NHCP, NQC survey sites associated with quincentennial
Posted on 04 February 2019
By NQC Admin
The National Quincentennial Committee (NQC) and the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) began surveying various sites and structures in the Visayas and Mindanao. This is in preparation for the comprehensive plan set to be submitted to President Rodrigo Roa Duterte as per Executive Order No. 55 issued on 8 May 2018. The plan will highlight proposed projects and activities for the commemoration in 2021 of the quincentennial of the Victory at Mactan, the introduction of Christianity in the Philippines, and the arrival in Philippine territory of the Magellan-Elcano expedition which first circumnavigated the world.
Among the sites proposed for conservation are the Kiosk of Magellan’s Cross and the Antonio Pigafetta Monument in Cebu City. The kiosk built in 1834 has been a landmark of Cebu. A marked site of the NHCP, the Magellan’s Cross and kiosk house has been conserved by the agency multiple times, most recently after the 15 October 2013 earthquake that rocked Central Visayas. Pigafetta’s monument, the only one in the country, memorializes the celebrated young chronicler of the Magella-Elcano expedition, Antonio Pigafetta. Also a marked site of the NHCP, the Philippine Italian Association erected the monument at the Plaza Independencia in front of Fort San Pedro in Cebu City in 1980.
Also surveyed by the NHCP was the Lapulapu Monument, built in the 1960s, and the 1866 Mactan obelisk, erected in Mactan, Lapu-Lapu City. Also recommended for conservation is the oil on canvas picture by PC Pino at the backdrop of the historical markers for Lapulapu and the Battle of Mactan. Lapu-Lapu City Government and the NHCP agreed to redevelop Mactan Shrine in time for the possible hosting of Lapu-Lapu City of the 121st anniversary of the proclamation of Philippine independence on 12 June 2019, with President Duterte as the Guest of Honor.
Statues of Lapulapu at the Cebu Provincial Capitol and at Opon, Cebu, and the Rajah Humabon Monument in Cebu City, were also included in the survey report of the NHCP for possible conservation.
The NQC and the NHCP also surveyed the 1872 Magellan Monument in Magallanes, Agusan del Norte and the Casa Real of Agusan del Norte in Butuan City, presently occupied by the Butuan City Police. The Casa Real proposed to be the Museum of Pre-Hispanic History.
In the island of Limasawa, Southern Leyte, the survey team inspected the shrine for the controversial 1521 Easter Sunday Mass in the Philippines.
Homonhon in Easter Samar, the first landing site of the expedition, was not visited due to the strong currents during the last quarter of 2018. The site will be inspected in the first quarter of 2019.
