ANTIQUE – The National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) is being urged to lift the cease and desist order (CDO) issued on the rehabilitation of the President Diosdado Macapagal District Hospital in Tobias Fornier town in this province.
At around 60 to 80 percent completion, the P15 million project to upgrade the hospital from the existing 15-bed capacity to 25-bed capacity was halted since the CDO, signed by NHCP chair Dr. Emmanuel Franco Calairo, was issued on Sept. 6, 2023.
According to Provincial Engineer Inocencio Dajao Jr., they sent the hospital’s proposed development plan to the NHCP on Dec. 5, 2023, with the assistance of the provincial legal office.
But they have yet to receive a response.
“I am just hoping that how quickly we responded to the NHCP letter would also be how fast they would respond to us,” Dajao said.
Considered an important cultural property, as cited in the CDO, the 56-year-old hospital is protected from any modification or renovation under Republic Act (RA) 10066, as amended by RA 11961, or the National Cultural Heritage Act of 2009. As such, the project needs clearance from the commission.
“The hospital has continued its operation until now, but then the upgrading of the hospital has been derailed,” Dajao said.
Renovations started in 2019 and temporarily stopped during the pandemic. It resumed on July 2023, until the NHCP issued the CDO./PN
