“This historical landmark must rise from the ashes.”
Ito ang pahayag ni House Deputy Speaker at Batangas 6th district Rep. Ralph Recto nitong Lunes, Mayo 22, sa kaniyang panawagang agad na itayong muli ang nasunog na gusali ng Manila Central Post Office.
“Government should rebuild the National Post Office Building. Fast, and not in slow mail fashion,” pahayag ni Recto. “So when they come knocking on the doors of Malacanang for help, the postmen must not ring twice.”
“The Post Office is an art work designed and built by Filipino geniuses. It was an architectural jewel of the bygone Pearl of the Orient,” dagdag niya.
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Ayon kay Recto, maaaring pagkunan ang ₱13 bilyong contingent fund, maging ang ₱19.03 bilyong calamity fund sa muling pagpapatayo ng Manila Central Post Office.
Binanggit din niya na sa ilalim ng RA 10066 o ang National Cultural Heritage Act of 2009, ang national historical landmarks, sites o monuments ay may karapatan sa “priority government funding for protection, conservation and restoration.”
“Taipans can also help in reconstruction, and their donations, under Section 35 of RA 10066 ‘shall be exempt from the donor’s tax and the same shall be considered as allowable deduction from the gross income in the computation of the income tax of the donor’,” ani Recto.
“This was how Italian Roman- and Renaissance-era sites were restored -- under the auspices of companies, who regarded those as prestige and patriotic projects,” dagdag niya.
Saad pa ng mambabatas, hindi kaya ng pondo ng Philippine Postal Corporation ang pagbangon.
“In 2020, net surplus nito ay negative ₱240 million, lugi pa. Noong 2021, nakapagtala ng positive net surplus na ₱106 million, kulang pa rin,” aniya.
Binanggit din ni Recto na hindi ito ang unang beses nang masira ang gusali.
“Firebombed by US and Japanese forces, it was reduced to a rubble during the Battle of Manila. But even though short of cash, the newly-born Philippine Republic made sure that it would rise from the ashes of war, because such would be proof of a new nation’s determination to rebuild. Because they believed then, as we must do now, that to let it physically disappear, is to purge it from our people’s memory,” ani Recto.
“In its renaissance, it can even be mixed-use or be multipurpose in function, enhancing its value, for as long as the original design is maintained,” saad pa niya.
Matatandaang nagsimulang sumiklab ang sunog sa Manila Central Post Office dakong 11:41 ng gabi nitong Linggo, Mayo 21, at idineklara ang “fire under control” dakong 7:22 ng umaga nitong Lunes, Mayo 22.
Tinatayang ₱300 milyon na umano ang pinsalang naidulot nito.
MAKI-BALITA: Pinsala sa nasunog na Manila Central Post Office building, nasa ₱300M – BFP
