Marker to launch preparations for 100 yrs of Fuente Osmeña

CEBU, Philippines - Councilor Margot Osmeña, chairperson of the City Council’s committee on arts and culture, announced that a marker will be installed at the Fuente Osmeña Rotunda in preparation for 100th year celebration of the Osmeña Fountain next year.

The fountain at the rotunda was built in February 1912 to commemorate the completion of the Osmeña Waterworks System.

Osmeña said the marker can be installed now that the City Council approved her proposed ordinance that sets the guidelines for the installation of markers and landmarks in the city.

Under the new ordinance, markers, landmarks and other historical structures will be installed primarily for heroes, martyrs, historical events and places.

Osmeña said she passed the ordinance in line with the constitutional provisions that foster the preservation and enrichment of Filipino culture and the popularization of the nation’s cultural and historical heritage.

The sad state of neglect of many cultural structures owing to the absence of specific guidelines was also a factor that encouraged her to pass the ordinance, Osmeña said.

Under the approved ordinance, a marker that honors a dead person can only be installed at least five years after the person’s death.— (FREEMAN)