Drawn to heritage

CEBU, Philippines - Who wouldn't want to return to 1730 Jesuit House a.k.a. Museo Parian?

My story about the reconstruction of its then floating wood posts, dug pieces of chinaware, shells, animal remains and empty bottles of Teem and Bireley's; and the planned construction of a boardwalk, as disclosed by Archt. Tony Abelgas in 2010, to provide tourists a full view of its pagoda-inspired roof made it to the archive of the University of Wisconsin in Madison. This, after visiting lecturer Dr. Michael Cullinane (associate director of the Center for Southeast Asian Studies) brought a copy with him on his return trip. That was what I considered an affirmation of the most important item I penned in my 14 years as a writer - it had to be in a US school’s History Department archive. The oldest "dated" house in the country has to have its place there.

"Gabii sa Kabilin" (Year 6) proved very fruitful because I bumped into the man - this gracious businessman of Chinese roots - who opened the back gate (yes, because the main gate is actually along Binakayan Street not Zulueta Street) to historians and history buffs. It even came to the point of transferring Ho Tong Hardware goods to another location so a space could be dedicated to reviving Old Colon via a replica before we could reach the entrance to the two newly reconstructed galleries - Old Parian [of] Sugbu Gallery and the Jesuit History: Padre Chirino, S.J. Gallery last May 25.

The Sugbu Gallery, under the watch of the United Architects of the Philippines-Sugbu Chapter, helps showcase the storied past of Parian District, the oldest business hub of Cebu, actually the cradle of modern-day Cebu City. Chinese traders and artisans occupied Parian (Mexican word for "marketplace") as their home, market and trading center.

My desire to meet Mr. Jaime "Sir Jimmy" Sy of Ho Tong Hardware stemmed from past side comments on reconstruction works the house is undergoing. I simply wanted a confirmation.

"Yes, it's true. There was even a guest who told me that the furnishing is lousy," he shared. "But I had to ward off that bad feeling. I don't want to entertain ba kay basin mawala ko sa focus. If you let people grate on your nerves, you might veer away from the noble purpose."

The guest want [or was it demanded?] Sir Jimmy to give the entire house that 1730 look.

"Why would I do that? This house was purchased by my family in the 1960s, so however the house appeared that time mao na among gipaningkamotan nga magpabilin. We don't wanted to overdo kay naa bayay long gap [pertaining to written information] before this was acquired by the Jesuits as an auxiliary headquarters," he went on.

Such comments do pain Sir Jimmy, most especially that a great chunk of the cost for reconstruction works was sourced from family funding. "If magpadala ko, maluya ko. So dili na lang nako na tagdon. I'll do the best I can. Preservation works can't be done overnight. We have to do research pa kay dili basta-basta moguba og moilis og mga parts sa house. It takes time."

In fact, Sir Jimmy and Archt. Tony are set to visit Seville, Spain, as an intensive archiving system about Cebu can be found there. "Yes, we will be there to check further on this house. Maybe there is a way they can point us to a list of families who were able to live here prior to the Jesuit mission. We can even use information on the Jesuit mission in China kay it's possible ma-trace na ngadto sa Chinese family because it is evident in the artisanship nga Chinese ang tag-iya ani, nya Parian was largely a Chinese settlement. Importante we won't stop retracing. We have to deepen our research."

Sir Jimmy might be categorized as a "convert" when it comes to the aspect of heritage and culture. He said that as a Business Administration graduate of the Ateneo de Manila University, his focus was mainly on the hardware trade his father Nicanor had started. "Even my father, wala man to siya magtagad aning karaang balay sa una. His concern was the need to have a warehouse for our products and supplies. He was about to purchase a lot near UV, but he found it expensive. Kani nga location was an option. I was the one who discovered at the library of Ateneo an article on this house. I was deeply taken by the fact that I'm living in one of just three remaining old houses in Parian. And this one is the only dated house in the Philippines."

Since Bobby Aboitiz (of the family which acquired Casa Gorordo) was a close friend, Sir Jimmy took his advice to have the house opened to the public.

"I followed suit sa unsay gibuhat sa mga Aboitiz sa Casa Gorordo because I feel the need to set a special place for heritage. Overwhelming ang feeling. Now I'm so happy nga the house is slowly revealing itself. I feel that she's happy too that she's now seen and appreciated by many."

"This desire to recreate the past has transformed into a passion. At least, I have opened to my apos that heritage consciousness greater than what their iPads can provide. I have given them a connection to what really is important, to what really matters most, to stay in touch with history," he enthused.

And so while we were sharing the table with a special meal of bamboo shoot salad, stewed pork and fish fillet with this kindred spirit, he later leapt off his seat upon the sight of visitors. "O, ni-a na sila," his eyes twinkled. Off he went to welcome the guests, in an excited stride drawn to heritage. --- Mug shot grabbed from Ho Tong Hardware Web site (FREEMAN)