I wonder why the gangya was straightened. It's an interesting (and strange) modification to me and makes me wonder about the piece as a whole. The hilt work, the number and the symbol. Could this have been acquired by western hands and replaired and modified to suit personal preference? if so, why straighten the gangya? Perhaps to facilitate handling somehow?
I think it's an interesting piece as-is, but I definitely respect the notion of restoring this and ultimately understand the reasoning behind wanting to do so. As would I respect and fully support the decision to go through with such a restorarion to make it more culturally appropriate in terms of hilt dress. (Speaking of... Jose or Kai, if this kind of Sulu kris were to have a sheath, what would its 'boat'/mouth area/top area look like? I have seen three other pieces like this, one of which I own, but none with sheathes to go with it)
The work does not look like typical luzon to me, but to play devil's advocate to my own argument, when has luzon hilt work ever been 'typical'? Luzon blade and hilt work is probably some of the most diverse in terms of not keeping a strict design form so it very well could be a Luzon rehilt and I, as the saying goes, could have egg on my face for presuming it is not.
Something about this piece is just strange to me. the material of the hilt points to Luzon, but whenever I see a rehilted kris in Luzon dress, the gangya is removed. In some cases, the elephant mouth is filed off as well.
As an example, here is a Luzon-hilted kris with a very similar recycled moro blade: