One of the buildings in Bohol influenced by the Spaniards colonization is the Bohol Provincial Capitol. Going through the history of the old building, it was built on 1860, primarily as a tribunal building that serves as Spaniard’s military quarters. It was constructed using the Spanish traditional materials namely stones and limes. It consisted of 27,300 bricks, 4325 cavans of limes, 61,000 roofing tiles and etc.
Throughout the years, although the building has undergone repair and renovation for a number of times, the Bohol Provincial Government has done its best to keep the appearance of the capitol with its subtle changes. However due to the recent calamity that has struck Bohol, the capitol is one of the buildings that has suffered damages causing most of the offices within it to be temporarily transferred to the Governor’s mansion that is located CPG North Avenue, old Deped Bohol Division Office located below the grandstands at the President CPGarcia Sports Complex, and old DENR office located in the New Capitol Heights.
As of now, some offices that remain at the old capitol are the following: Provincial Treasurer’s office(PTO), Bohol Employment and Placement Office(BEPO), Bohol Information Communication Technology Unit (BICTU), Bohol Environment Management office(BEMO), General Services Office(GSO) and Provincial Accountant’s Office (PAccO).
Some are temporarily housed among the three named location above. For the Governor’s Mansion, the offices includes: LGA office, Provincial Administrator’s office, and SEEM cluster office . While the old Deped Bohol Division Office holds the Provincial Legal Office(PLO), SICAD Office and Human Resource Office(HR). The Office of the Provincial Assessor is in the old DENR office.
Prior to the damage it has suffered, the construction of the capitol is currently on going however not on its old location. The construction site of the New Capitol is in Lino Drive Chatto, Tagbilaran City, where most of the province’s department offices are also located such as the new DepEd Bohol Division office and DOST office. The construction has started last January 22, 2016 and hopefully completed on January 10, 2018. The site as of now is still undergoing clearing in preparation for project implementation. Until then, offices that are temporary transferred will stay on respective temporary locations.
As of the old capitol’s original location, local authorities state that the remains of the old capitol building will be restored to its original state and will be converted into a branch of the National Museum with National Government funding its construction. This newly constructed building will be the new home of peculiar and important native artifacts and remains preserving the history of the province.
