Purely Me
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Guadalupe Elementary School (My School)
Ispent most of my Childhood days in Guadalupe Elementary School. This public school is as old as the acacia trees that shade the parents waiting for their kids outside. My dad and his parents went to this school. And not to mention the rest of our clan who remain clustered until this very day. My younger cousins and other relatives still go to this school. Guadalupe Elementary School is HOME, as far as I’m concerned. It is the very institution which formed and cemented my ideals, principles and drives in life. It is where I first scraped my knees, sh*t in my pants, got praised, got dissed. The school was very HUGE then. Now, I don’t think it is. People say that when you’re a small kid, anything taller than ten feet is automatically HUGE. When I went back to the school last week to attend Osman’s meeting, every bit of memory came flooding back. Was I a good student then? Did I make a lot of friends? How did I get this huge scar on my knees? And as I went in, I remember spending all the money I have on very silly things sold outside the school – ‘telescope shows’, spiders, maya birds, goldfish, tops, fruit and vegetable seeds, yoyos and not to forget a wide range of chichiryas like chicharon, fishballs, squidballs, ‘dirty icecream’, puto, budbud, and the oh-so-refreshing choco scramble. It’s nice to look back at such petty but very important things – those very short shorts and knee-high socks, that Rizal-cut, those nasty black stains on my pre-grade 1 teeth and most of all, the games that I lost and won. his is the ‘main building of Guadalupe Elementary School. During my time, this building housed the TOP classes of each level, the offices of the Guidance Councilor, the Principal and the Supervisor and the Library. Of course, no public school is without its own Joe. I remember hiding under the statue’s shade as I watched a classmate stand under the heat of the sun for a violation which irked a school teacher. Hahaha. y classmates and I spent most of our time playing here. When the energy level was quite low, we sat down and guessed the brand of vehicles passing outside. The winner got to hit the other’s head. LOL
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Anda Bohol ( Mom Native Town)

Bohol (Mom HomeTown)
Although people have been living on Bohol long before Magellan reached the islands that are now the Philippines, our written records start here, and about the events before that time, little is known, and has to be carefully reconstructed from oral traditions and archaeological evidence.
It is said that around 1200, the Lutaos arrived from northern Mindanao. They build a settlement on stilts in the strait between mainland Bohol and the island of Panglao. This town later became a prospering local center of power, also known as the the "Kingdom of Dapitan." It lasted until it was abandoned in 1563, out of fear for raids by the Portuguese and their allies from Ternate. It will be seen below how this event helped the Spanish to get a foothold in the Philippines.
The Arrival of the Spanish
In 1521, Ferdinand Magellan and his crew were the first Europeans to reach the Philippines coming from the East. When they arrived they weren't really welcome: Magellan himself was killed on Mactan Island near Cebu, by the hand of a local chieftain or "Datu", Lapu Lapu.
Following Magellan's route, the Loaisa Expedition left La Caruña in Spain on 24 July 1525. This expedition also reached the Philippines, but on the first of June, 1526, a hurricane separated the ships. One of the ships, the Santa Maria del Parral, stranded on on the shore of North-East Mindanao. The survivors were captured and sold into slavery. One of the crew members, Sebastian de Puerto (or de Puerta), came in the hands of the Boholano chief Sikatuna. This is the first contact on record between a Spaniard and a Boholano.
More than forty years after Magellan's demise, in 1564, Spain sent out four expeditions to establish colonies in the Far East, and to pick up a share of the lucrative spice trade under control of the Portuguese. These expeditions failed, but in the next year, Miguel Lopez de Legazpi was more successful. Sailing westwards from Mexico with four ships and almost four hundred men, he reached the Philippines in the beginning of 1565, and established a Spanish settlement.
This wasn't an easy achievement. Just like Magellan before him, Legazpi met with hostile native warriors, who didn't like the idea of foreigners invading their islands. His attempt to land on the island of Cebu was thwarted, and he decided to look for a friendlier place. He lifted his anchor and headed south in the direction of Mindanao. A change of wind, however, forced his fleet back to north in the direction of Bohol. With the help of a Mohammedan Malay pilot from a captured trading ship from Borneo, he learned that the Filipinos were involved in trade with the Moluccas, Borneo, Java, Malacca, and even far away places such as India and China.
