Historical commission asks churches to coordinate church restoration projects with them

The National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) asked the parishes affected by the Oct. 15 earthquake last year to coordinate with their office in implementing their restoration projects.

NHCP Chairperson Maria Serena Diokno said they want to review the restoration plans of parishes to check if their plans are good enough.

“We don’t want to end up regretting our hasty decisions,” Diokno said in a stakeholders’ meeting at the Pilgrim Center of the Basilica del Sto Niño Monday morning.

She said the NHCP is still in the pre-restoration process and no actual restoration works were done yet. The pre-restoration phase includes data collection through laser scanning of walls, a new technology used by the commission for the restoration plans.

Other processes will include soil boring tests and sinkhole testing. Diokno said the second phase will include pooling together local and international structural engineering experts and other technical experts to present and discuss their scientific results from the first phase.

A master restoration plan will then be crafted containing general guidelines on how to pursue the restoration process. The master plan will be used as basis for specific site restoration plans for each of the affected sites.

The third and last phase will be actual restoration work to be implemented by the NHCP and the Nation Museum. The NHCP is assigned to all heritage sites in Cebu and a few churches in Bohol.

The rest of the sites in Bohol are under the National Museum. Diokno said the national government approved an initial budget of P650 million for the heritage restoration in Cebu and Bohol this year.

Of that amount, P120 million is allocated for the pre-restoration phase.  She said the national government committed P500 million in the 2015 budget for heritage restoration of all areas affected by natural calamities last year.

The NHCP is asking the public to be patient.”We really need to study well the structures. I’m asking for understanding and support in this endeavor. I’m not prepared to sacrifice the long term for the short term,”  Diokno said.

Heritage sites under NHCP’s restoration in Cebu are the Basilica Minor del Santo Niño, the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral and the churches in Carcar, Sibonga, Dalaguete, Argao, Boljoon, Bantayan and Samboan.

Other heritage site also included are Fort San Pedro, Museo Sugbo and Magellan’s Cross. For Bohol, heritage sites include churches in Baclayon, Dauis, Loay, Tubigon, Carmen, Inabanga and Talibon.

Of these sites, only four have already winning bidders while the rest are still in the bidding process. These are Magellan’s Cross, Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral, Dauis and Loay churches.