IN the future, this city would have a new repository for its culture, art, historical, and religious heritage.
President Rodrigo Duterte signed Republic Act 11771 or an act establishing a cultural center and Museum in Cagayan de Oro City.
Aside from Cagayan de Oro, President Duterte also signed Republic Act 11770 creating the Kalinga Cultural Center and Museum in Kalinga province; and Republic Act 11772 creating the Biliran Cultural Center and Museum in Biliran province.
Duterte signed the new laws creating the cultural centers and museums on Tuesday.
Under the new law that created the Cagayan de Oro cultural center and museum, Deputy Speaker Rufus Rodriguez said these would serve as an “institutional medium for the collection, preservation and enhancement” of Cagayan de Oro’s heritage and history.
“I am very thankful to President Duterte for acting upon this measure that I authored and filed in 2021,” Rodriguez, the principal author said.
Rodriguez said the budget for the construction of the cultural center and museum would come from the current annual budget of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts.
He said the succeeding budget would be included in the General Appropriations Act.
“The local government of Cagayan de Oro is also mandated to provide the land for the construction of the cultural center, museum, and offices,” Rodriguez said.
Presently, the city's main repository for its heritage and historical artifacts is the 100-year-old water tower located beside Gaston Park, here.
Constructed in 1921 during the American occupation of the Philippines, the water tower is the oldest public structure in the city.
Jesus Christopher Salon of the City Museum said the water tower was used as a reservoir for water coming from the mountains to Cagayan de Oro then known as Cagayan de Misamis.
He said old photographs of Cagayan de Oro as well as some archeological finds are stored on the structure’s three floors.
