The Cebu Customs House

In the course of researching on the history of the Gotiaoco Building built in 1914 when we were then a colony of the United States, it was found that the American led Commonwealth government programmed the first decade of the 1900s to focus on infrastructure and the construction of government buildings.

There was a dearth of masons, carpenters and skilled labor locally so the Americans recruited Chinese artisans from Hongkong and brought them to Cebu. Their first project was the Customs House.

When the building was finished, these pig-tailed Chinese artisans were hired to construct the 5 story Gotiaoco Bldg. in 1914, which even had an elevator.

Most, if not all, of those Chinese artisans stayed in Cebu and have descendants prominent in the community.

The Customs House became the Malacañang of the South, the restoration and upgrading halted what normally is the path towards decadence of government buildings. Today, it stands like a dowager overlooking the Plaza Independencia and Fort San Pedro with the view of the sea as backdrop.

I hope the National Historical Commission will look into enforcing the rule of preserving centuries-old buildings.

And please, don’t rest on the assurance that the Bureau of Customs, who want the building back, will preserve and maintain the premises of this century old historical edifice.