The Blood Compact of Legazpi and Sikatuna
Also at Bohol, Legazpi was given a hostile welcome. From his Malay pilot, he learned that this hostility was due to marauding expeditions of the Portuguese. Coming from the Moluccas, the Portuguese raiders traversed the Visayan seas, and just a few years before, in 1563, had plundered Bohol and killed or enslaved about one thousand of its inhabitants. Of course, the Boholano's easily mistook the Spaniards for Portuguese.
Again with the help of his pilot, Legazpi explained two chiefs of Bohol, Datu Sikatuna of Bool and Datu Sigala of Loboc that they were not Portuguese, and had come in peace, and not to plunder or kill. This convinced the Kings to end their hostility and enter pact of friendship. On 16 March 1565 (or 25 March, records are confused due to the Gregorian calendar reform in 1584), Legazpi and Sikatuna performed the now famous blood compact, probably not far from the modern town of Loay. This event is still celebrated in Bohol every year in June with the Sandugo ("One Blood") festival. The same ceremony was repeated three days later with Sigala.
The Conquest of Cebu
After he assured himself of the aid of Sikatuna and Sigala, Legazpi decided to try to establish a permanent Spanish settlement on Cebu. With the native kings as guides, he lifted his anchor and left Bohol on Easter Sunday, and arrived at Cebu on 27 April 1565.
On the shore of Cebu, the local king Tupas already expected them. He had grouped his warriors in full battle array, ready to resist Legazpi and his invaders. In an attempt to negotiate a resolution of the impasse, a priest, father Urdaneta, went ashore, but he wasn't able to convince Tupas. Legazpi then initiated an attack. While the ship's artillery battered the coast, Spanish soldiers landed and attacked the Cebuano warriors. With their superior weapons the Spanish won a victory, and forced the troops of king Tupas to retreat to the hills.
After his defeat, king Tupas was more inclined to enter into peace negotiations. With the help of Cid Hamal, a Mohammedan Malay who stayed in Cebu at that time, a peace treaty was drawn up on the fourth of June 1565. In this treaty, king Tupas recognized the Spanish king as sovereign and agreed to pay a tribute, for which, in return, Legazpi promised to protect him against his enemies and to allow trade between the Filipinos and Spaniards. Also, Legazpi was granted a strategic site on Cebu, where he founded the first permanent Spanish settlement in the Philippines.
Establishment of Catholicism
In the footsteps of the Spanish explorers came the missionaries. About thirty years after the Spanish established themselves on Cebu, on 17 November 1596, two Jesuit priests, Father Juan de Torres and Gabriel Sanchez, arrived in Baclayon, Bohol. It is said that the mother of the encomendero of Bohol, Doña Catalina de Bolaños invited them. They established their headquarters in Baclayon, and quickly started to further spread the Catholic faith on the island.
Only a few years after the Jesuits' arrival, on 26 October 1600, Baclayon was raided by some 300 Maguindanao Moros commanded by Datu Sali and Datu Sirongan. In response, the Jesuits moved their headquarters to the inland town of Loboc, at a save distance from the coast. Since then, until the departure of the Jesuits from the Philippines in 1768, Loboc has been the residence of the local Jesuit superior. Here they also founded the first parish on the island in 1602, followed in 1604 by a school, the Seminario Colegio de Indios, a training school for the children of the local ruling class.
The Revolt of Tamblot
The new religion was not easily accepted by all. In the year 1621, Tamblot, a native priest or babaylan called upon the people to return to the faith of their forefathers, and to liberate themselves from the Spanish oppression. Around two thousand Boholanos joined him, and started a revolt when most of the Jesuit fathers were absent, celebrating the feat of the beautification of St. Xavier in Cebu.
When the news of the uprising reached Cebu, the alcalde-mayor Don Juan de Alcarazo, rushed an expedition to Bohol to suppress it. on New Year's Day, 1622, an army of 50 Spaniards and over one thousand Filipinos started their campaign against the rebels. In the following battle, fought out in a torrential rain at Malabago, Cortes, Bohol, the mayor was wounded and the Spanish had to retreat. Six months later, in a second attempt, the rebels where victorious again, but then some Spanish priests from Loboc managed to enter the camp of Tamblot and assassinate him. Then, Without their leader, the insurgents where easily defeated, and Spanish power was restored.
