Negros Occidental’s Victorias City, which kicked off the celebration of its 25th Charter Anniversary and Kadalag-an Festival yesterday, is seeking the declaration of its city hall as a heritage site by the National Historical Commission (NHC).

The building is considered one of the only two surviving government structures in the Philippines built during the American colonial period.

Mayor Javier Miguel Benitez said the NHC requires that a historical marker should be in place and he also had the Victorias City Hall painted back to its original colors.

“The original colors are beige [and] maroon. It has been painted green and white. We brought back its original colors to celebrate it as a cultural and historical site. We finished it in time for the Kadalag-an Festival,” he added.

Benitez said the structure has the image of the eagle, which symbolizes that it was built during American times.

On Monday, March 13, the city council passed the third and final reading of the ordinance declaring the Victorias City Hall Building as a cultural property.

In a Facebook post, Councilor Dino Acuña, the main author of the ordinance, said a marker would be installed at the entrance to remember the history of the building.

Its neo-classical architecture was designed by Filipino architect Juan Arellano during the term of then-mayor Felix Montinola Sr., he noted.

Victorias, located in northern Negros, became a component city through the promulgation of Republic Act 8488 on February 11, 1998, and Presidential Proclamation Order 1180 dated March 19, 1998 declared March 21 as the city’s Charter Day.

The first Kadalag-an Festival was held in 1999 as a thanksgiving celebration and in honor of Our Lady of Victory.

Meanwhile, Benitez said a new city hall or government center would soon rise at a 24-hectare location called the Sidlak Victorias Global City in Barangay 8.

The structure will be built with a P350 million budget loaned by the city government.

The P300 million will be spent on the structure and P50 million for the site development, the mayor said.

Benitez said the city government has tapped the renowned CAZA or Carlos Arnaiz Architects to design and create a master plan for the Sidlak Victorias Global City, including the new government center.

“The groundbreaking will be either [in the] second or third quarter,” he said. (PNA)