QC officials inaugurate Quezon heritage house

MANILA, Philippines - The Quezon City government inaugurated on Monday the house of former President Manuel Quezon, which was transferred from its original location in New Manila to the Quezon Memorial Circle.

Mayor Herbert Bautista and Vice Mayor Joy Belmonte led local officials and members of the Quezon family in inaugurating the reconstructed house.

Maria Zeneida “Nini” Quezon-Avanceña, 92, the only surviving daughter of Quezon, was grateful to the local government for funding the transfer of the heritage house.

“I would like to thank everyone for putting up the Gilmore House (at the Quezon Memorial Circle),” she said.

Bautista said the heritage house is a fitting addition to the Quezon Memorial Circle, which is also the site of the resting place of the former President and his wife Aurora.

He said the heritage house complements the Quezon Museum and the other structures that would be constructed in the area.

“If you want to know about Quezon as a politician, visit the Quezon Museum. If you want to know about his personal life, visit the heritage house,” he added.

Bautista said the city would open its social history museum and transfer the public library to the circle next year to provide the public with information about the city, its people and the country.

Belmonte, on the other hand, supervised the transfer of the Quezon house.

She said there is a need to preserve the ancestral home to nurture the culture of the people.

The local government allotted P9.94 million for the transfer of the property.

Prior to the sale of the property, Bautista instructed the city planning and development office to request information from the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) on how the local government could acquire the old house and have it registered as a heritage site.

But the NHCP said the house could not be declared as a heritage site because it has no significant association with the political and personal life of the former president.