Belen sa Casa Gorordo

CEBU, Philippines - This year's display of the "Belen sa Casa Gorordo" is special, says Dr. Jocelyn Gerra, executive director of the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation, Inc. Culture and Heritage Unit,  as they coordinated closely with Josefa Revilles, a Gorordo descendant and former resident of the house, in creating the belen.

"It was very kind of Pepit (Josefa's nickname), to come here frequently and give us advice in coming up with this display, as we wanted to give it an authentic, traditional feel," Gerra shared.

Florencio Moreño II, museum curator, said that there were actually rules the Gorordos observed when making the belen - it should be vista llejos or that the icons should be positioned accurately, there should be appropriate lighting, etc.  "These were shared to us by Ma'am Pepit who once lived in this house and, herself, participated in this wonderful household Christmas tradition," he said.

Recons-tructing events in this house even leads to a list of food items the Gorordos feast upon on Christmas Day. According to Ma'am Pepit, there's the bam-i (noodle dish made of a combination of egg noodles and vermicelli) but prepared a bit soupy and the torta (Spanish cake) instead of bread. "I'm not really much of a culinary expert, but I can always direct the cook how to prepare the food we used to share, especially the hamon (glazed bone-in ham). It's nice to share everything the public needs to know about our past while I'm still here. I'm not really getting any younger," says a very vibrant Ma'am Pepit.

Dr. Gerra added that when RAFI acquired Casa Gorordo and converted it into a museum, it pledged to retain the traditions of the family that lived here before. "In effect, it not only preserved the Gorordo household's traditions but aspects of the way of life of old Parian and, in general, old Cebu," she further explained.

The Belen sa Casa Gorordo is one of four house traditions of the Casa Gorordo Museum. The other three are Sinug sa Casa Gorordo in January, Kuwaresma during Lent, and the Pista ni San Juan in June.

The Belen sa Casa Gorordo opened last December 6 and will be available for viewing by the public at the museum's gallery until January 15, 2013.

"The Gorordo Belen does not only showcase the nativity scene but the Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary, which recounts Christ's nativity and boyhood from the Annunciation to the Finding in the Temple," Moreño pointed out.

"Also very interesting is the inclusion of some passages from the Old Testament - Methuselah, David and Bathsheba, Cain and Abel, Massacre of the Innocents. The Gorordo Belen was meant both to recount the story of the coming of the Messiah and to relay moral values to younger people, especially children," he added.

"Belen" is the Spanish translation of the Hebrew word "Bethlehem," the town in Israel where Jesus Christ was born. The belen is a set of images, made of different materials, portraying the nativity of the Messiah.

This collection had been with the Gorordo family since the 19th century. Some of the pieces are made of ivory, while others are made of plaster, paper maché, and clay.

This household tradition of the Gorordos of preparing their belen and displaying it for their neighbors to see, as was practiced by other families in Old Parian of Cebu, was retained by RAFI when it acquired Casa Gorordo and turned it into a museum. RAFI's aim was to uphold the family's traditions, which many Cebuano-Filipinos can relate to.