Firefighters work to put out the flames in one of the buildings on J.M. Basa Street, Iloilo City’s downtown heritage area. The blaze started Friday evening (March 15, 2024) and ended Saturday morning. Photo from MORE Power Facebook page (note: photo grabbed with consent from More Power)
ILOILO CITY — The local government in this city is seeking help from the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) to preserve heritage structures after a fire gutted two structures within the Cultural Heritage Tourism Zone.
City Mayor Jerry Treñas said in an interview that the Divinagracia and Celso Ledesma buildings on J.M. Basa Street were considered heritage sites dating back to the American and post-World War II periods.
They were also part of the city’s Cultural Tourism Heritage Zone under Republic Act 10555.
The mayor expressed hopes that the NHCP would help the city government in preserving the heritage structures.
READ: Late-night fire hits heritage structures in Iloilo City
Treñas also instructed the city’s Office of the Building Official (OBO) to inspect electrical connections along the downtown’s heritage area.
“The OBO shall immediately conduct inspections on the electrical connections of all heritage buildings in the downtown area. These are the jewels of Iloilo City which are part of our heritage,” he said.
A fire that started in the evening of Friday, March 15, and ended Saturday morning, gutted two structures in the Cultural Heritage Tourism Zone in downtown Iloilo City.
Reports from the city’s Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) showed that the Divinagracia and Celso Ledesma buildings on J.M. Basa Street were destroyed in a fire that started at the Chinatown block along Iznart Street at 11:46 p.m. on Friday and was put out at 8:25 a.m. of Saturday.
Fire investigators have yet to determine the cause of the fire.