MONUMENTS expert Lila Ramos-Shahani called for a “critical interrogation” of the male elite-centered, Spanish Catholic-dominated monument culture in the Philippines in a research forum on Nov. 26.
Ramos-Shahani, a member of scientific committees of the International Council on Monuments and Sites (Icomos), pointed to how female figures and other faith traditions were underrepresented in monument-building in the Philippines.
“You have cultural gatekeepers inside and outside government investing in conserving monuments. But what do those monuments reflect? They reflect imperial, religious, and national prestige,” she said in her keynote address during the forum “Understanding the Humanities Research Landscape: Themes, Challenges, and Opportunities,” organized by the Faculty of Arts and Letters and the humanities division of the National Research Council of the Philippines.
Despite the huge role of women in Philippine history, Ramos-Shahani said only a few had been deemed worthy of monumentalization, typically those who assisted or fought in revolutions. Women from other historical periods remain largely excluded and overlooked, she said.
“We’re talking about the acceptable female leaders, [they] are those who fed, treated, and sheltered guerrillas, or those who fought in the anti-colonial resistance movements, or women who revolted. But what about women in earlier periods?” she asked.
“In the gathering of heroes in Rizal Park, if you actually walked down it, there’s not a single female figure,” she added.
Also unrecognized are women violated throughout history and seen as “victims stripped of historical agency,” as exemplified by the “comfort women” who were sexually enslaved by Japanese forces during World War II.
Ramos-Shahani, daughter of the late senator Leticia Ramos-Shahani, resigned from the Department of Foreign Affairs in October 2019 after the Duterte administration’s decision to take down the memorial for comfort women on Roxas Boulevard at the request of Japanese officials.
“These … comfort women narratives suggest that while they may be footnoted in social history, they can never be allowed to rise to the level of a national monument, which is unfortunate,” Ramos-Shahani said.
She also questioned why 34 markers recognizing the Elcano-Magellan global circumnavigation were erected throughout the archipelago.
“Why is that a thing? Isn’t that something that Spain and Portugal should be spending on? Why are our agencies so busy genuflecting to powers that are wealthier, that can provide them with perks when they go overseas?”
There are many Muslim sites and even folk Catholic sites on Mt. Banahaw that could be deemed worthy of being memorialized, she said.
Ramos-Shahani clarified that she was not calling for the takedown of monuments such as what happened at the height of the “Black Lives Matter” movement in the United States, when statues of historical figures who owned slaves were taken down.
“What I advocate is interrogation, and I advocate a fuller discussion and contextualization in our markers. We need the histories of the rich people who did whatever they did, and all the people around them who aided or suffered,” she said.
