Sunday, June 22, 2008 [ sunstar.com.ph ]
THE 2,000 square meter park fronting the new Urdaneta City Hall in Barangay Anonas will be converted into "Urdaneta Park."
This is in memory of Spanish priest Andres de Urdaneta whom the locality was named after.
Mayor Amadeo Perez Jr. said the National Commission on Culture and Arts (NCCA) has earmarked P4 million for the project. As their counter-part fund, the City Council recently enacted a supplemental budget amounting to P3 million.
The project will be overseen and implemented by four national artists headed by Napoleon Abueva.
"The concept of NCCA director Cecil Alvarez is something where passersby or travelers could drop by and see," the mayor said. The new City Hall is located along the national highway.
The park will be named Urdaneta Park in memory of Father Andres de Urdaneta.
As explained by Perez, Urdaneta was the navigator of Miguel de Legaspi when they conducted expedition from Spain to the Philippines to establish the route taken by Ferdinand Magellan.
In Manila, Legaspi established the first colony of Spain in Intramuros.
Urdaneta later went back to Spain. He became an Agustinian priest at the age of 46.
The town of Urdaneta, Pangasinan was established in 1858 by Father Manzano. He named it after Urdaneta, a native of Ordizia, Spain in recognition of his exploits as a sailor, navigator and scholar.
The mayor said a memorandum of agreement (MOA) between the City Government and NCCA will be signed on June 25 in Manila.
Construction will commence soon after.
On the same day, Perez will meet Mayor Jose Miguel Sta. Maria Ezia of Ordizia City, Spain who is currently in the country.
Perez hoped to discuss with Ezia the scholarship assistance the Spain mayor is planning to extend to Urdaneta City.
"There is no other town or city that was named after father Andres de Urdaneta except our city. That is why in Spain, especially in his birthplace of Ordizia, they find our city a valuable sister city because it was named after a local son. That established our closer ties with Ordizia and Spain itself," Perez said.
Accordingly, Perez was contacted last year by the Philippine ambassador to Spain after the Ordizia City Government inquired about the place in the Philippines named after Andres de Urdaneta. (LCMY/Sunnex)
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