My thoughts about the Patria
It is with great pleasure and honor that tonight we bring you in Straight from the Sky, a man whom I have known and share a lot of history with, my co-author of the book “War at Cebu” in the person of Dr. Resil B. Mojares who was bestowed the prestigious award of National Artist for Literature by Malacañang for his significant contribution in the development of Philippine literature. He is in my book the first Cebuano to hold this prestigious position.
Actually, the late Napoleon Abueva was a Bisaya-speaking national artist, but he lived in Manila. My mother’s family, the Segura Family was close to the Abuevas from Bohol. This is why the late Napoleon Abueva called my mother Tita. But at last Resil B. Mojares is truly a Bisaya-speaking national artist living in Cebu. So it really is a great recognition. I have featured Resil in this talkshow a couple of times before, but this is the first time we talk with him as a national artist. We share a lot of similarities, especially our love of history.
One of my favorite books that Resil Mojares wrote and published was “Theater in Society” where he featured the culture of the town of Villadolid in Carcar City. He featured the Zarzuela that was often featured in Carcar which, I would like to believe, influenced my grandfather Don Jose Avila when he built the Teatro Junquera (it later became the Teatro Oriente and later on called Oriente Theater which is still operating today). Resil Mojares also identified Carcar as the place where the original Cebuano or Bisaya language was perfectly spoken.
So watch with pride our first Cebuano National Artist Resil B. Mojares on our Talkshow tonight on SkyCable’s channel 53 at 8 p.m. with replays on Wednesday and Saturday same time and channel. We also have replays on MyTV’s channel 30 at 9 p.m. Monday and at 7 a.m. and 9 p.m. on Wednesday and Friday.
* * *
I’m writing this column late Friday evening for fear that by Saturday I might not be able to send this column to my editor in The FREEMAN because the PNP fears that criminals will use technology for their nefarious activities. Well, the cellphone signal was still strong last Thursday night when assassins on a motorcycle shot and killed former prosecutor Mary Ann Castro along Escario Street. No wonder traffic was super snarled last Thursday evening. And by the way the cellphone signal was still on.
Another murder happened in San Fernando, a councilor whose car fell into an empty river near a cement plant. This gives you an idea that despite the reality that our police now have more vehicles and equipment to do their work, Cebu has literally become a killing field. We know that Castro was a controversial figure and probably had many enemies, but by the looks of her car, a yellow Nissan Juke, it gives you and idea that she wasn’t hiding or keeping herself incognito. A yellow car like that isn’t hard to spot.
I just hope that the PNP would find the killers of the two. Both are people who worked with the government. Incidentally, the comment I read in Facebook was that the killings happened during the gun ban, proof that killers do not really care if the PNP calls for a gun ban as they will still carry their firearms.
* * *
The FREEMAN headline last Friday was “Patria debate reaches NHCP”. With all respect to my good friend, Architect Melva Java, I’m no architect, but in truth the Patria isn’t an edifice that is really worth keeping. Don’t get me wrong but in our family, I fought for keeping the façade of the Oriente Theater because of its art deco design, which was truly worth keeping. But I lived in the Parian District in my youth and went to the Patria often, it is an edifice not really that memorable.
Whatever the NHCP decides, I would rather have Landmasters come up with a new architectural design that has some features of our historical past than keep any part of the Patria. This is my way of thinking and it should not mean that I don’t want to preserve old sites; rather let us preserve sites worth preserving!
* * *
For email responses to this article, write to [email protected]. His columns can be accessed through www.philstar.com.
- Latest
