EDITORIAL — Leaving their mark on history

The Gabii sa Kabilin (GSK) is a yearly showcase of the heritage and history of Cebu. For that one night alone, historic attractions in Cebu City, Mandaue City, and Talisay City are brought alive and made easily accessible and interlinked for those who want to know more about Cebu’s rich past.

For the past 16 editions of the GSK there has been no untoward incident. But this year was different as a person or a group of persons seemed to want to leave their nefarious mark on the activity.

Three sites of the GSK were vandalized; a wall at the Basilica Minore del Santo Niño just outside the Aula Hall, the Sintra board wall at the staircase of the Sugbo Chinese Heritage Museum, and an antique dresser in the old Jesuit House.

The words, although they appeared to have been written by different people using a black marker, were the same: Black Rainbow.

As of this writing there is still no idea about the perpetrators. But we can surmise they are some group desperate to gain notoriety or “street cred”. While it does earn them some notoriety points --to what good end we don’t know-- this comes at the price of their infamy. Not to mention the charges they will face if they are found.

Thankfully the vandalism incident seems to be isolated, as there are no other reports of defacement in other GSK sites. Another thing to be thankful for is that interest in GSK isn’t waning 17 years from its first edition. That means meaning more and more people are interested in knowing about Cebu’s past.

However, with more and more people getting interested in Cebu’s history, this means more visitors with each edition of the GSK and more people to watch since not all of them may be there to learn.

This goes without saying that we must safeguard our heritage and historic sites from people who want to leave their mark on history in the literal sense and in the worst way possible.