Partial road closure requested

CEBU, Philippines - Commission on Augustinian Culture Heritage chairman Father Harold Rentoria yesterday expressed their intention of having the Osmeña Boulevard portion of the Basilica Minore del Santo Niño closed to vehicular traffic through a letter request to the City Traffic Operations Management Office.

“We already sent another letter to CITOM requesting for another temporary road closure at the Osmeña Boulevard side. This is to finalize the installation of shoring at the top portion of the bell in order, in preparation for the restoration works,” Fr. Rentoria yesterday said.

He added that the letter did not specify the date of closure as opposed to the previous request sent to the same office last month, but hoped that it will be granted “as soon as possible.”

Shoring refers to the materials used to stabilize a structure while undergoing structural modification of repair or restoration.

Apart from heading the Commission on Augustinian Culture Heritage, Father Rentoria also heads the sub-commission on Cultural Heritage of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA).

Vice Mayor Edgardo Labella, who authored the proposed pedestrianization of the same road, affirmed by saying the temporary closure period could be used by CITOM and the city government to come up with measures to address the “traffic impact” should the closure be permanent, since Osmeña Boulevard is a major thoroughfare.

The iconic Basilica’s bell tower fell victim to the 7.2-magnitude earthquake that shook primarily Bohol and Cebu October 15 last year.

Meanwhile, the national government is allotting about P650 million  money to restore quake-stricken religious and historical sites in the Visayas as announced during yesterday’s stakeholders’ consultation with officials of NCCA and Cebu Archdiocesan Commission on Heritage at the Pilgrim Center of the Basilica.

Pre-restoration cost is pegged at P120 million while another P500 million is pledged by the same agency for the same purposes under the 2015 budget.

NHCP chairman Dr. Maria Sereno “Maris” Diokno appealed to the public for understanding, stressing that heritage restoration takes time and tedious scientific considerations.

“Heritage works marries and blends science, history, and art. It has to be this way. We don’t want to sacrifice long-term for short-term results,” Diokno explained.  (FREEMAN)