The statues of the 10 Bornean datus (chieftains), the first Malay ancestors in the country, will soon be erected in Barangay Malandog in this capital town where they first settled long before the Spanish colonization.
“The statues will depict the arrival of the first Malay ancestors in Barangay Malandog in order to settle there,” said Antique Provincial Tourism and Cultural Affairs Officer Juan Carlos Perlas in an interview Friday.
The project, which is included in the provincial government’s tourism development plan, is targeted to start before May 2022.
It will be funded with PHP5 million from the Internal Revenue Allocation (IRA) of the provincial government.
Perlas said they will be made of cement standing at 15 feet tall, similar to the statue of General Douglas MacArthur at the Leyte Landing Memorial in Palo, Leyte.
These will be built along the shoreline of Malandog, where the re-enactment of Antique’s Binirayan Festival is always being held before the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic, depicting the datus walking towards the shorelines.
“The statues will be an added attraction to the Sunset View Park that will also be constructed in the area,” he said.
The Sunset View Park is proposed to be constructed by next year to become a new tourism destination, especially for those who wanted to stroll in the afternoon and see the beautiful sunset in the area.
The park will be close to the PHP50-million two-story Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office (PENRO) now being constructed and expected to be finished before the end of this year.
Source: Philippines News Agency