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Friday, March 29, 2024

Pangasinan secures P50m for Casa Real restoration

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LINGAYEN, Pangasinan—The Provincial Government here is set to receive P50 million grant from the Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority for the third and final phase restoration of the historic Casa Real.

The Sangguniang Panlalawigan has authorized Gov. Amado Espino III to enter into a memorandum of agreement with the zone authority to formalize the fund release via a resolution approved recently at the SP Session Hall.

“The (SP) fully supports the rehabilitation of the Casa Real because it is worthy of protection and preservation not only for its monumental significance,” the resolution, authored by Vice Gov. Jose Ferdinand Calimlim Jr., stated.

Calimlim said the MOA shall serve as the basis for the release of funds for the renovation project, which shall be released in four tranches.

Restoration efforts on the landmark structure were initiated by the former governor and now 5th District Rep. Amado Espino Jr., in line with the socio-cultural renaissance revival program he has started in Pangasinan.

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The province shelled out P5 milion for the initial phase of the building’s rehab, with 2nd District Rep. Leopoldo Bataoil having lobbied P30-million funding from the zone authority and the Department of Public Works and Highways for the second phase.

Bataoil said full restoration of the Casa Real would be completed by yearend—to be unveiled as a museum in time for the 437th Agew na Pangasinan celebration on April 5 next year. 

Casa Real (or Royale House) once served as Pangasinan’s provincial seat of government during the Spanish colonization of the Philippines from 1521 to 1898.

The building has been recognized as one of the oldest public buildings and was declared a National Landmark by the National Historical Commission of the Philippines, for being “an outstanding and unique example of civil architecture from the Spanish and American colonial periods.”

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