By Tara Yap

The planned shrine for famed Ilonggo journalist Graciano Lopez Jaena in the Jaro district of Iloilo City is still unfinished and the foundation behind the structure are seeking assistance from the public.
Dr. Graciano Lopez Jaena Foundation Inc. President Mia Lopez-Cruz, a descendent of Lopez Jaena, is hoping the public can pitch in, saying the shrine is necessary into order to establish a respectable place to remember the contribution to the country made by her great granduncle.
“I asked a waiter if he knew who Graciano Lopez Jaena was, he didn’t know,” she said. “This generation has forgotten how we gained our independence.”
Lopez Jaena worked alongside national hero Jose Rizal, while exiled in Spain. He was also the founding editor of La Solidaridad, the newspaper of the reform movement that inspired the revolution against Spain.
With only a façade and skeletal structure, the structure is supposed to be a two-story shrine with a garden.
A breakfast for-a-cause and book launching were held last May 27 at the proposed shrine.
Iloilo Provincial Board Member Demy Sonza released another version of his biography on Lopez Jaena with money from the book sale going towards the construction.
For inquiries, please contact Mia Lopez-Cruz at 0933-552-1525 or email her at gracianolopezjaenafoundation@gmail.com
To submit donations, please deposit to Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI Jaro branch) savings account No. 1330-0028-71./WDJ