Art and Culture
De Venecia files bill seeking to make Manaoag Basilica new pilgrimage site
Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary in Manaoag, Pangasinan. Photo courtesy of www.vigattintourism.com
DAGUPAN CITY –Pangasinan Fourth District Rep. Gina de Venecia filed a bill seeking to declare the Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary in Manaoag a new pilgrimage site and one of the important tourist destinations in the country.
De Venecia bared this when she was guest of honor and speaker in a commemorative program marking the 67th charter anniversary of Dagupan, called ‘Agew na Dagupan’ on June 20 at CSI Stadia.
She said, however, that there is need to coordinate yet with church officials since this involves the basilica.
If her bill would become a law, the national government will provide the needed funding to boost the facilities of the town of Manaoag so that it could accommodate more pilgrims and tourists coming to the municipality.
To date, facilities in the town are much insufficient to cater to the thousands of pilgrims flocking the basilica especially on Sundays and the number would balloon into over one million during the Holy Week, she said.
De Venecia said Mayor Kim Amador and the townspeople of Manaoag endorse and fully support the bill seeking to make their town as a pilgrimage site.
At the same time, she announced that P40 million was allotted in the national appropriations act to finance the establishment of the first of its kind Dagupan fish port that would surely further help enhance the fishery industry in Pangasinan.
The project was made possible following the approval by Congress of the bill she filed at the House of Representatives seeking for the project which was signed into law last year by President Benigno Aquino III.
She has asked the local government headed by Mayor Belen Fernandez to find the proper location for the project since the Philippine Fisheries Development Authority (PFDA) seems not amenable to build the facility in Bonuan Binloc.
Offshore fishermen prefer the project to be located in Barangay Pantal where the Pantal and Calmay rivers are located and being closer to the Dagupan Wholesale Fish Market.
