Suroy Suroy Sugbo! (Cebu)

Name: Kyle Finley Siao

Section: SA 21 G

Date : February 4, 2013

Strategy: Don’t Complain and finish the task!

Task: Bai! (Bro!)

#significantothers #socialmap #status

For this task, I ask my uncle’s workers to help me in making the social map of Cebu. Even if I don’t know their names, I call them “bai” and that’s how Cebuanos address each other if they don’t know that person’s name.

We take note of the political, economic, religious and tourist spots in Cebu. It’s important that when you make a social map, you take note of these spots. You can’t make a simple social map without these elements. Without the help of others, it would also be impossible to do this task.

 The easiest to take note was the tourist spots since we know that majority of Cebu’s tourist spots are in the other island (Mactan Island).

(The social map was passed in the written report and apparently I forgot to take a photo of it)

Task: Adto ta sa Simbahan! (Let’s go to the church!)

#religion #culture #values  #beliefs #elements of culture

p.s I wasn’t able to go personally to all this churches on February 4, because the distance between the three churches is really far. I only used old photos because I’ve been there before and the cemetery task really killed my time. )

            (Saint Pedro Calungsod Chapel)

 This church was constructed for the canonization of the local patron saint, St. Pedro Calungsod. Since the church is barely a year old, I think that majority of the church goers are Cebuanos who are living near that place. It’s because the church is located far away from the city proper. The church’s design is so modern and beautiful. They named the church because of the patron saint.

            (Sacred Heart Parish)

The church’s designed to be a huge church and it already had provisions for airconditioning units. At first the church had only fans but because of the help of the community, they were able to acquire airconditioning units and became on the first airconditioned churches in Cebu. They named the church “Sacred Heart” because it was built together with the Sacred Heart school.  Majority of the church goers are Chinese Cebuanos. It’s because this Church is one of the rare churches in the country that has a strong Chinese culture. It celebrates Chinese celebrations like Chinese New Year, Moon Cake festival and many more. I’ve been attending Sunday masses in this church since I was born.

            (Basilica del Santo Nino)

            

  (Magellan’s Cross, Basilica del Santo Nino)

This church is the most famous church in the province of Cebu. This is where the image of the Santo Nino is being kept. During the Sinulog festival, most Cebuanos attend the Novena masses here and believed that when they complete the Novena masses, they would be given a miracle by the Santo Nino. This church is nearly 400 years old and that explains for its “classic” design. This church is also built near the downtown areas of Cebu because it’s also near the Magellan’s Cross.

 In short, Religion plays a major role in every Filipino’s life. In this case (Catholicism), hearing masses at these kind of churches has always been part of the culture and beliefs of the locals. The teachings of the church help open up the eyes of the locals and see the Social Conflict of this world and their purpose in this world (structural functionalism).

Task: Kahadluk sa Patay!

#dead #action #tradition #beliefs #elementsofculture

 It’s not surprising that from 1991-2010, all of the mortality belonged here since the cemetery I visited was the Mandaue Public Cemetery and it was opened during the mid 2000s. It was first time going there and I didn’t have an idea how the cemetery would look like and I even had a hard time looking for it. This killed my time for the fieldwork but seeing the list of 25 names makes it worth it. Despite being new, the place wasn’t really that clean and safe though.

            

Task: Trip to the Art Museum

#art  #culture #nationalism #socialinteraction #symbol #freedom #elementsofculture

This was the task I wasn’t able to complete in Cebu. This was taken at U.P Dilimian’s Vargas Museum and apparently this was the only time I trusted someone to borrow my phone and take a photo of me. During this time, there weren’t any artists around the museum

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Jose Terence Ruiz – He spent his early days at the Ateneo de Manila University and took his fine arts program at the University of Santo Tomas where he graduated cum laude. He is well-known for wry and compelling political cartoons, and worked on the editorial pages of major broadsheets in the Philippines. His work “Dona Siempre BienSur” also reflected how the lives of the Filipinos were during the colonization of the Spaniards.

Pablo Baens Santos- His works have been known expose the state of the nation’s social ills, political abuses and inequities. And it was through his painting “Changing Rice Fields” that I’ve noticed his sense of nationalism and showing how Filipinos have been working the hard way.

I think that the famous European and Americans arts are focusing more on a specific significant person in their country. Unlike the Philippine art, where we put emphasis on our country as a whole. I think that the Philippine art is more nationalistic than the other arts and the experience of being colonized by other countries may have contribute to this.

Task: Adto ta sa pasil! (Let’s go to the market!)

#publicmarket #notsupermarket #socialconflict #structuralfunctionalism

Location: The newly opened Mandaue Public Market

            The mangoes in Cebu are really famous. If you ask other people about mangoes, they would say that “it’s from Cebu”. There are mangoes grown outside Cebu, however people would still say that mangoes are made from Cebu. Mangoes have been the most exported local product in Cebu. These mangoes could be processed into dried mangoes and I’m sure you’ve heard of Cebu dried mangoes. But have you heard of other names? Like Bohol dried mangoes?

            I had to rush in taking the photos since I was double parking and the CITOM officer (Cebunao version of the MMDA) was on patrol that time.

Task: Kaon ta bai! (Let’s Eat!)

#food #cebulechon #puso #yummy #culture #nativefood

(Spicy Lechon Belly)

Puso (Hanging Rice)

It was easy to find the local dish since my family usually orders Lechon belly for an event and the best food to pair with this one is Puso or hanging rice. For me, the lechon belly has been improvised from the Lechon as a whole. The cebu Lechon has been gaining attraction because of how it is being cooked and how it tastes and how it is different from other lechons around the country. The puso is like a customization since rice has been a staple of Filipino people. This is like an innovation to make Cebuanos unique form other Filipino races. The Lechon Belly and the puso preserves the Cebuano heritage on food and it shows the identity of a Cebuano. You’re not a Cebuano if you don’t know what puso is!

Task: Hadluka ani uie! (This is scary!)

#hauntedareas #culture #beliefs #scary

Haunted Places In Cebu (that I was able to take note)

*Our old house in Echavez Street, cebu

*Sacred Heart school – Jesuit Gen. Maxilom Campus

*Ateneo de Cebu – Canduman Campus

*Sacred Heart School- Hijas de Jesus

*Bethany Christian High School

*Maria Luisa Village

    These haunted areas are within “ghost   cemeteries! Maybe 5 kilometers or less. I think that explains why these places are haunted. These “spirits” might want to visit nearby places around the town. For example, Sacred Heart School – Jesuit Gen. Maxilom Campus had a lot fo ghost stories. This is where I graduated from grade school and my teachers would always share some of the school’s scary stories. We also knew that there was a cemetery behind the school and sightings of a white lady, little child, and a headless man have been reported. I think it really has something to do with cemeteries that are near you and thus resulting to supernatural things. 

Personal Reflection (for the fieldwork): This is the 2^nd and hardest fieldwork that I took for SA 21 because I was alone in doing all this work. Plus, it was an unexpected one where I decided to spend my long weekend with my family and all of the sudden you are given this task. at least I was able to complete it. I didn’t have the help of my parents (except for them allowing me to use the car) since they were busy with work, and my siblings had classes (one is in High School the other is in Grade School). I wasn’t able to go to all places because of the heavy traffic which caused me a lot of time and the following the day, I had to leave for Manila already. Despite the limited time I had, I was happy to have done most of the tasks (I completed the other one in Manila).