DUMAGUETE CITY -- The National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) has earmarked PHP70 million worth of projects to restore and preserve three churches in Negros Oriental, including on Siquijor Island, which are all under the Diocese of Dumaguete.
NHCP chairman Rene Escalante disclosed Monday during the opening of a five-day training dubbed “Conservation Goes to the Province” that the Lazi church in Lazi, Siquijor has been allotted PHP38.7 million pesos for its restoration and beautification, PHP19.4 million for the Dauin church and PHP9.65 million for the Zamboanguita church.
He said after the restoration of the Lazi convent, the team of NHCP engineers noted that the church itself needs a repair, just like in Bohol, Cebu and Iloilo.
“Nanganak ng nanganak ang proyekto hanggang makumpleto ang buong complex,” Escalante said in Filipino, because they were given directives to talk the language to celebrate “Buwan ng Wika.”
For the two churches in Dauin and Zamboanguita, Escalante also said NHCP will make the structure safe, functional and as beautiful as possible.
He said their budget is only good for one year, so in most cases, NHCP will start with the structural part of the restoration process, and if there’s a need to follow up with some architectural interventions, the team will always recommend to the Commission to include proposals in the budget the following year.
In his message during ceremonies held inside the St. Augustine de Hippo Parish in Bacong, chairman Escalante said that Negros Oriental will receive the biggest chunk of their budget next year “because in the past three years, it was always Bohol and Cebu which got the lion’s share of our attention in the budget. Now we are moving towards the western part of the Visayas.”
He said this would not be the last project for Negros Oriental as he ensured a sustained effort along this line, especially that their coming here is quite challenging due to a shift in the budgeting process, from obligation-based to utilization-based.
In a meeting with Bishop Julito Cortes Sunday evening, Escalante confirmed that several projects had been discussed including the possibility of a restoration project for the belfry of the Dumaguete Cathedral church.
Cortes and NHCP chairman Escalante have agreed to come up with a detailed engineering and study of the structure to determine the form of intervention to make.
Escalante said according to NHCP architects and engineers, the belfry in Dumaguete has an integrity problem and is observed to be tilting due to the additional concrete structure in the second layer.
The suggested work to be done is to reinforce the structure by putting up some internal support because “as much as possible we want to preserve the beauty of the tower by not making any additional structure outside.” (PNA)
