The road widening projects of the National Government’s DPWH continue here in our town. Way back in 2021, the stretch of the municipal road in front of Bamban WWII Museum was undertaken. At present, the road project covers part of San Roque and Anupul (Bayu) of the municipal road, including the former railroad crossing.
At the crossing near the premises of the Bamban Central School, we found a fallen concrete post that looks like an old boundary or street post originally standing during the American colonial period, or may be earlier.
Upon closer inspection, we observed that it clearly resembles the concrete boundary/street as appearing in a US Army Signal Corps photograph taken during Liberation 1945 in Bamban, showing soldiers from the 160th Infantry, 40th Division entering the town. There is no doubt that the post is a relic of the past and a part of our town’s heritage that should be preserved.
We do know that the contractor doing the drainage construction will remove this post and might just end up as a pile of debris.
We at the Bamban Historical Society/Bamban WWII Museum will do our best to save this relic of the boundary/concrete post by removing it from the construction site and request that to transfer the same to Bamban Museum where we plan to erect it after applying necessary preservation works and to put a replica of the “Bamban” sign both in English and Japanese.
The Challenge in Transporting the Concrete Post
However, we are facing challenges in this task of transporting the concrete post to Bamban Museum, since the relic weighs several hundred kilograms, or probably a ton; just an estimation. We need a boom truck for the transfer and in erecting it in front of the museum.
We need help. Help us save this relic and bring it to Bamban Museum for exhibit. Let’s preserve our town’s heritage.
