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URDANETA CITY -- Once completed, the P12-million Fray Urdaneta Park and monument being built in front of the new city hall here will be a masterpiece.
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who inspected the park on Friday, is expecting this since four national artists have been commissioned by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts to collaborate on the project.
The park is dedicated to Fray Andres de Urdaneta, a Spanish priest and navigator, after whom this city was named.
"I'm very happy… to be able to see this masterpiece in the making scheduled to be finished in March," said Arroyo.
Arroyo also observed the palay procurement program of the National Food Authority in nearby Binalonan town before proceeding to Baguio City to spend the rest of the holidays.
The national artists who have collaborated on the project were Napoleon Abueva (visual arts), who will create the wooden boat replicating Fray Urdaneta's original ship; Abdulmari Asia Imao (visual arts), who will work on the actual bronze monument of Fray Urdaneta; Ildefonso Santos Jr. (architecture), who will design and landscape the park; Dr. Alejandro Roces (literature), who will write the project's text in English and Spanish; and Benedicto "BenCab" Cabrera (visual arts), who will contribute a mural to the collective art design of the plaza.
Arroyo issued Proclamation No. 1423 in December 2007 declaring 2008 as the "Year of Urdaneta" in recognition of the Spanish priest's achievements and his contributions to Philippine culture and history.
The proclamation also created the Urdaneta 500 Commission, which would involve members of the private sector and to be co-chaired by Antonio Ynchausti and Roces.
"We will be back again when the Mayor of Ordizia, the hometown of Fray Urdaneta, comes here for the inauguration of the monument," Arroyo said.
This city had forged sister city relations with Ordizia during Mayor Amadeo Perez Jr.'s visit to Spain in 2007.
"When this opens in March, a huge delegation from Spain will be in attendance," said Cecile Guidote Alvarez, NCCA executive director. "It's going to be a world class park," she said.
Alvarez said this was the first time that five national artists were tapped to collaborate on a project.
"We will have a global attention with it. It will be magnet for tourism, especially among Hispanic-heritage countries," Alvarez said.
Historical records showed that Fray Urdaneta never set foot in this city. It was another Spanish priest, Father Andres Manzano, who named this city after Fray Urdaneta, when it was founded as a town on Jan. 8, 1858.
