Kagay-anon 390 relives 1st settlement of Oro ancestors

• Source: http://www.sunstar.com.ph/cagayan-de-oro/feature/2016/10/30/kagay-anon-390-relives-1st-settlement-oro-ancestors-506188
• Sunday, October 30, 2016

By Abigail Viguella

IN ANTICIPATION of the city's founding as a settlement some 400 years ago, the Cagayan de Oro-Historical and Cultural Commission (CDO-HisCom) launched "Forum Kagay-anon 390: on Thursday, October 27.

This is the 10-year celebration for the upcoming fourth centennial of the city’s foundation as a settlement site.

“Forum Kagay-anon 390 is a 10-year program that will usher in the fourth centennial of the founding of the city’s original settlement in the Barangay 1 area,” Dr. Erlinda Burton, Commission chairperson, said.

Burton said that for the first day of the celebration, they will be having the "Tabo sa Kabilin" and the "Paseo sa Kabilin". The CDO-HisCom officially opened the "Taboan sa Kabilin" at Gaston Park which features history and comic books made by Kagay-anon artists and historians. The CDO-HisCom aims to disseminate these books so that knowledge about the history of Cagayan de Oro will be known to more people especially the youth.

The four books that are currently being exhibited by the CDO-HisCom are titles by Xavier University's Historian Francisco Demetrio's such as "Gugud Mindanao", "The Local Historical Sources of Northern Mindanao", and "Illustrated Folktales and Myths of Mindanao". Burton said these books will be sold for P1,000 and will be available at Museo de Oro. The sales will then be donated for the development of the City Museum.

The "Tabo sa Kabilin" was followed by the "Paseo sa Kabilin", a tour of the city’s three museums and some of the city's heritage areas such as the Plaza Divisoria and Gaston Park by the Hiscom commissioners and stakeholders.

Included in the half day tour "Paseo sa Kabilin" are tours to Capitol University's "Museum of 3 Cultures", Liceo de Cagayan University's "La Castilla Lifestyle Museum", Xavier University's "Museo de Oro" and walking tours of historic Plaza Divisoria, the City Museum and Gaston Park-Cagayan de Oro Metropolitan Cathedral area.

Burton noted the individual significance of these three University museums and why it should be supported and introduced more to Kagay-anons. If one needs to have a comprehensive knowledge about the history of Cagayan de Oro, Burton said that one should only visit these three museums.

"Firstly, the 'Museum of Three Cultures' of the Capitol University feature relics and cultural representations of the three cultures that inhabited Cagayan de Oro for many years and have contributed greatly to its identity as a settlement. These cultures are the Maranaos of the Lanao area, the indigenous cultures, and the Christianized peoples. The 'La Castilla' features the inherited memorabilia of the founding families of the city such as the Pelaez's, the Pabayos, or the Velezes. Lastly, 'Museo de Oro' focuses on the ehtno-cultures of Cagayan de Oro and the cultures that existed and around the area such as the T'boli, the Mandaya, the Manobo, and others," Burton said.

Burton also explained that the "Paseo sa Kabilin" included the Plaza Divisoria because most of the founding families' first land heritages existed there as well as some of the city's first historical events.

Meanwhile, she said that Gaston Park is very important for the celebration the "Forum Kagay.anon 390" because Cagayan de Oro's very first settlement started there.

"Most people, even the old Kagay-anons, do not even know this but the very first villages of what we now know as our Cagayan de Oro city is located in Gaston Park area. That is why this area is not only a park, it is a historical relic that is why this is the Barangay 1," Burton said.

The second day of the celebration, October 28, will hold the ground breaking ceremony for the new City Museum Annex Building near the Cagayan de Oro City Museum. To follow the tradition, the ground breaking will be started by a pamuhat ritual at the new building site and the river banks along Duaw Park by a "Higaonon Baylan" to be facilitated by Datu Masikal of the Malasag Eco-village. Hiigaonon Baylan is a dance by the indigenous cultures in Cagayan de Oro that is being lead by a priest or a 'baylan' and is believed to ward off evil spirits in the area.

The ground breaking rites will be immediately followed by a blessing to be rendered by Hiscom Vice-Chair Fr. Daniel Coronel, SSJV and the planting of 100 Lambago tree seedlings in Duaw Park to be coordinated by the Hiscom, City Tourism Council, City Tourism and Cultural Affairs Office, Clenro and Safer River, Life Saver Foundation.

"Aside from the HIgaonon Baylan, we will also plant Lambago Trees along the Duaw Park after the ground breaking. According to history, Lambago trees were the very first trees in the area where the very first settlers of the city inhabited. With that, we will try to bring back the past by planting these tree at the place where our ancestors first decided to settle," Burton said.

"These efforts by the Historical Commission of CDO is of course partly a celebration of the four hundred years of Cagayan de Oro being a settled area and also a program that will try to spread history and culture as a relevant idea in the society. While most people especially the youth think that those that have passed are no longer relevant, we believe that it is only through looking at history that we will have a better grasp of our present and a more lighted path for our future," Burton said.