ILOILO City – The local government unit of Dueñas, Iloilo unveiled a monument of local heroine Nazaria Lagos on Feb. 13, at the Dueñas Town Plaza.
In a press release, Susan Laboriante Pacheo, administrative officer V and co-chairperson of the Dueñas Culture, Arts, History and Tourism Council, said the historic event is a joint project of the local government unit of Dueñas and the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP).
“Our local heroine Nazaria L. Lagos is known in Philippine history as the ‘Florence Nightingale of Panay’ and she was also the President of Red Cross in Dueñas, Iloilo during the military governorship of Gen. Martin Delgado in 1897,” she said.
She said that Lagos had done numerous humanitarian services including the nursing of the Filipino soldiers in Panay during the revolutionary period.
Among the guests for the unveiling ceremony were NHCP executive director Ludovico Badoy and NHCP deputy executive director for administration Veronica A. Dado.
She added that the P2-million worth monument is made of bronze and perfectly carved by renowned sculptor Julie Llutz.
On one hand, the pedestal was built with imported marble from Italy by Mulawin Abueva, the son of Napoleon Abueva, a renowned Philippine National Artist; while the landscape was done by Joel Deocaris, a freelance landscaper and an Architectural Landscape Professor from De La Salle University, Metro Manila. (PIA/PN)
Might people keep the statue unveiling in mind during the next few days rather than insulting and stereotyping the region again due to the recent arrest of a certain pedo/murder supect who hails from the area. Duenas is rumored to have a sordid past, but don’t forget about the “light” that also hailed from there.