Fate of Cebu town histories

Started during the term of governor Gwendolyn Garcia, it was one of those projects that the former governor specifically mentioned to Gov. Hilario Davide III during discussions before the formal turnover of the governorship towards the end of June this year.

Last month, frenzied calls from the staff of Vice Gov. Agnes Magpale, who chaired the Cebu Provincial History Writing Committee, finally indicated that the end is finally nigh for the 55 volumes of history books covering the story of Cebu. These books, already with the printing press, are going through the final galley proofing before printing.

These 55 volumes, which will hopefully be launched in December, is a kind of litmus test whether a heritage project like this can overcome the political divide. Already there are plans to put two messages from the two governors, past and incumbent, as well as from Vice Governor Magpale who chaired the project on behalf of Garcia and the Cebu Provincial Board when this project inched its way to completion. This journey, if one may call it, began so promisingly in 2007 only to be beset with so much delay owing to the lack of discipline and commitment from some of the writers and, most unfortunately, with a few editors.

This was, to a certain extent, understandable. No other province had ever before ventured into such a gargantuan task—and I seriously doubt, as I keep repeating, if this feat will ever be replicated elsewhere. But any province that will attempt to follow Cebu’s lead will certainly learn a lot of lessons and not repeat the unfortunate mistakes made along the way.

To begin with, it is never easy to seek out 55 writers with the proper academic and scholarly experience backstopped by deep commitment to deliver results within a given time frame. No matter how much you entice the writer with a treasure trove of data, archival documents and all sorts of information, where there is no desire on the part of that writer to put pen and paper together, all will come to naught. This explains why, along the way of this project, some original writers had to be replaced under threat of legal repercussions if they stubbornly held on. Amid all these problems, however, one must laud the patience of both former governor Garcia and Vice Governor Magpale and the committee of Provincial Board members who met regularly to shepherd the project together with the Cebuano Studies Center of the University of San Carlos.

The printing of these books, the continuation of Suroy Suroy Sugbo and the continued operation of Museo Sugbo indicate that the heritage work begun in the previous dispensation is being pursued in the present administration. Despite the obvious political differences between former governor Garcia and Vice Governor Magpale, one can’t help but be glad that heritage work in the province, with the support of Governor Davide has not come to a full stop. Let us therefore hope to expect more good news to come.

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The University of San Carlos Museum is being refurbished and will be closed to the public starting Monday, Sept. 23. A joint exhibition between the National Archives of the Philippines (NAP) and the museum entitled, ‘Integracion/Internacion: Urbanity, Urbanism and their Exclusions” will be unveiled on October 21, 2013 by the Spanish ambassador to the Philippines Don Jorge Manuel Domecq. The project is a brainchild of NAP director Vicotrino ‘Ino’ Manalo. A catalogue will be published shortly thereafter.