BACOLOD City – What will happen to the P4.8 million Halandumon Tower?
Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez will leave the fate of the controversial structure to the public after the City Engineering Office (CEO) asked for guidance on what to do with it.
Engr. Loben Ceballos, officer-in-charge of the CEO, said at least P200,000 worth of the tower’s electrical equipment went missing.
“I will leave it up to them (the public). Tanan naton nga nahimo is designed sa ila preference; kon ano ila gusto sang pumuluyo amo man na aton nasunod,” Benitez said during a press conference on Tuesday, Jan. 30.
The mayor tasked the city’s Public Information Office with gathering the public’s sentiments through social media.
Serving as the center island in the corner of Gatuslao-Gonsaga Streets near the city public plaza of Bacolod, the Halandumon Tower was inaugurated in 2019.
It was built in commemoration of the 80th Charter Day celebration of Bacolod.
The iconic tower has eight columns that depict sugarcane, the backbone of the city’s and Negros Occidental Province’s economies.
“For this particular project case, indi ako ka decide kon ano gid ang sentimento sang tawo sina, of course, batian tani nga a “symbol of corruption” sang nagligad nga administration, and what to do with it moving forward will be guided sang ila decision,” Benitez added.
Following the initial discovery of the series of theft incidents in October of last year by still unidentified persons, the Bacolod City Police Office intensified its visibility and monitoring of the area./PN
