From left: Casa Gorordo Museum curator Florencio Moreño, National Museum of the Philippines Assistant Director Dr. Ana Labrador, Christian Bonpua of Museo Parian sa Sugbo and Provincial Tourism officer Joselito “Boboi” Costas cut the ribbon to formally open the 11th Gabii sa Kabilin at the Capitol grounds. At right is the newly restored Gotiaoco building near the Cebu City Hall.
cdn photos/christian maningo and junjie mendoza
The 11th year of Gabii sa Kabilin officially opened at 5:45 p.m. yesterday at the Cebu Provincial Capitol grounds.
Florencio Moreño, curator of Casa Gorordo Museum and one of the organizers, said they wanted this year’s activity to be more fun.
The theme for this year’s Gabii sa Kabilin or Night of Heritage is “Fun and laidback.”
“This year, we put more emphasis on fun and laidback as shown in our logo,” Moreño said.
For 2017, local and foreign spectators can visit up to 26 museums in the cities of Cebu, Talisay, Mandaue and Lapu-Lapu.
In Cebu City, participating museums were Cebu City Museum, Sugbu Chinese Heritage Museum, Museo Sugbu, Fo Guang Shan Chu Un Temple, and churches like Basilica del Sto Niño among others. Other participating museums were Talisay City Museum and Collegium Scoieta Tis Angeli Pacis
Museum in Talisay City, Mandaue Presidencia in Mandaue City and Mactan Shrine in Lapu-Lapu City.
Aside from visiting museums and churches, this year also marked the launching of museum hunt.
Moreño said museum hunt is one of the activities being added this year to make the Gabii sa Kabilin more fun especially for the younger generation.
The museum hunt was participated by 22 teams, with five members in each team, to do the challenges in 10 museums.
“We also have some activities for the children and blogging contest in consonance with the fun theme,” Moreño said.
Meanwhile, the Sugbu Chinese Heritage Museum yesterday gave a sneak peek preview of the restoration works being done on the old Gotiaoco building near the Cebu City Hall as it joined the Gabii sa Kabilin.
The museum also showcased Chinese products like ceramics, some artifacts, cuisine, traditional medicines, religions and other Chinese cultural practices.
Ma. Elena Lim, executive director of the Sugbu Chinese Heritage Museum Foundation Inc. (SCHMFI), said that there were some structures of the building that had to be replaced because of its dilapidated condition.
“The interior of the building was also refurbished,” she said.
Engr. Kenny Jay Lee, Restoration Committee chairman, said the most challenging part of the restoration works is to preserve the existing structures especially the facade.
“Kay (facade) mao man gyud ang magpa-matuod nga karaan gyud siya,” he said.
The restoration of the building started on July 22, 2016 and is targeted to be finished by next year.
Lee said a P450-million budget coming from the trust fund of SCHMFI, benefactors and donors was allotted for the restoration of the century-old building.
Once completed, the museum will also put on display the donations from more than 15 Cebuano-Chinese families to build the structure.
The museum will be open to the public by next year. It will have four floors with grand lobby and multimedia rooms in the upper floors.