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| Five Books about Cebu |
I've always been a book reader and a book collector since I was younger. But, for the past six or seven years, I've mostly been collecting Filipiniana books. I have been trying to purchase more books about Cebu, Pampanga, and Albay since those have become my major interests in recent years. Pampanga and Albay, due to familial ties, and Cebu, where I have spent the past 20 years living.
The other day, I was trying to take an inventory of my collection, as it had been a while since I'd reviewed my books. I'm thinking of reorganizing my shelves according to geographical topics and realized that I already have several books dedicated to Cebu.
I still have books on my wish list, such as The War in Cebu, Kamingaw: An Impressionist Portrait of the Bisaya Painter (Martino Abellana) and Hikay: The Culinary Heritage of Cebu, all published by the University of San Carlos Press. I'm also planning to visit their Talamban office to check what else they have in stock, but I'm afraid to go because I will definitely spend a king's ransom on books. I normally contact their office via email to order books from them. It has been two years since my last purchase from USC Press.
In this article, I'll be sharing 5 books about Cebu with topics covering History, Culture, and Society for your consideration. I'll be covering more Cebu books in the future.
More Cebuano Than We Admit: Aspects of Cebuano History, Culture, and Society
Published by Vibal Foundation, Inc. and edited by Resil B. Mojares (National Artist for Literature) and Hope Sabanpan-Yu. This book is available through Vibal (Shopee, Lazada, and their website).
When the book was launched in January 2023 at Casiño Espanol in Cebu City, I was invited to attend the event. Unfortunately, that was also the same day that I was traveling back to Cebu from Manila. More Cebuano Than We Admit is full of essays about different topics pertaining to the contributions of the Cebuanos to the Filipino identity and psyche. It's a first for Vibal's More Than We Admit series to focus on a specific province and its characteristics.
One might find oneself reading about Pre-Colonial artifacts found while the Southern Road Properties were being built in the 2000s. Another article tackles about the religious devotion of the Santo Niño being compared to the Jesus Nazareno. The reader will also enjoy the excerpts of poems by well-known Cebuano poets. Professor Mojares writes about diving for coins, which was a draw in the port areas during the early days of tourism in Cebu. And of course, there is an essay about the majesty of Cebu Lechon.
Cebu Heritage Frontier: Argao-Dalaguete-Boljoon-Oslob
This book was published in 2004 by the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc. and is being sold in the Casa Gorordo Museum Shop.
The book serves as a keeper of records of heritage monuments, churches, and houses located in Argao, Boljoon, Dalaguete, and Oslob of that time. The initial survey and research started in the late 1990s to the early 2000s. It contains photographs, maps, detailed descriptions, and short histories of these places of interest. Since it was published more than 20 years ago, we can assume that numerous changes to these places and sites have happened.
When I last visited Argao in 2019, I brought my copy of the book to try to find some of the sites mentioned. Alas, I wasn't able to go around the town and mainly stayed in the town plaza complex. I'm planning to go to Boljoon before the year ends, especially now that the much-talked-about Pulpit panels have been restored back to the church.
Handumanan: The Rosita Rodriquez-Arcenas Collection of Visayan Santos
The book was written by Dr. Clodoveo Nacorda and published by the University of San Carlos Press. The Rosita R. Arcenas Collection is divided into two exhibit galleries at the USC Museum in their Downtown Campus. This is another item on my must-visit list.
Mrs. Arcenas started her collection of religious art, images, and artifacts in the 1960s. Some of the oldest items in her collection can be traced back to the 1700s. The book is full of beautiful photos and descriptions of the collection.
But, with the recent issue of the repatriated Boljoon Church pulpit panels, we cannot imagine the magnitude of church treasures that are now in private collections here and abroad. Add to that, the religious images, artifacts, and items destroyed during World War II.
Life in Old Parian
Concepcion Gantuangco Briones was born in the early years of the 20th Century, when most of the Parian District was becoming more commercial rather than residential. Her memories and stories about life in the Old Parian of Cebu are incomparable. There are not a lot of books published about the everyday lives of the Parian residents, especially during the waning decades of the area. The destructive results of World War II created a mass exodus of Parian families to other neighborhoods of the growing city of Cebu. Ms. Briones was a leading journalist and author of her time.
One of the most intriguing stories that Ms. Briones shared was based on interviews she had with her older relatives. It was the sensational murder of a married woman and her alleged lover by her husband at the Fuente Osmena. There was a court case, and the husband was imprisoned for the killing. It all boiled down to jealousy. What I enjoyed while reading the book was the recollection of the daily rituals and lives of the Parian residents.
Life in Old Parian originally came out in 1983, published by the Cebuano Studies Center of the University of San Carlos. I was able to get a copy of the book in the Casa Gorordo Museum Shop.
Integración/Internación: The Urbanization of Cebu in Archival Records of the Spanish Colonial Period
This book is published by the University of San Carlos Press in partnership with the National Archives of the Philippines. It was edited by J. Elazar R. Bersales and Ino Manalo. This was one of my Pandemic purchases directly from the University Press Office. I've used this as a reference in some of my Cebu articles.
Integración /Internación contains essays written by prominent historians such as Danilo M. Gerona, Resil B. Mojares, Michael M. Cullinane, Trizer Dale D. Mansueto. The book contains photos of archival items dating as far back as the Spanish Colonial Period. The inspiration for the publication of the book stemmed from an Exhibition mounted at the University of San Carlos Museum and Museo Sugbo in 2014. The book serves as a catalog of information that most Cebuanos do not know about their city and province.
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