MANILA, Philippines—For a year now, the museum of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) has gone without enough electricity to keep it well-lit and air-conditioned, endangering priceless artifacts like Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo’s uniform and hand-written letters of Apolinario Mabini.

The problem has yet to be fixed since a transformer outside Camp Aguinaldo’s AFP Theater, the building that houses the museum, broke down amid heavy rains on May 22, 2007, the Philippine Daily Inquirer (parent company of INQUIRER.net) learned Thursday.

Lighting inside the museum was partially restored in October by tapping into the power lines meant for the theater proper, but this temporary solution was not enough to run the museum’s air-conditioning system as well.

“You can now smell the molds,” museum administrator Elizabeth Dapiton said in an interview. Formerly employed at the Metropolitan Museum, Dapiton began working at the AFP Museum in July last year.

She recalled being assaulted by the stuffy air the moment she stepped inside the military museum on her first day at work. Dapiton wondered aloud what had been keeping the AFP from having the busted transformer replaced.

Molds and fungi

Without temperature controls, Dapiton and staff have since been waging a war against molds and fungi that threaten to eat away at the museum’s fragile collection.

Despite keeping a regular schedule wiping and dusting the pieces clean, the staff just can’t stem the growth of molds which thrive in warm, damp areas, Dapiton explained.

“Our displays and the paintings are in danger. Most have fungi on them and [to think] these are valuable pieces,” said retired Police Director Rufino Ibay Jr., president of the AFP Museum and Historical Library Foundation Inc.

Prized exhibits

Among the prized items on display is the rayadillo uniform that was worn in battle by General Aguinaldo, the country’s first President and leader of the 1898 Revolution against Spain.

Aguinaldo, who passed away in 1964 at age 95, donated the uniform to the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) in December 1959. The PMA later turned it over to the AFP Museum.

The museum also features authenticated, handwritten letters of Mabini, the “Sublime Paralytic” who served as Aguinaldo’s chief adviser. The letters are on loan from former Tarlac Gov. Margarita “Tingting” Cojuangco.

An 1899 letter on display has Mabini complaining to Aguinaldo about the “abusive manner” displayed by one of his generals, Antonio Luna.

Dioramas

Also on exhibit are vintage weaponry and other military hardware, field uniforms, documents and photographs that retrace the evolution of Philippine soldiery since pre-colonial times.

Dioramas also feature the military’s decades-old campaign against communist insurgents and Moro separatists. The two-story museum also has specialized exhibits depicting the AFP’s three major services—the Army, Navy and Air Force.

Conceptualized in 1992, the museum was completed three years later during the administration of President Fidel Ramos. It now has an entire section featuring memorabilia from Ramos’ military and political career.

Because of the power outage, however, Ramos’ blue golf cap, which bears the presidential seal, is now almost completely coated with mold.

‘Snowing in Mindanao’

A museum staff member showed the Inquirer a diorama of the AFP’s Mindanao campaign and said: “Look, it’s snowing,” referring to the white powdery growth covering the figurines.

Lt. Col. Ernesto Torres, the recently appointed AFP spokesperson, sounded surprised when told of the year-long brownout at the museum. Torres said he would take up the matter with higher-ups.

Rechargeable lamps

Dapiton recalled that when the museum had not yet tapped into the theater’s power supply, tours were still being conducted—thanks to rechargeable lamps.

“Visitors insisted on coming in even after being told that we didn’t have power. But the lack of air-conditioning really discourages visitors now,” she said.

The museum relies on both government funding and private donations, and also charges a minimal entrance fee of P5 to P20 per visitor.

No walk-in visitors

Dapiton said the museum’s earnings would normally peak between July and November, when schools include it in their educational field trips.

But rarely does the museum get “walk-in” visitors, or those who are not on organized tours, probably because it’s “out of the way” for most tourists who may not have the patience to undergo several security checks inside a military camp, she said.

Ibay sadly observed that “very few” AFP personnel had checked out the museum together with their families in their spare time, considering that many of them live right inside Camp Aguinaldo.

Once, a group of military officers toured the museum as part of their “training,” but their commander told them that they only had “five minutes” to go around, another staffer told the Inquirer.

“We still haven’t inculcated in people the value of a museum and of history,” Ibay said. “The pieces here reflect [our soldier’s] heroism and accomplishments in the field.”