Feature story of Culture and Heritage

CEBU, Philippines - It was around November last year when the demolition of Luzon Lumber Co. building, a wooden structure built before World War II, was started, reportedly done to make way for a modern commercial structure. Upon hearing of the news, KaBino, who calls himself a street historian and a tour guide, and his friends, who like him, are also advocates heritage sites, posted on Facebook the future fate of the said building, hoping that they could fire up a certain amount of emotions that would be enough to stop the demolition. But in spite of their fervent campaign, the demolition was still made, slowly and painfully.

In his blog (http://kabinoguerrero.wordpress.com), KaBino wrote something like a memoriam to the Luzon Lumber building being once a part of his life and those of the students who were studying at schools in the neighboring area. He remembered his sister, a baker, who ordered plywood for the layering of her cake at the said store. The lumber company was, however, closed for business a few years back, yet it remained standing where it was until the demolition. "Since it's a private property, there is nothing much we can do about it. So if you have a camera, be it point and shoot or DSLR, please take a picture of this building before it's too late," he wrote in his blog.

Luzon Lumber was that wooden building quietly sitting at the corner of Sanciangko and Leon Kilat streets. But now it's gone. KaBino feared the same fate will likely befall on other heritage buildings in Cebu, either for commercialism purposes or simply out of neglect.

On Restoration Process

KaBino understands that it is expensive to restore a very old structure, which is why some people who own buildings would just short-cut the process to save funds. He lamented how some old churches underwent a tragic makeover because priests would rather save money than their cultural value. He said sometimes those "poor" churches were better off than their rich counterparts, as they don't have a budget for "tragic makeover," hence they still look old and beautiful these days.

KaBino also cited, for example, an ancestral house of the family of Jerry Martin Alfafara in Carcar City, which reportedly needs P30 to P40 million for a simple restoration project. The Sandiego house and several others are on the verge of falling down if not restored soon, he said.

KaBino remembered last year when they helped hammer out the implementing rules and guidelines of Republic Act No. 10066 or "National Cultural Heritage Act of 2009". He said this law grants free restoration to a private structure declared as a national cultural property with an understanding that the owner opens it to public access. The lack of funding seems to be the backlog in the implementation of this law, he said.

Cebu City Councilor Margarita "Margot" Osmeña, chairperson of council committee on Cultural and Historical Affairs, said an old structure has to be declared a heritage site before it can be protected from demolition, and to do that the owner or anyone who cares can go to their office with such intention.

"We can't do it on our own. It has to undergo a process," Osmeña said. The councilor said the city takes pride in being recognized as the City of Culture by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in 2011, and in the same breath that it's proud for being named so, the city government is also doing its responsibility to preserve its rich cultural heritage.

Colon Street

KaBino walked his guest, a Filipina in her 60s and her American husband, near the marker of Colon Street. According to this marker, Colon Street was named after Christopher Columbus, and its origins could be traced to the town plan made by Miguel Lopez de Legazpi, the Spanish conquistador who arrived in the country to colonize it in 1565. An undated black-and-white photo of Colon Street showed a dirt road lined on both sides with two-story Spanish-style wooden commercial buildings, all of which are, however, long gone.

He said what is left "old" of Colon except for its name are the Vision Theater and a handful of other buildings, constructed just at the turn of the century, yet already showing signs of decay. "Vision Theater is now in bad shape. Naa pa ang structure pero Makita nimu usik kaayo ang building,” he said.

Jimmy Sy, owner of Ho Tong Hardware, which operates the Museo Parian sa Sugbo, is on the process of making a replica and diorama of the old Colon Street inside his 2,000-square meter property. There is, however, no definite date yet as to when the project will be finished. As of today, Sy already built a few Spanish-style structures inside the Ho Tong Hardware, and reportedly a cobbled street will pave Colon like it did before. Once it's done, the entire project is said to complement the 1730 Jesuit house, which currently houses a massive collection of antiques and exact reproductions of pieces of furniture and fixtures inside an old wealthy Filipino home.

Although mostly replicas, KaBino does not care, as long as these are faithful reproduction of the original. And what is "important" is that the public can get to see the "visual remnants of our past," he explained. "The chairs inside the museum may look like antique, but they are just replicas. The owners want them that way so they won't have to put "Please don't sit" signs on them. And of course, for the visitors to actually sit and feel how our old folks sit during their siesta or when they had their dinners," KaBino said.

Cebu's Rich Cultural Heritage

And while most could only lament the demise of Luzon Lumber and its brothers and sisters long time ago, KaBino said there are still heritage sites in Cebu and Cebu City which have withstood time and the elements. He cited the old pseudo-baroque style of Boljoon Church, the Cuartel and the ruins of Oslob town, the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral, the Casa Gorordo, Carcar City's wide village of centuries-old houses, the Taoist Temple and the Halad Museum of Dr. Jose R. Gullas, which features the musical heritage of Cebu. Some of these are under the care of private entities, while some are supported by the local government.

KaBino is not a native of Cebu but, as a tour guide, he said he is proud to show to his guests Cebu's rich history, which he has come to love. There is, however, one noticeable fact in his tours, he said, and it is that most of those who show interest in seeing cultural heritage sites are older people. If he has tours for students, these are usually part of school requirements. One time he remembered being criticized by a group of young students on a tour after he refused to take them to a karaoke joint. "They would rather sing in the karaoke than listen to the history of Lapu-Lapu. I insisted that they listen, and they gave me a negative remark," he said. KaBino noted that over time, fewer and fewer young people are interested with their history, and it is a sad thing, as they will soon be in charge of taking care of it. He said they have "to open their eyes to see how beautiful their heritage is, and everything else will follow."

He said in school, children should have a regular dose of "heritage appreciation" at an early age, so they'd be acquainted with their history, and that teaching should be more than memorizing dates and events. "We know about the battle of Tres de Abril. But what about it? Do we know how Pantaleon Villegas (Leon Kilat) and the Katipuneros fought the Spaniards? If our teachers tell us the strategy of the battle, how it was won, the discussion would have been more engaging," KaBino said.

He noted the present generation is more visual, they don't read history books anymore, or historical markers. They have to see how Colon Street or the houses of their ancestors looked like in the past for them to understand what the history books are talking about, he said. Case in point is the image of the Sto. Niño, which was given by Ferdinand Magellan to Lady Humamay, wife of Rajah Humabon, as a baptismal gift in 1521.KaBino described the holy icon is Cebu's "most valuable" artifact, which everyone can see everyday. "An Arab guest asked me once, how much it (Sto. Niño) was. I told him there's no price for that. Even all the oil in your place is not enough," he said.

"You take the Sto. Niño out of Cebu, I don't know what will happen," he said, adding that if every Cebuano would show the same devotion to his cultural heritage, then Cebu's history is safe. (FREEMAN)