Cebu City’s once genteel neighborhood has become a rowdy, sleazy district

Cebu City’s Mango Avenue was a genteel neighborhood, “quiet and well shaded with mango trees”.

According to the coffee table book “Glimpses of Old Cebu” by Lucy Urgello Miller, the place was known for its hojaldres, a thin flaky pastry. And up until the 1960s, the avenue had rows of “bungalows with big green front lawns (which) typifies gracious living at its best”.

Fast forward 40 years later, Mango Avenue – which has since been known as Gen. Maxilom Avenue – has become the total opposite – traffic-logged, noisy and full of sleaze. A website even classified the neighborhood as a “vice and leisure” place in Cebu City.

“Police are kept busy here on weekends when fights and petty crimes are on the upswing,” a journalist covering the police beat said.

His statement was proven right when police arrested two Papua New Guinea nationals for allegedly getting into a fight with bouncers at the entrance of a bar along Gen. Maxilom Avenue at dawn yesterday.

Timothy Tim Baiyo, 19 and his 17-year old compatriot allegedly engaged at least three bouncers of J. Ave Superclub into a fistfight over a “conflict in security,” police said.

The suspects also allegedly threw liquor bottles, hurting at least three other clubgoers.

Welmer Ragasa Gomez, 23, was hit on the face while, Roxanne Magapatan, 26, was rushed to the nearbu Chong Hua Hospital after she was hit by shards on the forehead.

Police said the victims will file complaints against the two foreign nationals who are students of prominent Cebu universities.

The suspects are now detained at the Fuente Police Station and will both be facing charges of malicious mischief and physical injury.

Mistaken Identity

Their lawyer, Inocencio dela Cerna, claimed that it was only a case of mistaken identity.

The suspects told Cebu Daily News that they just came out of the club’s restroom when they saw a group of people already fighting.

“We just happened to pass by the fight and the bouncers thought we were involved,” said Baiyo.

The foreigners claimed that they were mauled by the bouncers before they were kicked out of the bar.

The club’s management then called for police assistance.

The suspects were apprehended by the police after someone pointed at them saying they were the ones who started the fight.

Dela Cerna insisted that no one could identify his clients as the ones who initiated the fight.

“I think that just becaues they are Papua New Guineans, ilang gihimong suspect (they pointed them as suspects),” said dela Cerna.

Dela Cerna said that they are going to file a case against the club’s management.

Through the Years

General Maxilom Avenue, popularly known as Mango Avenue, has become one of Cebu City’s favorite hangout places and entertainment spots due to a number of bars and nightclubs situated in the area, J. Ave Club included.

The street was named in honor of a hero of the Philippine Revolution, General Arcadio Maxilom y Molera, who led the Katipuneros in Cebu after the assasination of their leader, Leon Kilat.

Aside from bars, General Maxilom Avenue is home to a variety of institutions such as schools, malls, banks and churches.

A Rustan’s store used to stand beside Mango Square Mall but was later converted around 2006 into a mini-mall housing several small-scale businesses selling pirated DVDs, ready-to-wear clothing, fashion accessories among many others.

Today, the area surrounding Mango Square Mall is mostly occupied by restobars and nightclubs.

However, the club scene in Mango has also been a subject of public and media scrutiny as it has been home to several brawling cases in the past as well as complaints regarding minors being admitted into clubs with a supposed age requirement of 21 above. /Victor Anthony V. Silva, UP Intern