DUMAGUETE CITY, Negros Oriental, Dec. 23 (PIA) -- Dumaguete City’s Panilongon has been adjudged first place for the best site development of Quincentennial Historical Markers by the National Quincentennial Committee (NQC) and the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP).

The city received a cash prize of P250,000 during the closing program of the Philippine International Quincentennial Conference on Dec. 17.

Dr. Rene Escalante, chairperson of NHCP, congratulated Mayor Felipe Antonio Remollo as Panilongon was one of the 34 sites/entries of the international project (Philippine part) of tracing the route of the Magellan-Elcano expedition, which is part of the achievement of science and humankind in circumnavigating the planet for the first time some 500 years ago.

Remollo and the City Tourism Office came up with the design for the Panilongon Quincentennial marker to be placed at the center of the recreated ship Victoria, which was the first sea vessel to successfully circumnavigate the world.  

NHCP Commissioner Dr. Earl Jude Cleope said during the unveiling of the marker in May that “hopefully, the marker figuratively becomes the vessel for future generations to understand the context of the past, appreciate who we are now at present, and aspire as to who we will become in the future.”

In his remarks during the unveiling ceremony, Remollo also stressed that the historic landmark is necessary because without the 17th marker, the expedition of Ferdinand Magellan and Juan Sebastian Elcano would not have been completed if they missed Panilongon (Negros).

The NQC funded the fabrication of the specially-designed pedestals with the NHCP historical markers and bas-relief depicting the episodes of the expedition in it.

These were installed in the identified sites with the help of the host localities that funded the site development.

For their cooperation, and also to further encourage them in the preparation for the sites, the NQC decided to give incentives to the top three best site developments.

Out of the 34 sites identified by the NQC, only 27 sites were judged due to the non-compliance of the other local government units (LGUs) to the requirements.

Furthermore, all markers which were not installed prior to the judging period were automatically not included in due consideration of the other LGUs.

The Board of Judges scored the 27 sites on the following criteria:

1.     Compliance to technical requirements (40%)

2.     Environmental impact and sustainability (20%)

3.     Visual integrity (20%)

4.     Safety and security (20%)

The judges were NHCP Chairman and NQC Executive Director Rene Escalante; DILG Philippines Undersecretary for Plans, Public Affairs and Communication and NQC member Jonathan Malaya; Department of Tourism-Philippines Undersecretary and NQC member Roberto Alabado III; Department of Foreign Affairs, Republic of the Philippines Office of Public and Cultural Diplomacy Asec. Eduardo Martin Meñez; and National Commission for Culture and the Arts representative and Member of NCCA’s National Committee on Art Galleries John Delan Robillos.

The 27 sites/entries that were judged were Calicoan Island, Guiuan, Eastern Samar; Suluan Island, Guiuan, Eastern Samar; Homonhon Island, Guiuan, Eastern Samar; Hinunangan, Southern Leyte; Gibusong Island, Loreto, Dinagat Island; Municipal Grounds, Triana Limasawa, Southern Leyte; Maasin City, Southern Leyte; Canigao Island, Matalom, Leyte; Baybay City Hall, Baybay City, Leyte; Himokilan Island, Hindang Leyte; Poro, Camotes Islands, Cebu; San Francisco, Camotes Islands, Cebu; Plaza Sugbu, Cebu City; Liberty Shrine, Lapu-Lapu City; Capitol Compound, Tagbularan City, Bohol; Kipit, Labason, Zamboanga Del Norte; Mapun, Tawi-Tawi; Aborlan, Palawan; Sitio Tagusao, Barong-Barong, Brooke’s Point, Palawan; Isabela; Balabac, Palawan; Buliluyan, Batarza, Palawan; Isabela City, Basilan; Pagadian City; Batulaki, Glan, Sarangani Province; Municipal Grounds, Balut Island, Sarangani, Davao Occidental and Camalig, Sarangani Island, Sarangani, Davao Occidental.  (JCT/PIA7 Negros Oriental with reports from CPIO)