The Victorias City Hall will be the future site for the first component museum in Negros Occidental, with the signing of a Deed of Usufruct Agreement on Monday, August 28.
Victorias City Mayor Javier Miguel Benitez, Rep. Jose Francisco Benitez (Neg. Occ., 3rd District) , National Museum of the Philippines (NMP) Director-General Jeremy Barns, NMP Visayas National Museums Director II Ma. Cecilia Tirol, and City Administrator Lindolf De Castro signed the agreement.
The first component museum in Negros Occidental will feature the sugar heritage and indigenous flora and fauna of the province, a press release from Victorias City said.
“We’re very excited about this partnership, we know that the National Museum of the Philippines and the partnership with the Department of Tourism, hopefully, will bring not only awareness but also education, honor, and tourists to Victorias City which will help people rise from economic hardships,” the mayor said in his message.
“He (Mayor Benitez) thought that the idea of a national museum present here in Victorias was one that completed his vision of both a new reinvigorated Victorias City and one that is nonetheless tied and conscious to its long heritage and history,” Rep. Benitez said.
Tirol stressed the significance of the museum in the Visayas Region and emphasized that Negros Occidental was the only missing piece in the cultural map.
Barns affirmed the commitment of the NMP to making this vision a reality.
Victorias Vice Mayor Abelardo Bantug III together with the city councilors and department heads joined the ceremonial signing as support to the project.*