By Joseph Pedrajas  VALENZUELA CITY — After around 15 years of being abandoned, the old house of Dr. Pio Valenzuela, one of the members of the revolutionary group Katipunan, is eyed to be finally reconstructed this year. (WIKIPEDIA / MANILA BULLETIN)   Dr. Pio was part of the triumvirate—along with Andres Bonifacio and Emilio Jacinto—who formed the secret chamber of the Camara Reina society, which punished the members of Katipunan who would betray its by-laws. Valenzuela also took charge of the Ang Kalayaan, Katipunan's first and only official publication Jonathan Balsamo, city museum curator, bared to the Manila Bulletin that the city government is eyeing to start the reconstruction of Valenzuela's house in Barangay Pariancillo Villa this year after it finally received a clearance from the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP). Balsamo added that they are now only waiting for the Writ of Possession before they could finally start. They were also already told by Mayor Rex Gatchalian to prepare all that is needed, he said. Under the National Cultural Heritage law, all structures aged 50 years old and above have presumption of Important Cultural Property, and should be preserved and not be demolished for their possible cultural significance. However, the NHCP lifted the house's presumption of Important Cultural Property after it was found to have no exceptional historical, cultural, artistic and architectural significance to the Philippines, a resolution dated Feb. 21 read. Balsamo said that the house was only Valenzuela's post-war house and not his pre-war house where significant events took place. For more than six years, the city government had been requesting the Valenzuela's grandchildren to donate the house to them. However, Balsamo said, they never succeeded. "We were not able to gather all the signatories ,” he said. The city government then started to process in 2016 its expropriation of the house, which the court eventually approved. The house of Dr. Pio has long been abandoned since the passing of all seven children of Valenzuela. His grandchildren, the legitimate heirs, meantime, just already entrusted it to a caretaker after moving abroad. Since then, the house has been neglected. It is now dilapidated. Water hyacinths have also grown in the perennial flood that surrounds it. Balsamo said, Dr. Pio's house will be reconstructed based on its pre-war design, like the Bahay na Bato (stone houses) in Ilocos Region. The pre-war house of Valenzuela had played a significant role in history. It became a meeting place of members of Partido Democrata at the time Dr. Pio was the governor of Bulacan. It was also where Dr. Pio would meet with several Katipuneros, including General Emilio Aguinaldo, historians and journalists. During the Japanese occupation, the house served as refuge for his townmates in the former part of Bulacan (now Valenzuela) when American forces attacked. The pre-war house was destroyed when it was shelled during the liberation and the second World War, Balsamo said. In 1949, Dr. Pio built his new home. He made a two-storey house where he and his family had lived until he died at age 86.