Mayor Feliciano Belmonte jr. accepted the symbolic key, scroll of certificate of transfer from Undersecretary Manuel Gaite of the Office of the President following wreath-laying rites at the shrine yesterday to commemorate the 107th anniversary of the Cry of Pugad Lawin.
The turnover of the one of the most significant historical landmarks in the country was witnessed by Sen. Robert Barbers, city officials and leaders of various civic groups.
"We are taking over the management of the shrine from the national government. We intend to protect and improve it," Belmonte said.
He said Pugad Lawin is one of the national landmarks in the so-called trail of freedom declared by the National Centennial Commission.
"It was here where the national uprising was declared after the 300-year rule of the Spaniards," Belmonte said.
The shrine, located inside the compound of a high school, consists of 27 bronze statues of men, women and children who participated in the Cry of Pugad Lawin. They had been often vandalized prior to the takeover by the city government.
Lourdes Panaba, a barangay tanod, told The STAR that vandals stole one of the life-sized bronze statues and also removed the arms of seven others.
To ensure proper security at the shrine, Belmonte has created an agency that will manage and make the necessary improvements in the area.
Barbers, who was the guest of honor at the affair, called on the Filipino people to be united amid the crisis facing the country.
He said the Cry of Pugad Lawin is far from over, urging the people to fight the ills confronting today’s society.
To attain this, there must be political will on the part of the government and full involvement of the community in the fight against corruption, crime, drug addiction, poverty and other problems besetting the country, the senator said.
"Let us be vigilant and work together to preserve the gains of the Cry of Pugad Lawin," Barbers said.