Museo Sugbo: The Prison of Cebuano Heritage
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| Facade |
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| Arching entrance |
“Mabuhi, mabuhi, mabuhi, mabuhi ka Sugbuanon! Dungan sa imong pagka-Pilipino!” I would hear this song everytime I attend any Cebuano cultural presentation. The song could be used either as a community dance or as a chorale song. Anyhow, this song is highly influential on bringing a Cebuano’s pride up. As the song implies, every Cebuano has his or her worth in this country as a Filipino. But what puzzled me is the fact that a lot of Cebuanos seem to be so proud of being Cebuanos without really having knowledge on Cebu’s very rich cultural heritage. I was one of these people. Yes, I am proud of being a Cebuano because of its booming industry and the different Cebuano actors who are very famous not just locally but also nationally. I could say I have a sense of love towards my hometown. Yet I felt ashamed of myself for not being proud of being a Cebuano because of its very rich cultural heritage. How could I even be proud of its rich cultural heritage if in the first place I’m not well aware of it? But thanks to my History I class that I got to know more of my own cultural heritage through a visit in one of the premiere museums in the city—the Museo Sugbo.
Museo Sugbo is one of the most valued architecture in Cebu City because of its very rich history and its very important function of housing the most important artifacts and information that reflect Cebuano culture.
Museo, as what the visitors would call it, referring to a shortcut of Museo Sugbo, is still three years old and yet the structure and the location has been there since 1871! It was because Museo was once the provincial jail of Cebu or commonly known as the Carcel de Cebu. As written in the poster, posted just right after you enter the museum, stating the history of the museum, originally, it was designed to be the Carcel de Distrito or the principal prison complex for the Visayas because of its relatively large size at the time it was built. After a series of endorsements and several reviews, the architecture that was designed by the only architect in Cebu that time, Mr. Domingo de Escondrillas, was set out to be constructed at around 1871. It was believed that some of the coral stones from the then abolished Parian Church were used to build parts of the prison.
From the time it was built, it has served its purpose as a prison until the 21st century. It has been around during the Spanish, American and Japanese occupation.During the revolution at the regime of the Spaniards, many Katipuneros were incarcerated inside the carcel without any trial. The carcel also served as a stable for horses competing in Hippodromo, which is still alive, during the American era. At the time of the short yet very brutal occupation of the Japanese in the country, guerillas were imprisoned here and were eventually tortured. But as time passed, the carcel also experienced some transformations. From 1950 to the 70’s, the front section of the Carcel was used as the city jail while the three structures behind it were used as a provincial jail. Since then it was called the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center or the CPDRC, the home of the dancing inmates that got famous in youtube. But after the provincial government built a bigger prison complex in Brgy. Kalunasan, Cebu City, the structure was vacated for quite some time. Until in August 5, 2008, with the efforts of the incumbent Cebu Province governor, Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia, the former CPDRC was converted into a repository of Cebuano cultural heritage—Museo Sugbo: the new prison of Cebuano culture.
After being inaugurated, the Museo has been open to the public and has continued to amaze and educate every tourist that visits there. Fortunately, I am one of those tourists that have experienced the educational trip to knowing more our own Cebuano culture. I had a very fruitful experience in the Museo. Because of this, I want to give you a glimpse of what the Cebuanos are proud of.
Museo Sugbo is located along M.J. Cuenco Avenue. If you use the Mabolo Church as your set point, you could ride a 03-A or 03-B jeepney which would bring you directly across the Museo. Upon entering the gate of the museum, the first thing you ought to do is to turn to your right and proceed to the glass windowed-cashier office. You’ll be asked to pay an entrance fee. If you’re a student, you should bring along your Identification Card so that you’re only going to pay P10.00. Otherwise, you’ll be asked to pay P30.00 which is also the fee asked for adults. If you’re a foreigner, you have to pay P75.00. After paying, you’ll be asked to input your name, address and your number of guests on their log-in book. After doing so, the cashier will give you your receipt and sometimes they give tickets. Afterwards, you could already proceed to the galleries after the guard has checked your receipt. Once you passed the arching entrance, you’re already on your way to the fully air-conditioned exhibition galleries. The museum has four permanent galleries, three special exhibition galleries and one changing exhibition housed in four separate buildings. There are also four separate galleries located at a separate building. Upon entering the galleries, you might be tempted to fish out your camera and catch a flick of some of the valuable artifacts displayed inside the galleries but you have to bear in mind that it’s highly prohibited to take pictures or videos inside the galleries for it may cause damage to the exhibits.
