Dagupan eyes to be Ilocos region’s arts, cultural hub

• Source: http://punch.dagupan.com/articles/news/2017/08/dagupan-eyes-to-be-ilocos-regions-arts-cultural-hub/
• Sunday, August 20, 2017

By Leonardo Micua (Sunday Punch)

THE Dagupan City government is eyeing to make the city the arts and cultural hub of the Ilocos Region.

Councilor Jeslito Seen sees the opportunity with the passage of the draft ordinance seeking to adopt Republic Act No. 1006 as among the laws of the city.

R.A. 1006 seeks to identify and preserve arts and culture, including historical landmarks in every locality in the Philippines for the benefit of the future generations.

Seen said if the draft ordinance is passed, Dagupan City will be the first local government unit to adopt RA 1006, a status confirmed by the National Historical Commission of the Philippines.

The proposed ordinance will serve as the road map for the preservation of arts, landmarks and cultural heritage in the city of Dagupan.

Seen, chair of the committee on arts and culture of the city council, said there are a number of landmarks and works of art in Dagupan that could be made part of the city’s cultural heritage.

Among these include, he said, the Gabaldon building of the West Central School, the Dagupan City Hall built sometime in 1925, the Home Economics building of the West Central School that served as living quarters of General Mac Arthur when he and his liberation forces landed in Dagupan in January 1945, the Mac Arthur monument in Bonuan, the former Vicar Hotel building, the head train of the first railroad train that travelled the Caloocan-Dagupan railway line and the remnants of the old Franklin bridge.

He said the local government will recommend these sites and landmarks initially to the National Historical and Cultural Commission that will declare these as cultural heritage.

The draft ordinance expressly prohibits the desecration and demolition of landmarks and works of arts that were declared national heritage.