STUDENTS and residents from Apolinario Mabini’s hometown in Tanauan City, Batangas, were among the first to see and experience a modern and interactive museum opened on July 24 in commemoration of his 150th birth anniversary. MARICAR P. CINCO
A modern and “interactive” museum in honor of the “Sublime Paralytic” was opened here on July 24 in commemoration of Apolinario Mabini’s 150th birth anniversary.
By putting the life and work of Mabini in an “interactive” display, the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) hopes to make Mabini a more popular figure in modern times.
“He is a national hero who is not very well known to Filipinos. We hope this could make people appreciate his contributions to history and nation-building more,” said NHCP chaiperson Dr. Maria Serena Diokno in an interview.
Empty building
The 2,000-square-meter, two-floor building, was upgraded and “modernized” with the addition of an audio-visual room, a stereoscopy room of facsimiles of photographs of the 1989 revolution, push-button exhibits, and a hologram display of Mabini available for public viewing in all seven galleries.
The Mabini museum is also so far the biggest, in terms of floor area, among the 22 historical shrines and landmarks in the Philippines.
The structure was first built, here in Mabini’s birthplace, in 1998 for the celebration of the centennial year of Philippine independence.
But for some reason, “it was left unfinished and was turned over to us as an empty structure,” said Alvin Alcid, chief of the NHCP‘s research, publication and heraldry division.
“We didn’t know what to do with (the building) at first. We thought of turning it into a training center or a (building) for a university,” Alcid said.
President Aquino led the launch of the modern museum in time for the sesquicentennial birth anniversary of Mabini.
Alcid said the government spent P20 million to modernize the museum.
“But didn’t you know that the property was bought from five families who were relatives of Mabini for just P1 per sq m?” he said.
The entire 1.1-hectare property, where a shrine for Mabini also stood, was worth about P11,000 back in 1953.
‘Pule’
The galleries showcase the life of Mabini, also known as “Pule,” from the time he was a student until he became a revolutionary.
“At first he didn’t want to join the ‘Katipunan.’” He was a reformist until he realized that people really yearned for independence,” Diokno said of Mabini.
Rona Pasia, 28, a resident from across the shrine in Barangay (village) Talaga, took the chance of being among the first to see the museum. She took her daughter and three other nieces to the museum opening, saying they were “interested” in seeing what was inside.
Carmen Zubiaga, director of the National Council on Disability Affairs, said Mabini remains an inspiration, “for sharing his life and intelligence, despite his disability.”
The Mabini museum is open daily, except on Mondays, for free. Diokno said the NHCP is opening soon the “upgraded” museums for other national heroes, among them of Dr. Jose Rizal in Laguna, and Emilio Aguinaldo in Cavite, until early next year.