A brief Sojourn in Cebu

Lapu Shrine in Cebu -
By Rjruiziii/ commons.wikimedia.org

A walk in Cebu City, Philippines is just like home; we see people that are just like us in Sabah; and the dialects spoken are very familiar, being that there are people who come from this island, residing in Sabah. In fact, I can walk the street although I don't talk the talk. Jokes, aside, it is a beautiful place to visit and my two weeks there a few years ago was very enjoyable. I hope to go back there again one day and enjoy the mango. Tons of them there, I can assure you..YUM!!

To share with you: Cebu is the main centre of commerce, trade, education, and industry in the central and southern islands of the Visayas. It has five-star hotels, casinos, white sand beaches, world-class golf courses, convention centres, and various shopping malls.

For sightseers who wish to know the historical aspect of Cebu, the Casa Gorordo Museum is probably one of the best sites to visit, besides the famous Basilica Minore del Santo Niño.

The Casa Gorordo Museum is well preserved and has been maintained carefully through the years. The wood-and-stone house typical of Spanish era architecture in the Philippines was once called home by four generations of the Gorordo family.

This house was bought by the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc in 1980 from the Gorordo family and opened as a museum in 1983.

The foundation hoped that the Casa Gorordo Museum will promote the conservation of cultural heritage and enhance public appreciation of local history.

The preservation of this house, its architectures and the artefacts contained within hoped to perpetuate local history, instil understanding on Cebuano ethnicity and inculcate consciousness on the need to preserve history.

Because of its historical and social significance, the house was declared as a National Landmark in 1991 by the National Historical Institute.

The preservation of this house enable the public and tourists to savour heritage, history, and culture through educational tours and other awareness-raising activities such as history lecture series, art exhibits showcasing Cebuano artists and poetry reading sessions.

After a walk around Casa Gorordo, a visit to the Magellan's Cross is just proper. It is a Christian cross planted by Portuguese and Spanish explorers as ordered by Ferdinand Magellan upon arriving in Cebu in the Philippines on April 21, 1521.

This cross is housed in a chapel next to the Basilica Minore del Santo Niño on Magallanes Street, just in front of the city hall of Cebu City. 

Tourists will usually be informed that the original cross is encased within the present cross found at the chapel’s centre.

This is to protect the original cross from being chipped away by souvenir hunters or by superstitious individuals who believed that the cross possesses miraculous power. Soldiers have been known to chip away a piece of the cross and wear it around their neck before going to battle.

Some people however believe that the original cross is lost and has been replaced by the Spaniards after they successfully colonized the Philippines. Magellan's Cross is a symbol of Cebu, and the chapel's image can be found in its city seal. It is also seen as the symbol of Roman Catholicism in the Philippines.

Move on and visit the Port San Pedro or Fuerza de San Pedro. This is a military defence structure, built by Spanish and indigenous Cebuano labourers under the command of Spanish conquistador, Miguel López de Legazpi and the Spanish Government in Cebu. It is located in the area now called Plaza Independence, in the Pier Area of Cebu City.

Actually this port can be akin to a large mansion and indeed it is believed to be the smallest, oldest triangular bastion fort in the country.

It was built in 1738 to repel raiders and then served as a stronghold for Filipino revolutionaries near the end of the 19th Century. It was the centre of the first Spanish settlement in the Philippines.

The fort is triangular in shape, with two sides facing the sea and the third side fronting the land. The two sides facing the sea were defended with artillery and the front with a strong palisade made of wood.  Fourteen cannons were mounted in their emplacements and most of them are still there, a memento of a bygone era.

The date of construction of the stone fort is uncertain, although there are claims that a Jesuit Antonio Campioni built a stone fort in 1630, and the gate of fort bears the date 1738 together with the arms of Castille and Leon.

According to records, Fort San Pedro became a part of the American Warwick Barracks, a military garrison established in 1899 by American military authorities. It was abandoned in 1917 and from 1937 to 1941 the barracks was converted into a school where many Cebuanos received their formal education.

During World War II from 1942 to 1945, Japanese residents of the City took refuge within the walls. When the battle for liberation was fought, the fort served as an emergency hospital for the wounded.

From 1946 to 1950, Fort San Pedro was an army camp. After 1950, the Cebu Garden Club took over and fixed the inner part and converted it into a miniature garden.

And today, it is a National Shrine but still a garden, playing hosts to photographers and their models, strolling singers with their guitars and curious visitors.

Visiting these historical sites should be made compulsory for those who visit Cebu. For with it we will get a glimpse of the people’s colourful history. In some ways, we get to know the people too, through these visits.-AV