STA. RITA -- The National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) has called on the Sta. Rita de Cascia Parish here to stop its ongoing churchyard project pending a conference with the commission.
NCCA chairman Felipe de Leon, in his March 16 letter to Archbishop Florentino Lavarias D.D., has called for a conference regarding the project.
The NCCA said that the church is an Important Cultural Property according to section 5(1) of Republic Act 100066 or the National Cultural Heritage Act of 2009.
The National Museum inspected the said church in March 2015 and "pronounced that Sta. Rita de Cascia church has high cultural significance hence, must be preserved."
"As a PICP, the church is entitled to methods and materials that strictly adhere to the accepted standards of conservation as required by Section 15 of RA 10066," De Leon said.
The letter, however, failed to mention if there were complaints in the ongoing construction.
The Parish Pastoral Council (PPC) of Santa Rita and Parish Priest Msgr. Abelardo Basilio initiated the project in February and was visited by Lavarias twice.
The PPC also met in a conference with Auxiliary Bishop Pablo David to discuss the said project and incorporate suggestions from the Archdiocese's own heritage committee.
A priest privy to the discussions said that the belated letter of the NCCA is yet another political move against the town's parish priest.
Basilio has been the subject of criticism on a Facebook account put up by his critics.
Archbishop Emeritus Paciano Aniceto had formerly called on the administrators of the account to cease from their attacks but his appeal was unheeded.
The Facebook page against Basilio has been brought to the attention of Lavarias recently.
Meanwhile, the on-going project is being rushed for the Lenten week activities here. The PPC, according to one source, is not doing full-concreting of the churchyard but merely adding additional walkways and grass lawns. The only fully concretized portion of the project is the parking area at the right side of the church, the source added.
Information gathered by Sun.Star Pampanga reveal that concreting projects on the said churchyard were first implemented under the stint of former parish priest Msgr. Eugene Reyes. Reyes also initiated the gravel paving of the patio.