• CHRYSEE G. SAMILLANO
Bacolod Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez yesterday tasked the Public Information Office to get the opinion of the public, particularly Bacolodnons, on what changes they want done to the controversial Halandumon Tower along Gonzaga-Gatuslao streets, Bacolod City, whether it should be removed or replaced.
The BCD PIO page posted yesterday the question “Ano ang handum mo para sa Halandumon Tower? (What do you wish done to the Halandumon Tower?).”
Benitez said he has directed the PIO to ask netizens what they want done to the Halandumon Tower. “I’ll leave it up to them to decide. Whatever is their preference, that I will do. I cannot decide what to do with it because l don’t know their preference.”
If the people want to put up a new structure in its place, which is iconic, so be it. But in this case, l will listen to the preference of the people, he said.
The Halandumon Tower is supposed to be an iconic structure to identify the City of Bacolod just like the public plaza and City Hall, Benitez added.
The P4.8 million Halandumon Tower built by the Leonardia administration, in commemoration of the 80th year of Bacolod City in 2018.
The design concept of the 14.9-meter high tower was by the United Architects of the Philippines. The outer tower symbolizes sugarcane while the inner tower symbolizes rice or palay. The structure has eight columns that gradually rise to signify the eight decades that Bacolod City continually progressed.
A dilapidated clock tower used to occupy the area where the tower now stands.
One purpose of the Halandumon Tower is to serve as another landmark or tourist attraction in Bacolod City.*
