73. I LOVE THE FOUR MUSEUMS IN A CITY

I LOVE THE FOUR MUSEUMS IN A CITY

Dr. Troy Alexander G. Miano

04 October 2018

Over a year ago, after being appointed as the first Provincial Tourism Officer of Isabela, I was also designated as the head of the Isabela Museum and Library (IML) which was previously under the Office of the Governor. I was sentimental with the additional assignment since I was a witness when Governor (1992-2001) Benjamin Guzman Dy (1952-2013) together with Madam Cecile M. Dy and DECS Division Superintendent Levy Madamba inaugurated the IML on May 11, 1999. I also showcased my coin, banknotes and first-day Philippine issue stamps collections from the year 2001 to 2004 in the said institution. I was also invited as main resource speaker in the IML during the Centennial (March 23, 1901 – March 23, 2001) of the Capture of President Emilio Aguinaldo in Palanan, Isabela in March 2001 spearheaded by the National Historical Institute, now the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP). Never in my wildest dreams have I dreamt of leading this office which is housed at the old Capitol Building in Barangay Osmeña in the capital-city of Ilagan and whose personnel are my personal friends for the past two decades.

I love museums. My parents would bring me to the museums of Manila at the National Museum, UST Museum, San Agustin Church Museum and the Ayala Museum in Makati City during my childhood years. When I was sent by the Rotary International to the United States as Ambassador of Goodwill & Understanding in 2004, I had a whole week hopping from one museum to another in the famous Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. Whenever the Governor sends me to different provinces and cities, part of my personal itinerary is to visit their museums for benchmarking.

Cagayan de Oro (CDO), so far, is the only city I visited in the country with more than one museum. Part of my “walking tour” during the ATOP 19^th National Convention was museum visitation. First on my list is the City Museum of Cagayan de Oro which was originally a water tank tower and is now used as the home of the city’s historical treasures. Located at the left of the St. Augustine Cathedral and at the back of the Gaston Park, the tank was built in 1921 and it was the Cagayan de Misamis’ (now CDO) water source when the tower was still tapping water from Malasag. It endured the bombings of World War II and in 2008, during the tenure of Mayor Constantino Jaraula, the city government received funding to renovate the said tower converting it to a public museum. The tower has three floors, all containing old photographs of events and famous Cagayanons with historical significance to the city. There are also artifacts, antiques, old paintings and an interesting old ostrich egg which is believed to be centuries old.

My next stop was the Museo de Oro located within the Xavier University (formerly Ateneo de Cagayan) campus at Corrales Avenue. Fr. Francisco Demetrio, S.J. founded the Museo in August 1967. At present, the Museo has three major collections: the Ethnohistory of Northern Mindanao where fossilized remains of the Stegodon found in Laguindingan, Misamis Oriental, archaeological materials dug from the Huluga Cave in Taguanao and Tagbalitang Cave in Villanueva, Misamis Oriental, which date back from the late Iron Age (300BCE to 1000CE) and among others can be found; Ethnology of Mindanao where ethnographics of different Islamized and non-Islamized lumad communities in the island, including their musical instruments, pieces of jewelry used by men and women, vibrant textiles, weaponry, and brass-crafted ornaments of the Maranao and among others are displayed; and the Fr. Francisco Demetrio, S.J. Gallery where the Jesuit curator’s collection of myths and narratives came to life in the portrayals and works of art of local artists over the years and memorabilia section of the museum’s founder, showcasing his photographs, news and magazine clippings, awards, and a numismatic collection can be viewed. The Museo, inaugurated by President Corazon C. Aquino in August 1987, has been under the banner of Xavier Center for Culture and the Arts since 2009 and supported by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts. Museo de Oro aligns its raison d'être to be the heart of history and cultural formation in this part of the country and a structure engaging the Filipinos of the present generation to appreciate and look back to our roots, a fundamental fragment in understanding the present and, nevertheless, the future.

My third museum visit was at the Museum of Three Cultures located within the Capitol University at the corner of Osmeña Street and Corrales Avenue fronting Lifestyle District. Opened to the public in 2008, the museum houses galleries, artifacts, arts and crafts of tribal cultures and treasures that display stories of the past. The museum showcases collections of rare arts and crafts, musical instruments, jewelry, weapons, furniture, archeological dug outs from Butuan, galleries such as of Maranao antiques from Tugaya, Lanao del Sur and of Cagayan de Oro ethnohistory and rare antiquities from the prehistoric and early Christian lowland tribes, Muslim, Higaonon and Manobo tribes. To promote local visual arts of Mindanao, there is an art gallery and coffee shop in the said museum.

The fourth and my last museum benchmarking tour ended at the La Castilla Museum of Philippine Household Heirlooms and Antiques located at the Rodolfo N. Pelaez Boulevard in Kauswagan. Originally the summer residence of the Pelaez Family, it is dedicated to the conservation and preservation of the historical and cultural heritage found in the personal memorabilia through their personal collection of household heirlooms and antiques representative of both local and foreign cultures of the founders of the Liceo de Cagayan University, Atty. Rodolfo N. Pelaez and Sra. Doña Elsa P. Pelaez. The grounds of the summer-house museum has a land area of 11,000 square meters.

I love the four museums in CDO. The four gave me a crash course on Mindanao history, culture and arts. It also gave me fresh ideas on how I will replicate the good practices, manners and styles of showcasing the ethnohistory, ethnology and political history of my beloved province. Time will come that Mindanaoan scholars, researchers or even ordinary tourists will come and visit the Isabela Museum and Library and learn the rich roots of the province known as the “Sentro ng Agri Kultura”.