CITY Mayor Vicente Y. Emano made a facelift of the Cagayan de Oro Historical and Cultural Commission by changing its name and appointing new people to head the organization.
Now called the Cagayan de Oro City Heritage Council, it will now be headed by former city councilor Lourdes La Viña as chairperson and Thaddeus Bautista as vice chairperson. Sitting as members are Paulita Agnes Roa, Lawyer Leon Gan, Eileen San Juan, and Sandy Bas.
Aside from being the chairperson, La Viña also serves as the executive overseer of the office of the Cagayan de Oro City Heritage Council.
Emano said La Viña is his first choice for the council's chairmanship since she belongs to the Chaves-Roa, Abejuela family and a native Kagay-anon who has wide knowledge of the city's historical background.
Bautista, meanwhile, is the son of Filomeno Bautista who wrote the Bautista Script and five genealogy books of five clans in the city.
Roa, who once served as member of the former heritage council, is an archeologist who belongs to the Roa clan in the city. She is a big contributor to the heritage council as she has completed research of the city's rich history.
San Juan is one of the pillars of Promote CDO who handles the city's fiesta celebration while Bas is the original member of the Heritage Council and is presently a board of director of the Cagayan de Oro Water District.
Roa said Bas is of great help to the new team, citing the 10 years that they have worked together in the past.
She said Bas knows every bound in the city.
"I am very thankful to Mayor Emano for providing a strong team that will preserve and promote the history and culture of Cagayan de Oro so that the future children of the city will be able to grasp and appreciate the value of where they come from," Roa said.
She said they are all excited to work together since they have lots of plans on how to make the people be informed of the rich culture of Cagayan de Oro.
As part of their agenda, Roa said their first priority is the City Museum as they intend to make it more informative to the "eyes and hearts" of every Kagay-anon.
The commission was created by virtue of Executive Order No.006-10 and is tasked to lay out plans, programs and activities that aim towards the promotion, preservation and development of the city's cultural and heritage sites. (Nicole J. Managbanag)