THE Office of the President has returned the Malacañang sa Sugbo to the Bureau of Customs (BOC).
The Malacañang sa Sugbo was established in 2005 during the administration of president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
Scrapped plans
The order was signed by Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea last Oct. 31 yet, but it was only made public on Monday, Feb. 4.
With this development, Radi Abarintos, BOC Port of Cebu cash division chief, said the P350-million budget for a new BOC building would be used to renovate “Malacañang sa Sugbo” instead.
In 2016, then Port of Cebu district collector Rico Rey Francis Holganza announced that the new building would be built on a 4,000-square-meter lot owned by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources near Pier 2 in Cebu City.
Holganza had said the BOC was looking for a new office building after he found out that BOC offices in Cebu were not conducive to working.
The Malacañang sa Sugbo was built in 1910 to house the BOC office. The Aduana, as it was formerly called, was designed by American architect William Parsons. (EOB)