The city government of Borongan in Eastern Samar has forged a partnership with the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) to restore a tobacco factory built during the Spanish era.

The city government said in a news release Monday that NCCA conservation architect Joel Vivero Rico visited the city recently to check on the state of Tabacalera, a heritage site in the city’s Sabang South village.

Built in 1880, the structure may be turned into a museum.

The tobacco factory was once under Spanish control. Before the World War II in the 1940s, it was bought by a Chinese migrant named Sewa, who turned it into a copra-cum-merchandising stockroom for his business.

Years later, the Laohoo family, known to be descendants of Sewa, donated the building to the local government for public use.

“The site visits serve as a prelude to the drafting of a conservation management plan that will aid the local government unit in the restoration of the city’s ancestral buildings,” the city government said.

After the visit, Rico met with the local heritage committee, led by the Office of the City Population and Development, to impart insights concerning the measures necessary in bringing the old building back to its former glory.

Local government officials will play a pivotal role in the inception of a conservation plan, especially in the discussion of the relevant guidelines.

“The architect also expressed his excitement as well as assurance for the project to the local team that with the Tabacalera’s foundation still intact, the restoration process would be fairly easy,” the city government added.

Rico is a member of the NCCA National Committee on Monuments and Sites and is known for his work at Las Casas Filipinas De Acuzar, a tourist site with heritage buildings located in Bataan province and Quezon City in Metro Manila. His expertise extends well beyond architecture, penetrating the field of archaeology to better understand the history of heritage sites. (PNA)