DUMAGUETE CITY, Negros Oriental, Dec. 8 (PIA) -- Dumaguete City has launched ‘Hugkat,’ the journal of history, culture, and heritage of the city held at the newly-restored Presidencia, which is now converted as a branch of the National Museum of the Philippines (NMP).

The NMP Dumaguete officially opened to the public during the 74th Charter and Fiesta Anniversary of the city in a formal ceremony attended by local and national officials.

The three-volume box set of Hugkat journal features the works of local historiographies by T. Valentino S. Sitoy Jr;, Professor Caridad Aldecoa-Rodriguez, Dr. Earl Jude Cleope, Professor Carlos M. Magtolis Jr., Fr. Roman C. Sagun Jr., Professor Lorna Peña-Reyes Makil, Professor Ian Rosales Casocot, Dr. Justin Jose A. Bulado and Professor Victor Emmanuel H. Enario plus the historical data papers on Negros Oriental and Siquijor.

Dumaguete City Mayor Felipe Antonio Remollol lauded all the scholars and historians who painstakingly put together historiographic works about Dumaguete City and Negros Oriental.

The publication of Hugkat reinforces the identity of Dumaguete as a city with a proud culture and heritage that will now be remembered, appreciated and learned by the present and future generations.

Copies of Hugkat Journal will be available at specific bookstores and specialty stores in Dumaguete City to be announced soon.  

The NMP and local officials also unveiled the cultural marker declaring the Dumaguete Presidencia an Important Cultural Property on account of its exceptional cultural, artistic and historical significance as manifested by its beautiful blend of Spanish, American, and Filipino architecture. 

The Dumaguete Presidencia, built in 1937, was designed by the great Filipino architect Juan M. Arellano who also designed the Legislative Building in Manila, which is now the National Museum of Fine Arts.

Both buildings were designed in a mix of local and western neoclassical architectural styles prevalent during the American period. (JCT/PIA7 Negros Oriental)