Bill 696.

Summary.

The bill designates the Ruins of Bique archaeological site, also known as the Ruins of San Vicente, in the corregimiento of Cerro Silvestre, district of Arraiján, Panamá Oeste province, as a National Historic Monument. Its objectives include halting the deterioration of the colonial stone-and-mortar walls, funding excavations and the cataloging of 16th- and 17th-century artifacts, and documenting the former Convent of San Vicente de Bique’s connection to colonial trade. It also proposes a protected perimeter that would prevent the sale of the land to property developers, permanent safeguarding, and public access along the road to the ruins and Playita de Bique. It provides for trails, signs, viewpoints, training for young people in tourism and cultural activities, and educational visits.

The bill creates the Board of the Ruins of Bique Archaeological Site (Patronato del sitio arqueológico Las Ruinas de Bique) as a nonprofit public-interest entity with legal personality, its own assets, and administrative, economic and financial autonomy. It assigns the board responsibility for administering, safeguarding, conserving, protecting, preserving and potentially restoring the site. The Ministry of Culture (Ministerio de Cultura), through the National Directorate of Cultural Heritage, would exercise technical oversight under Law 175 of October 30, 2020, the General Culture Law. The Municipality of Arraiján (Municipio de Arraiján) and other competent authorities would cooperate in protecting the site and seek to ensure compatibility between conservation of the monument, land-use planning and administrative actions. Any work that could affect the site’s integrity would require prior technical authorization from that Directorate.

Board members would serve without pay, although expenses incurred on official assignments could be reimbursed. Within 60 calendar days after the law takes effect, the Ministry of Culture would delimit the monument and its buffer zone through a georeferenced topographic survey using UTM coordinates and a reasoned resolution. The boundaries would be entered in the National Register of Cultural Property (Registro Nacional de Bienes Culturales) and would bind the competent authorities. The board would issue its regulations, prepare its annual budget, manage property and expenses, appoint staff, assess community needs, coordinate volunteers, enter into agreements, and prepare a strategic plan for management, research, conservation and restoration.

Its assets would come from a subsidy under the General State Budget, donations, bequests and self-generated funds. The bill provides for income-tax deductions for contributions, donations and bequests, and tax exemptions for certain board activities and acquisitions. The Office of the Comptroller General of the Republic (Contraloría General de la República) would oversee state property and funds. The Ministry of the Presidency (Ministerio de la Presidencia) and the Ministry of Economy and Finance (Ministerio de Economía y Finanzas) could monitor use of the subsidy and recommend changes to its allocation.

Based in the corregimiento of Cerro Silvestre, the board would bring together representatives of local areas and civil society, the Tourism Authority (Autoridad de Turismo), the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the Ministry of Culture, and the Ministry of Environment (Ministerio de Ambiente). It would make decisions by majority vote and have a governing board whose president would be its legal representative. An Executive Director, selected through a competitive process, would manage day-to-day operations; the bill sets nationality, education, experience and background requirements, as well as the director’s duties. The board would have 60 days from its establishment to submit its internal regulations for approval by the Executive Branch, which would allocate funding for its operations. Community boards and public schools would hold activities about the traditions of the district of Arraiján. These provisions would concern cultural, local, educational, tourism and tax authorities, as well as researchers, schools, residents, fishers, businesses and property developers connected to the area.