Iloilo City, Iloilo – Major shopping mall developer, SM Land Inc., has clarified and made assurances that a commercial development project which involved its purchase of a private property on which stands the well-known Yusay-Consing mansion in Molo district, Iloilo City, will not destroy the heritage structure on the property.

“SM is working with Architect Augusto Villalon, a highly respected heritage conservationist for the preservation of the Yusay-Consing Mansion,” SM stressed in a statement released to local media here.

When news broke out last year that SM had purchased the property, netizens in Iloilo and other parts of the country went on social media to rant against the possible destruction of the heritage structure on the property. Some of the protesters on such social media, like Facebook, claimed that SM will destroy the house and turn it into a SM Hypermarket, a charge which company has categorically denied it will do.

Earlier this July, news again resurfaced online claiming that SM had changed its mind and would no longer demolish the mansion after netizens expressed strong opposition against that possibility.

SM once again reiterated that it had originally purchased the area because it was interested in the heritage mansion.

SM emphasized that there is an adaptive reuse plan for the Yusay-Consing Mansion, which faces the plaza in Molo and gothic-designed Roman Catholic Saint Anne Parish Church.

While a commercial building will be built within the compound, the mansion, which is in a decayed state, will be rehabilitated and will be used as a heritage museum with a cultural retail shop.

“The mansion will showcase the best of Ilonggo arts, crafts and delicacies,” SM said in a statement.

Built in the 1920s, the Yusay-Consing Mansion was originally owned by Doña Petra Lacson-Yusay.  It was later handed down to the family of Timoteo Consing Sr., who served as Iloilo governor from 1935-1937.

The mansion was said to be where Presidents Manuel Quezon and Sergio Osmeña were hosted and stayed in when they would visit Iloilo.