As you enter the arching entrance, you could see to your left a poster stating the history of the Museo written in Visayan dialect and as well as in English. Next to the poster is the door of the first gallery, the Pre-Colonial Gallery. Once you stepped inside the gallery, you’ll immediately feel the nostalgic ambiance of the gallery brought about by the coldness and the strong smell of antiques. Stuffed inside this first gallery are pre-colonial diggings in various parts of Cebu. Some of these are the brown wares excavated in Argao, the Golden Tara of Agusan, various Neolithic stone tools used by our ancestors, a boat-shaped coffin and some already-intricate designed jewelry. There is also some valuable information posted in posters that could be found in the gallery. Once you’re satisfied with what’s inside the first gallery, you could already proceed to the next gallery, the one across the first gallery. The Spanish-colonial gallery is located at the right side of the entrance. It’s also air-conditioned just like the first gallery. Inside are various memorabilia of the Spanish colonization in the Philippines, particularly in Cebu. There are tobaccos, the real ones that were traded and were acquired because of the Tobacco Monopoly instituted by the Spaniards before. Located just to the right of the door were mortars, grinders and some other domestic tools that were used by the Cebuanos during the Spanish era and even up till now. The most interesting display in the gallery is the different letters written by Miguel Lopez de Legazpi. You would be really amazed by his jaw-dropping penmanship! After looking at the displays, you could go upstairs to check the other two galleries displaying memorabilia of the three eras that our country has been colonized. Displayed there are the different memorabilia of Leon Kilat, Gov. Sotero Cabahug, the thomasite Edward, and many others. On the other side, displays are about the Second World War involving lots and lots of weapons such as cannons, bombs and machine guns. After inspecting the displays, you could proceed downstairs to check the other remaining galleries. After descending the very steep stairs, you could proceed to the next two special exhibition galleries located right across the fountain. Facing the fountain, the gallery at the left side is the special exhibition gallery paying tribute to the father of Cebu City Charter, Senator Vicente Rama and on the other side is another exhibition gallery paying tribute to the father-and-son-tandem amidst the war, Gregorio and Jovito Abellana.
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| Vicente Rama Gallery |
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| Abellana Galery |
Beside the gallery exhibiting Senator Vicente Rama’s memorabilia is the newly-opened Cebu Media Gallery.To reach the gallery, you have to pass by an ancient passageway where the walls are made of stones and there are rectangular openings. Walking there would give you an idea of how the streets are designed in the past.
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| Cebu Media Galery sign |
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| The humungous Linotype printing press |
Displayed outside the toilet is an ancient humungous Linotype printing press. There are also other kinds of printing press displayed inside the media gallery. You can also find ancient types of cameras used by the journalists then.
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| Passageway to the Cebu Media Gallery |
After visiting the first set of galleries, you could proceed to the four permanent separate galleries located both sides of the tiled-quadrangle. If you’re facing the quadrangle, located at the left side is the National Museum. This gallery is composed of two separate galleries. At the left side is a gallery where the displays are about the various plants brought by the Mexicans in the city and as well as different posters of the different bridges built in different parts of the Philippines. On the other side, displayed are rare excavations conducted in Cebu that includes archaeological artifacts, gold and ceramics and the famous San Diego shipwreck of 1600.
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| The National Historical Insitute Museum of Philippine Political History |
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| The National Museum Gallery |
Across the National Museum is the National Historical Institute Museum of Philippine Political History. Like the national Museum, this gallery also consisted of two separate galleries. Because of the gallery’s interesting content, I decided to feature this gallery. 
At the left is the gallery that houses the historical people and places of the country. Upon entering the door, you’ll find yourself facing a wall designed with the events during the People Power.
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| Taken sneakily, the wall that you wil be facing u pon entering the political history gallery |
The wall has two rectangular openings, one on your left and the other in front of you. If you proceed to the opening in front of you, you’ll find there the different posters about Filipino living before the country was colonized. There’s also an exhibit of a mini-model of a Filipino community developed in places near arable lands. There’s also a display of the Manunggul Jar. As you go further, you’ll find another model of a Filipino community. This time, it’s a model of the plaza complex in the reduccion policy of the Spaniards. Fronting this model is the display of Jose Rizal’s memorabilia which includes his famous novels El Filibusterismo and Noli Me Tangere. There are also cartoon models of heroes like Emilio Aguinaldo, Gregorio del Pilar and two others. Fronting these models is a poster of the different Filipinas involved in the revolution. Next to the poster is the other opening leading you to the door.
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| Mini model of Filipino comunity inside the Political History gallery |
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| The Manunggul Jar |
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| Mini model of the plaza complex |
Upon going out of the gallery, you should also visit the gallery beside. This is the presidential gallery which offers a fascinating and interesting look at the 14 presidents of the country. This was showed through their political portraits with their signatures etched in 24-karat gold plated metal amidst objects and artifacts of their different reigns. Much more like the gallery beside, when you enter, you’ll be facing a perpendicular wall with two openings. There is also a special room inside the gallery where there are two freedom wall-like posters which are stashed with different opinions from the visitors.
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| Taken sneakily, one of the freedom-wall-like posters inside the Political history gallery |
Beside from the galleries, the Museo has also other establishments that aim to further serve the visitors. There’s a coffee shop, a souvenir shop and a gift shop. Aside from these, you could also enjoy the view behind these establishments where there’s a gazebo and a well.
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| Chilling out at the gazebo |
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| the very dep well |
Well, my tour ends there! You should really visit the museo for it gives people a very humbling experience. During my visit, I learned a lot regarding our history as citizens of this city. I wanted to share to the people what I’ve learn because I want evry Cebuano to be proud of being a Cebuano not only because of its booming industry but also because of its rich culture and history. “Mabuhi, mabuhi, mabuhi, mabuhi ka Sugbuanon! Dungan sa imong pagka-Pilipino!”
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| Yepey! I'm Done!! |
SOURCES:
- I don't have a lot of sources because I just based my essay in my visits in the Museo. I referred to the blog for the history of the museum.