After these events, the Spanish more firmly established their power on Bohol. Using the labor of local workers, a number of magnificent stone churches were built, including the Church of Baclayon, which is one of the oldest stone churches in the Philippines, and was build, in its current shape in 1724, and the church of Loboc with its separate bell-tower.
By 1733, the Jesuits had established six settlements or reducciones: Loboc, Baclayon, Jagna, Talibon, Inabanga and Maribojoc. In these settlements, the people were forced to live together, so that it was easier to Christianize them, as well as to collect taxes.
The Rebellion of Dagohoy
The oppressive methods of the Jesuits once more led to a serious insurrection against Spain. In the year 1744, Francisco Sendrijas alias Dagohoy started a revolt that was to last more than eighty nine years. The cause of this was an incident, in which the brother of Dagohoy was killed. Father Gaspar Morales, the Jesuit curate of Inabanga ordered a this brother, who was a constable, to capture a man who had left the Christian religion. The constable pursued the fugitive, but then was killed by him in a duel. However, when his body was brought back to town, the Jesuit refused the constable a Christian burial.
Infuriated at the priest, Francisco Dagohoy organised the people in an armed rebellion. The uprising started on 24 January 1744 with the killing of the Italian Jesuit curate of Jagna, Father Guiseppe Lamberti. Not long after that, Dagohoy also killed Father Morales, and the rebellion swept over the entire island. In vain, the Bishop of Cebu, Miguel Lino de Espeleta, attempted to calm down the situation, and restore Spanish rule. Dagohoy defeated the troops of Spanish and Filipino forces sent to subdue him. He established a free government in the mountains, and with his followers, was able to control much of the island. Even after Dagohoy's death, his rebellion continued, while the Spanish were only able to maintain their power in some settlements along southern coast.
In the span of 89 years, no less than twenty Spanish governors-generals, from Gasper de la Torre (1739-45) to Juan Antonio Martinez (1822-25), failed to suppress the uprising. In 1825, general Mariano Ricafort (1825-30), became governor-general of the Philippines. He send alcade-mayor Jose Lazaro Cairo to re-establish Spanish power in Bohol. With an army of 2,200 Spanish-Filipino men, he invaded Bohol on May 7, 1827. However, it took more than a year of fierce fighting, and another Spanish expedition under Capitain Manuel Sanz, who landed on Bohol in April 1828, before the patriots were defeated. He captured last remnants of Francisco Dagohoy's rebel forces from their hideout in the Cave of Caylagon. So, finally, by August 31, 1829, the rebellion was ceased. Most of the followers of Dagohoy were pardoned and resettled in new villages in the lowlands. These villages have now become the towns of Batuanan, Cabulao, Catigbian, and Vilar.
In the mean time, in 1768, the Jesuits had been expelled from the country, and their missions taken over by Augustinian Recollects headed by their former Provincial, Fray Pedro de Santa Barbara. Under their leadership, by 1800, the towns of Tagbilaran, Dimiao, Guindulman, Panglao and Loon had been founded.
The Last Years of Spanish Rule
After the end of the Dagohoy rebellion, a period of relative peace starts in Bohol. During most of the Spanish era, Bohol was a part of the residencia of Cebu, but on 22 July 1854, it was made, together with the island of Siquijor, into a separate politico-military province. In 1879, when a census was held, Bohol had 34 municipalities and a total population of 253,103 souls. (Less than one fifth of the population today!)
Spanish rule came to an end in April 1899. In that year, after winning the American-Spanish war, the U.S. 'bought' the entire Philippines for twenty million dollars. The Spanish left the island, and Bohol became a "Gobierno de Canton," run by important Boholanos as part of the independent republic proclaimed by Emilio Aquinaldo.
The American Era
After almost one year, on 17 march 1900, American troops landed in Tagbilaran. Lead by Major Henry Hale of the 44th infantry Battalion, they came to take over control from the followers of Aquinaldo. The Boholanos started an organized resistance against the new invaders. On 3 September 1900, under the leadership of Col. Pedro Samson, a bloody struggle started, which lasted for several months. In their attempt to force the Boholanos to submission, the American forces burned to the ground 20 of Bohol's 35 towns, killed hundreds of people, and indiscriminately slaughtered livestock. Finally, on 23 December 1900, the resistance leaders surrendered to the Americans. A peace treaty was signed in the convent of Dimiao, and peace was restored. Unfortunately, a cholera epidemic following the turmoil of the war killed hundreds of Boholanos in the following year.
