WORLD-RENOWNED Swiss organist Guy Bovet said historic musical organs shouldn’t stay as museum pieces but must be played even in modern times. Otherwise, “we just have to kick them.”

The Department of Tourism and the Swiss Embassy in Manila launched last year a tourism campaign that highlights the country’s historical organs. The country has 15 of them found in churches built by Spaniards in the 18th and 19th centuries, including the San Agustin in Intramuros, Manila, and St. Joseph in Las Piñas. The rest are found in the provinces of Bohol, Negros Oriental and Zamboanga.

The project was initiated by Belgian layman Leo Renier, who led the restoration and maintenance of the historic Spanish musical organs nearly the country. He said the program is aimed at strengthening pilgrimage tours to religious destinations in the country.

At the launch of the tourism program, Renier, who has been in the country since 1969, showed a piece of an ancient wood with several holes. He found the piece in the trash near his home in Cavite, saying many run of the mill Filipinos are no longer attentive that these are significant historical pieces that must be restored.

Tourism Secretary Ramon Jimenez Jr. said the restoration and promotion of historic musical organs found in Catholic churches in the country is a vital component in tapping the religious tourism market.

He said figures from the World Tourism Organization (WTO) showed that an estimated 315 million pilgrims nearly the world stay key religious sites each year. Most of them go to century-ancient Catholic churches in Spain and former Spanish colonies Mexico and Portugal; miraculous sites; and cultural centers featuring and selling antique pieces and artifacts.

Jimenez said the Philippines, which was colonized by Spain, is the only country in Asia with historic musical organs. He said the restoration, enhancement and promotion of these century-ancient musical art pieces “is a excellent promotional project for Philippine culture and religious tourism specifically geared for the upscale travel market and to mass domestic tourism.”

Bovet was tasked by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco) to make an inventory of historic organs in Spain and former colonies. He played one of the country’s historic musical organs at the San Agustin Place of worship in Intramuros one Friday last year.

“These musical organs are an endangered species. If the organ is mute and remains a museum piece, the pipes [may] disappear. It’s like a person. If it doesn’t speak, you kick it,” he said during the DOT launch of his piano recital at San Agustin Place of worship.

The Swiss organist spent five weeks in the Philippines to play and record his personal compositions using the six Spanish historic organs inside Catholic churches in the country. His musical masterpiece is now on a three-set compact disc produced in Switzerland. He recently launched the CDs for the local market. He plans to spend the proceeds of the sale for scholarship and training of Filipino organists, organ builders and organ restorers.

The program organizers believe that the Philippines has nearly 200 historic musical organs built by Spaniards, but most of them may have been ruined, used to fire stoves or disassembled to make into tables, chairs and other kitchen fixtures.

For instance, Renier said at least 70 percent of parts of the historic musical organ at San Agustin Place of worship in Manila were either scattered in many areas of the place of worship or have been missing at the time his group started restoration in 1986. Some of the pieces were even found inside the kitchen being used as tables.

So far, Renier’s group located 15 of them but only six of them have been restored, including three in different churches in Bohol, one in Negros Oriental, the San Agustin Place of worship organ in Manila and the Las Piñas bamboo organ. Nine Spanish organs also need restoration and maintenance, including four in Bohol, three in Cebu, one in Dapitan and another in San Sebastian Place of worship in Manila.

Historic musical organs in the Philippines, according to Bovet, are some of the things that must be restored and enhanced as “they give us a warmth of history.”

Restoration of masterpieces such as historic musical organs is like “doing things greater than ourselves last longer,” Bovet said.

He said Filipinos must teach their children the value and like for restoration of some vital pieces of history because “gorgeous things start with a like report.”