* view of the Alberto House sala; photo taken by Arnaldo Arnaiz of With One's Past blog; it is probable that the stairs on the lower left potion of the photograph is no longer thereI have been monitoring the discussions being made by an online friend Kuya Arnaldo in his blog With One's Past (The Alberto house in Biñan, Update on the Alberto House of Binan, The Fight for the Alberto House of Binan, The Alberto’s and Binan) regarding the Alberto House found in the city proper of Biñan, Laguna. This house was once the home of Jose Rizal's mother, Doña Teodora Alonso. The issue has always been the supposedly sale of the 200-year-old house to Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar. This could have meant the transfer of the house to a heritage resort in Bagac, Bataan. I was personally anxious in thinking that I would not be able to see the house. We once visited the city of Biñan but I only had a passing glance to this ancestral house.
As I skimmed through the pages of today's issue of Philippine Daily Inquirer ("In Biñan, money matters in fight to keep house of Rizal mom" PDI Vol. 26, No. 107, Friday March 25, 2011), I found a good news bit about the fate of the Alberto House. The city government of Biñan is willing to shell out 20 million pesos for the purchase and eventual maintenance of the house. But then there are a number of issues to be dealt with first: the negotiations with Gerardo Alberto, the current owner of the house, the expropriation processes, among other. There is little to save from it says the reports but we must hope for the best. The success of the government taking over the ownership and/or maintenance of the house would be a good add-on to the 150th birth anniversary celebrations of Jose Rizal this year.
As I skimmed through the pages of today's issue of Philippine Daily Inquirer ("In Biñan, money matters in fight to keep house of Rizal mom" PDI Vol. 26, No. 107, Friday March 25, 2011), I found a good news bit about the fate of the Alberto House. The city government of Biñan is willing to shell out 20 million pesos for the purchase and eventual maintenance of the house. But then there are a number of issues to be dealt with first: the negotiations with Gerardo Alberto, the current owner of the house, the expropriation processes, among other. There is little to save from it says the reports but we must hope for the best. The success of the government taking over the ownership and/or maintenance of the house would be a good add-on to the 150th birth anniversary celebrations of Jose Rizal this year.
i have great fascination with heritage houses... it should be preserved...
ReplyDeleteIt is a fact that we only have a handful of heritage houses in the country. They should all be preserved in situ. Nothing beats visiting those houses in their original places. To collect them as if they are toys is tantamount to mocking their value as cultural treasures. Thanks for dropping by Pinoy Adventurista!
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