. Some of them have difficulties to get rid of their trauma's due to many heavy trucks passing by every day and night, thus creating noise and vibrations similar to the October 15 earthquake. For example, the Provincial Road in Baclayon (East CPG) that is now being used as detour for heavy traffic has changed from a quiet, clean and safe road, particularly for children, into a noisy, dirty and dangerous environment. Government, aren't you supposed to prioritize help to victims over National Treasures? 
Are the government agencies willing to sacrifice Bohol's economy and safety for the sake of only one damaged church? Are they also willing to sacrifice lives? What is more important, safety and the very important local economy or just one old church? Shouldn't everything be done to stop the damage done to local small and large businesses and to increase safety of residents and visitors?

This article probably will not change much about the situation. The NCCA and the NHCP mostly get what they want and a probably long lasting restoration of the Baclayon church could start at any time. Their plan is either to use the same church rocks that are now deposited along the highway or similar material. So what will happen when there's a new earthquake in the far future while the church has been brought back to its original state? It might be destroyed again including the risks of ..... how many victims? Did the NCCA and the NHCP think of that? We don't know. Other countries such as Japan would never do this and they would either immediately demolish the church or rebuild it with new modern and safe construction materials. Didn't we learn that safety comes first?