Pangasinan officials united in restoring the old glory of Lingayen’s Casa Real
LINGAYEN, Pangasinan — The provincial board has approved a resolution authorizing Gov. Amado I. Espino III to enter into an amended Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with the Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (TIEZA) and the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH)-Pangasinan 2nd District Engineering Office for the acceptance of the restored Casa Real property.
Casa Real is one of Lingayen’s oldest public buildings that once served as Pangasinan’s seat of government during the Spanish occupation. It was devastated during World War II.
In 2008, the 260-year-old edifice suffered another degree of dilapidation when typhoon “Cosme” ripped off the building’s roof, and it has since been abandoned until restoration plans were successfully proposed.
In 2016, the rehabilitation works for the historical edifice took off. After more than a year of rehabilitation, the project is now completed and is ready for turnover and acceptance.
National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) declared Casa Real a historical landmark, describing the building as “an outstanding and unique example of civic architecture from the Spanish colonial period.”
Provincial Tourism and Cultural Affairs Officer Ma. Luisa A. Elduayan said there is a need to amend the previous MOA since TIEZA has a new chief executive officer in the person of Pocholo Paragas.
She also revealed that from the initial amount of grant approved for the 3rd phase of the project that amounted to 150 million, funding was reduced to 139.9 million under the new administration.
The former governor and now 5th District Representative Amado T. Espino Jr. and 2nd District Representative Leopoldo N. Bataoil who sourced out 130 million from TIEZA initiated the restoration efforts on the landmark structure and the DPWH to bankroll phase two of the project.
The provincial government initially released an amount of 15 million to jumpstart the first phase. For the three phases the funding cost totaled to more than 168 million.