With the peace restored, the American government started to reorganize and reform much of the country. Roads were constructed and schools established, and the living conditions started to improve somewhat. It was also during this period, on 17 March 1917, that Bohol was created a separate province.
World War II
The American Era, effectively ended with the Second World War. On 17 May 1942, Japanese forces landed in Tagbilaran. Three very difficult years where to follow. Again, the Boholanos stood up to defend their freedom. The resistance movement, which consisted of disbanded soldiers and civilians, organized a guerilla style war against the Japanese oppression. At first, their headquarters, 'Behind the Clouds' was hidden in the deep and inaccessible ravines near Catigbian, and later this was moved to Carmen, while the original encampment remained a prisoners' camp.
The American forces returned on Bohol on April 11, 1945. This time, they were welcomed as liberators, and only to stay for a relative short time, as on the 4th of July, 1946, Bohol became a part of the independent Republic of the Philippines.
After Independence
After independence, a long period of relative peace and slow development started. Freedom loving and independent, Boholanos don't like to be ruled by others, and, unlike on many other islands in the Philippines, there are few large landowners or haciendas on Bohol. Many Boholano families were and still are subsistence farmers, who till their own small plots of land for their own food, and grow coconut trees for copra (dried coconut flesh), to earn money for their other needs. Although Bohol is still mainly an agricultural province, the capital Tagbilaran was elevated to a city on the first of July 1966, and today has a population of about 70.000 people. The entire province is now (according to the 2000 census) home to about 1.3 million people.
Like in many provinces in the Philippines, no longer all people can earn their livelihood in agriculture, and many have sought a better future outside Bohol. Many have found work in the large banana and other plantations on Mindanao, or in the industry or in all types of service jobs in the big cities, especially Cebu and Manila. Boholanos are also well known as sailors. When on board a ship, both within the Philippines, or internationally, you have a big change that some of the crew members originally come from Bohol. Finally, a large number of Boholano's have moved abroad, to live and work in the Middle East, the United States, and Europe.
Only in recent years, the touristic potential of the island has been realized, and work has started to develop resorts and hotels to make Bohol's magnificent natural environment accessible for tourists.
Cordova Cebu ( Relatives Home)
Córdova is a municipality located in Mactan Island, an island part of Cebu in the Philippines.
Córdova is administratively subdivided into 13 barangay or barrio
- Alegría
- Bangbang
- Buagsong
- Catarmán
- Dapitan
- Cogon
- Day-as
- Gabi
- Gilutongan (composed of Gilutongan and Nalusuan Islands)[1]
- Ibabao
- Pilipog
- Población
- San Miguel
1864. From 1913 up to the present, a town of 15 mayors governed the district.LS,
Córdova is located at the southern region of Mactan Island. It is a quiet and secluded area.
Mactan Bridge Cebu Link both Cities
Mactan-Mandaue Bridge or popularly called The First Mactan-Mandaue Bridge is the first of two bridges spanning across the Mactan Channel and connecting the islands of Cebu and Mactan.
]Marcelo Fernan Bridge stimulated economic growth in Mactan. Reliving Lapu-Lapu’s bottleneck situation in the two-laned old Mactan Bridge, it served as a vital part in Cebu’s economy.
The 846-meter long and 9-meter wide box truss bridge was constructed during the term of the late President Ferdinand Marcos. The construction began in 1970, a year after the declaration of Mandaue as a chartered city[1]. It was inaugurated in July 4, 1971.[2] Finished in 1972 at a cost of 65 million pesos.[3] The bridge was designed and created wholly by Filipino engineers.[1]
University of Cebu Main Sanciangko Street Cebu City University i came from
it was a beginning marked by simplicity. By modesty. A period stamped with nothing but desire and hope: the desire to provide ordinary young men and women with good but not a costly education and the hope that doing so may improve the quality of their lives. May mean the realization of their dreams.
This was the Cebu College of Commerce: with an opening enrolment of 239 in the first semester, 232 in the second semester, and, 69 in the summer.
