Mandaue heritage plaza welcomes visitors
The heritage plaza of Mandaue City will be converted into a museum during the “Gabii sa Kabilin” today from 6 p.m. to midnight.
Louella Cabanero, city tourism officer, said seven to eight busloads of local and foreign tourists are expected to visit the city’s destinations during the activity that is also participated by the cities of Cebu, Talisay and Lapu-Lapu.
In Mandaue, the activity carries the theme, “I am Mandaue,” a campaign for citizens’ participation in the development of the city.
Accompanied by local tour guides, tourists will be treated to a cultural show at the heritage plaza including the exhibit. They also have the chance to observe how the city’s delicacies like “bibingka” (rice cakes) and “tagaktak” are prepared.
Other attractions include the 75-year-old City Hall building called Mandaue Presidencia, the spiral staircase of the Rizal-Bonifacio library and stage, a vantage point in viewing the reclamation area and the National Shrine of St. Joseph’s “Señor de Cena,” life-size figures of the Last Supper. The Mandaue Presidencia was given more life with its facade designed with LED lights by Luminance Lighting Solutions, a lighting solutions provider based in Cebu City.
Panagtagbo festival dancers will greet visitors as soon as they disembark. Also joining them is Miss Mandaue 2013 Steffi Rose Aberasturi and her court.
Passing the old Suico ancestral home and the 100-year-old Gabaldon school building at City Central School, three e-jeepneys will carry tourists to the century-old watch tower or “Bantayan sa Hari” and back to the plaza.
SOCIAL HERITAGE
Cabanero said this is also a chance for Mandauehanons to learn about their rich cultural and social heritage.
The Gabii sa Kabilin or annual open house of all Cebu museums is one of the highlights nationwide for this year’s “Taoid” festival, a heritage conservation project launched by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts in celebration of the National Heritage Month.
With the theme “Weaving our stories, threading our paths,” Taoid aims to give people “a glimpse of the legacies of the past and how it remains to shape the present and the future.”
Other highlights of Taoid are the Rakanen Festival in Batanes; Tam-awan International Arts Festival in Baguio; Saluka Festival in Capul Island, Northern Samar; Sarbay Festival in Glan, Sarangani; and Say-am Festival in Pudtol, Apayao.
Gabii sa Kabilin is an annual program organized by RAFI every last Friday of May to celebrate the National Heritage Month and International Museum Day last May 18.
A Gabii sa Kabilin ticket worth P150 allows entry to all destinations, including bus and tartanilla (horse-drawn vehicle) rides. Admission is free for children aged seven and below.
