• CHRYSEE G. SAMILLANO

The unveiling of the Yulo’s Park Heritage Marker from the National Museum of the Philippines and the signing of certificate of turnover and acceptance was held Thursday at the Yulo’s Park in Barangay 14, Bacolod City.
Yulo’s Park was built on August 10, 1919 by Negrense statesman Don Mariano Yulo, who once served as governor of Negros Occidental and later became senator during the Commonwealth period. It is considered an important cultural property (ICP) of Bacolod City and Negros Occidental, and is the first privately owned ICP in the city. It turned 105 years old on August 10.
Present during the unveiling rites were Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson; Ma. Cecilia Tirol, National Museum of the Philippines director for Visayas; Bacolod Councilor Em Ang; Ynez Reyes Ganuelas, representing the Yulo family; Dr. Ivan Henares, secretary general of UNESCO Philippine National Commission; Councilor Jason Villarosa; Neil Solomon Locsin, chairman of Negros Occidental Historical Council; local officials; as well as the descendants of Yulo.
Locsin said they identified the Yulo’s Park and Heritage House because they felt it has architectural value and its story is worth re-telling. So they found it very important to preserve.
It is called Yulo’s Park because it is the first public park of Bacolod (before the Bacolod Public Plaza was built). “If you notice, the lion at the bandstand of the Bacolod plaza was inspired from the one found at the entrance of the Yulo residence. The only difference is that the one at the plaza is made of concrete while the one at Yulo’s Park is made of hardwood,” he said.



Locsin said the second floor of the original house is made of wood but the ground floor is made of concrete materials. If you look closer it is a hybrid house. “It’s a marriage of the Ruins of Talisay and the Balay Negrense of Silay,” because it is a marriage of two architectural styles of the era.
The first inter-island long distance call from Bacolod to Iloilo was made from this house, he said.
Meanwhile, Locsin said the family of Don Mariano Yulo has expressed their interest to open the place to the public, like how it was in 1919. But it will go through a process. They will have to ask for grants from the government. That’s also the reason why they are opening it to make it sustainable. So it can fund itself in the initial phases of its restoration through any tourism economy that the place creates.
“It (Yulo’s Park) is also included in the tentative list of the UNESCO for World Heritage. It was nominated under the Sugar Cultural Landscapes of Panay and Negros. It is also in the DOT – Western Visayas Sugar Trail. So this gives us more reason to restore the place and make it available to the public, Locsin said.*