SAN JOSE De BUENAVISTA, Antique — The Antique provincial tourism office will soon have its own place with the groundbreaking of the PHP10 million building set on February 19.
Jose Ramlo Villaluna, Antique provincial tourism officer, said in an interview Monday that the PHP10 million building is a donation of the Buhay Partylist through Rep. Lito Atienza who wanted to also help promote the local producers here.
“It’s going to be a two-storey multi-purpose building with our office in the second floor and the showroom on the ground floor,” Villaluna said.
He said that the showroom will display various local products like native bags and trays, food products and many others which tourists would like to buy when they visit the province for them to bring home.
“There will however be a space rental for the local producers but that it will be minimal,” Villaluna said.
He said that since Senator Loren Legarda is coming for the opening of the National State Colleges and Universities Athletic Association (SCUAA) on February 18 then she will also be the one to lead the groundbreaking for the building to be located beside the new capitol building.
“The money has already been downloaded to the Department of Public Works and Highways so we expect the construction to start soon so that it would be finished middle of the year or before the end of 2018,” Villaluna said.
For now, the provincial tourism office occupies a small room at the Antique Youth and Migrant Center also beside the new capitol. (Annabel Consuelo Petinglay/PNA)