The National Museum of the Philippines has allotted PHP25 million for the rehabilitation of its museum in Kabayan, Benguet, which houses information on local history as well actual mummies.

“The amount will focus on the rehabilitation of the structure of Site 1 because it is already old and we have national treasures on exhibits inside, which needs to be protected,” Paolo Mar Chan, Regional Administrative and Operations Division chief of the National Museum, said in a phone interview on Thursday.

The rehabilitation is scheduled to be completed within the year. The exhibits are temporarily housed in a building within the materials recovery facility of the town.

Chan said a different fund will be utilized for the upkeep of the exhibits.

Among the valuable exhibits that the museum have include a geological collection and artifacts on natural history that include mummies and items about the ethnic group called Ibaloi, and the town of Kabayan, which is known as the seat of the Ibaloi culture.

Chan said the National Museum-Kabayan plays an important role in the preservation of the knowledge and the history of the Ibaloi people.

He said mummies and the practice of mummification are unique to Kabayan, making it important to be disseminated and known not just by the locals especially the young people in the town, but also by tourists.

He said that since NMP opened its museums to the public, it has seen an increase in visitors.

“This is good because we do not just keep and preserve the knowledge and artifacts within the walls of the structures but are read and known by people who visit and bring the information along with them when they go out of the museum,” he added.

Aside from outdoor destinations in Kabayan, the upkeep of the museum also hopes to add to the attractions of the municipality, increasing its revenue as a town.

Kabayan, one of the popular tourist destinations in Benguet, is the host of Mt. Pulag, the second highest peak in the country, and the four lakes that offer activities in communion with nature through camping. Tourists can also be invited to see the museum without an added cost to the tourists.

“We also have educational tours for those who visit the museum, and with the upkeep, we hope to further increase the visitors in Kabayan,” he said.

Chan is also hopeful for the approval of a PHP15 million funding for the construction of another structure that will house the conservation laboratory that will make the cleaning, restoration and maintenance of the exhibits easier and lessen the need to transport these to Metro Manila.

The NMP-Kabayan also maintains the Timbac burial caves and the mummy rocks, where important mummies like the popular “Apo Anno” mummy stay.

With tourist arrivals in the town expected to increase after the museum rehabilitation, the Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (TIEZA) announced during the 15th Eco-Tourism and Bendiyan Festival on May 1 that there is an ongoing study of the feasibility of having the 12 rooms hostel in Kabayan rehabilitated and operated.

“Napapanahon nang magkaroon ng additional access sa facilities dahil may enhanced economic activity as Kabayan is continuously being promoted of its tourism strengths and assets (It is timely to have additional access to facilities with the enhanced economic activity in Kabayan, with its strengths and assets continuously being promoted),” TIEZA business development manager Janet Christine Ocampo said.

She said the hostel was returned to TIEZA more than a decade ago after the operations and maintenance (O&M) contract of the local government unit expired.

“The facility is old and deteriorated that is why we are studying if it can be rehabilitated and operated again,” she said in an interview with the Philippine News Agency. (PNA)