yup it is a template...
most notably... that means it is not standard php by any means.. he left them there.. then specifically told php how to replace those variables with real php values
do you see anything in his other files that might be useing a bunch of [man]preg_match/man or [man]preg_replace/man on an arbitrary input... or ereg_ functions
that would probably be the file that parses his template
if you can find what is parsing it we might be able to help translate or help you figure out whats going on in generall
do you have a more specific question