A DECLARATION CONCERNING THE PROTECTION OF CULTURAL PROPERTY IN CASE OF ARMED CONFLICT.

The Government of the REPUBLIC OF THE
PHILIPPINES,

Convinced that the loss of work of cultural
importance is a spiritual impoverishment, not only for the nation possessing it
but for the entire international community; Recognizing that, through the
development of the technique of warfare, cultural property is in increasing
danger of destruction, and that it is the duly of all States to take steps to safeguard
it from the risks of destruction in the event of armed conflict;

Guided by the principles established in the Hague
Conventions of 1907 and in the Washington Convention of 15 April 1935,
concerning the protection, during armed conflict, of cultural property;

Recognizing the importance of the action
undertaken by UNESCO in order to arrive at an international convention on this
subject,

Hereby declares, pending the entry into force of
such a Convention, its willingness to conform with the following rules:

ARTICLE 1

The Government signing the present Declaration
considers that it is the duty of every State to organize the protection of
cultural property, situated within its territory, against the destruction which
may occur in the event of armed conflict.

Cultural property shall be deemed more especially
to mean:

(a) property, movable or immovable, public
or private, constituting monuments of art or history: works of art; historical
documents; precious books; scientific collections;

(b) all buildings whose main and effective
purpose is to house the movable objects mentioned under (a);

(c) monumental sites of outstanding
importance.

ARTICLE 2

The signatory Government agrees to take all
reasonable precautions to spare cultural property in the course of all military
operations. With regard to immovable cultural property, the Government will
abstain, as far as practicable, from using it and its surroundings for purposes
likely to expose it to attack.

ARTICLE 3

The signatory Government undertakes to issue to its
armies such recommendations and instructions as may secure respect for cultural
property, without regard to the nationality of such property, and to take such
steps as may be necessary to prevent the looting or damaging thereof.

ARTICLE 4

The signatory Government undertakes to refrain
from any acts of hostility directed against any refuges that a Government may
have organized to shelter movable cultural property threatened by military
operations, provided, however, that such refuges

(a) are situated at a distance from the
most likely theaters of military operations; from any probable military
objectives; from any main line of communication, and from any large industrial
centres;

(b) are not used, directly or indirectly,
for military purposes;

(c) are communicated to the Director
General of UNESCO.

ARTICLE 5

The signatory Government declares its readiness
to consider, with any other Government, special agreements concerning special
measures for the protection of certain cultural property, the safeguarding of
which is of exceptional importance for the international community.

ARTICLE 6

1. The signatory Government considers it
desirable that protecting marks be affixed to the refuges designated in Article
4 and to certain immovable cultural property which is not, in any
circumstances, to be used directly or indirectly for military purposes, and in
whose vicinity there are no installations which might be regarded as military
objectives.

2. The above-mentioned mark shall take the form
of a light blue triangle inscribed in a white disc. The location and visibility
of the protecting marks shall be left to the discretion of the military
authorities.

ARTICLE 7

The signatory Government will affix protecting
marks in accordance with the provisions of Article 6, and will take steps to
prevent any abuse of protecting marks in the territories under its authority.

ARTICLE 8

1. In the event of foreign military occupation,
the authorities of the occupied territory shall bring to the notice of
the occupying troops the immovable cultural property of which the preservation
is the concern of the entire international community.

2. In the event of military occupation- of
foreign territory, the national staff appointed to preserve and guard cultural
property shall be retained in their employment, unless there is some legitimate
reason for their dismissal. They shall be protected at their places of duty,
and in the course of any journeys they may have to make when accompanying
cultural property, by the safeguards necessary for the performance of their
duty.

3. In the event of military occupation of foreign
territory, the authorities responsible shall, after consultation with the
competent national staff, take all necessary steps for the preservation of
cultural property which may be damaged. Such measures shall not, however,
except with the full agreement of the competent staff, be other than strictly
preservation.

ARTICLE 9

The signatory Government agrees that cultural
property shall be immune from reprisals.

ARTICLE 10

The signatory Government reserves the right to
make observance of the rules set forth in Articles 1 to 8 conditional on
reciprocal treatment from the opposing party. Should this condition not be
fulfilled, the signatory Government will request the Director-General of UNESCO
to set up an International Commission to verify the acts of which the opposing
party is accused and which are alleged to be in breach of the principles set
forth in the present Declaration.

ARTICLE 11

Should the signatory Government consider itself
no longer in a position to comply with the foregoing provision, it will
immediately inform the Director-General of UNESCO.

ARTICLE 12

The signatory Government requests the
Director-General of UNESCO to communicate the text of this Declaration to all
States,

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand
and caused the seal of the Republic of the Philippines to be affixed.

Done in the city of Manila, this 21st day of
November, in the year Our Lord, nineteen hundred and fifty-three, and of the
Independence of the Philippines, the eighth.

ELPIDIO QUIRINO
President of the Philippines

By the President:
MARCIANO ROQUE
Acting Executive Secretary

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