This was the CCC of old: offering a Bachelor of Science in Commerce and an Associate in Secretarial Science in its initial year.
t was a beginning marked by simplicity. By modesty. A period stamped with nothing but desire and hope: the desire to provide ordinary young men and women with good but not a costly education and the hope that doing so may improve the quality of their lives. May mean the realization of their dreams.
This was the Cebu College of Commerce: with an opening enrolment of 239 in the first semester, 232 in the second semester, and, 69 in the summer.
This was the CCC of old: offering a Bachelor of Science in Commerce and an Associate in Secretarial Science in its initial year.
Spanning, indeed, 8 full school years from School Year 1964-65 up to School Year 1971-72, CCC has began to make itself felt in the City of Cebu, in Region VII, and in the lives of many poor families whose fortunes have changed by the CCC education their children received.
The growth was simply inspiring: from an initial offering of Commerce and Secretarial, CCC began to offer diplomas in Education, Liberal Arts, Customs Administration, Criminology, Nautical; and, from an initial 239 population, CCC reached the 4, 000 mark on its 8th year.
t was time then to face greater challenges. It was a moment then for CCC to reinvent itself and give itself a new name. Beginning School Year 1972-73, CCC has now called itself the Cebu Central Colleges. And, for a good 20 years, it did so.
Enrolment rose. Initially, it was 5097. Then, it dipped to a low 5023, recovered to 6517 and on its final year as CCC, to a phenomenal 16,998.
And the list of curricular programs grew long: Nursing, Midwifery, Health Aide; Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering; Mechanical, Electrical and Civil Engineering; Hotel and Restaurant Management; information and Computer Science; Computer Engineering; and, even a Graduate School. As well as a Marine Officers Training Course.
UC, in 1983, was the first in Cebu and in the entire Region VII to offer a course offering on Computer Science after Atty. Augusto W. Go returned from his trip to the United States.
Then, at the initiative of Dr. Erlinda Barcelo, the revered and, the same time, feared word "Accreditation" took on a deeper meaning and pointed out a new direction. Of what was then the beginning of a series of efforts in improving the quality of education at CCC, PACU-COA Accreditors visited the school on a Preliminary Visit for a Level 1 status of BSMT and AME from October 13 to 14, 1986. Her efforts did not go in vain: on February, 1988, PACU-COA announced its recognition of the level 1 status of BSMT and AME. And years after this, PACU-COA would continue doing so for various other course offerings of the Cebu Central Colleges.
The growth, however, at CCC was not only confined to numbers and courses. There too was physical growth. In 1991, the BSMT Campus in Alumnos, Mambaling was inaugurated, the constitution of the Science and Technology Building at the South Expressway commenced and the New Cebu Coliseum acquired.
With forty-two (42) years of quality education, the University of Cebu (UC) has been awarded a Deregulated status by the Commision on Higher Education (CHED), while recognized by the Philippine Association of Colleges and Universities Commision on Accreditation (PACUCOA) as a learning institution with the most accredited programs. Currently, UC is cultivating more than 42,000 promising young minds while producing board topnotchers through its four campuses that are conveniently situated within different parts of Cebu
Basilica Minor del Santo Niño Cebu City
he Basilica Minor del Santo Niño houses the Image of the Holy Child Jesus, recognised by the Vatican as the cradle of Christianity in Asia.
Miraculous Image
The image of the Santo Niño, which is kept in the parish convent, is considered the oldest religious relic in the Philippines . This was the image that Magellan gave to Queen Juana as a gift during the baptism of King Humabon and his wife Queen Juana on April 14, 1521...
The convent of the Sto. Niño de Cebu was founded by Fr. Andres de Urdaneta on April 28, 1565 , the very day the Legazpi-Urdaneta expedition arrived in the island. On May 8 of the same year, when Legaspi and his men planned the urbanization of the city, they allotted a "place for the church and the convent of San Agustin, "where the Santo Niño image had been found."
In 1599, the convent was made a house of studies of grammar, headed by the Visayan linguist, Fr. Alonso de Mentrida. It also served as a rest house for missionaries working in the province and as a retirement home for the aged and the sick, usually attended to by a lay brother.
The church has always been the Sanctuary of the Sto. Niño, under the custody of the Augustinians. The number of priests assigned to the church varied from three to five aside from one or two lay brothers.
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