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Gawking at Google Earth’s high resolution sattelite photos of Cebu
City, I noticed the new markers that indicated places of interest. The
usual suspects were there, the Sto. Niño Basilica, Magellan’s Cross,
Fort San Pedro…. then the Rajah Humabon Marker?

Lo and behold! A place in Cebu City I had never noticed, let alone visited!

The marker is located near the Cebu Cathedral, right across its
museum (I didn’t know the cathedral had a museum, either). Apparently
it was put up to commemorate Humabon’s accepting Christianity as his
religion (in exchange for Magellan’s help in fighting Lapu-lapu).

Taking advantage of the Holy Week weekend, I hied off for the marker
hoping to take some photographs with what I thought was a half charged
camera. It was actually nearly empty, and a good thing as well.

Just like many important historical spots in Cebu, the marker is in
a bad state of disrepair. There is a small obelisk that marks God knows
what (a masonic symbol in front of a Catholic church? Hmmmm…..) since
its plaques had been removed. Behind the obelisk, a large bust of Rajah
Humabon that was made by an artisan of obviously little skill. It
looked like it was made of cast concrete. Beside the bust was a
homeless person doing the only thing he/she could do in the face of
his/her dire situation…. sleep. Around the perimeter were street
children and I was wondering when they would begin to pester me for my
change. Surprisingly, and possibly because I had dressed down for the
occasion, they didn’t.

I had gone to the monument hoping to relish in the discovery of a
place I had never been to, but instead, I found myself mourning, not at
the death of Jesus Christ, our Holy Week rituals are more for ourselves
anyway, but for the Cebuanos, and how we seem to cast aside those
objects that remind us of our history. The city library, the city
cemetery, Bantayan ng Hari in Mandaue, even Fort San Pedro at one time
have been victims of this neglect (and soon the Cebu International
Convention Center?).

Indeed, the city government doesn’t seem to have the gumption to
develop the tourism potential of the city other than support the
building of hotels. Tourism is the major draw for Cebu, and yet, we
seem to take more pride in showing off the squalor of such dubious
tourist spots as Larsi-an and Pasil rather than showing off Cebu’s role
in world history.

I have long dreamed of a time when Cebu’s cultural commission would
be given more teeth. Or perhaps a new commission could be created at
the metropolitan level to work on the development of our culture and
history. I dream of the area around the Cathedral, Pari-an and the
Basilica Sto. Niño being closed to traffic and becoming a place where
residents and tourists will be able to promenade without fear of being
molested, free to visit places that show off Cebuano culture like Casa
Gorordo.

Indeed, developing that swatch of Cebu’s downtown as a historical
treasure, could serve as the catalyst for the urban renewal Cebu so
desperately needs. It would give the Cebuanos pride in themselves (so
that perhaps they stop calling their city "Sugbo", a derogatory name
foisted upon us by Tagalogs in the Quezon administration), and the
wherewithal to work on the blight that plagues our City.