MANDAUE CITY, Philippines — Mandaue City has launched on Monday, May 31, 2021, the UnsaMANDAUE, a lecture series about the heritage and history of Mandaue.
The project was launched through the Office of City Councilor Marie Immaline Cortes-Zafra, SP Chairperson for Tourism, in coordination with the Mandaue City Tourism Office.
UnsaMANDAUE is a series of lectures delivered by experts on fields relevant to a deeper understanding of Mandaue’s history and heritage.
The name is a shortened version of the phrase “Unsa man ang Mandaue?” (“What is Mandaue?”), and the topics in the lecture series are the answer to this question.
The purpose of the project is to awaken the sense of place and common narrative of the Mandauehanon as they welcome new members of the community, by way of birth or migration.
Also the project aims to remind Mandauehanons of what Mandaue is in the past, and use it to innovate for the future.
“We wanted manggud to maximize opportunity to promote tourism, culture, and heritage, despite the pandemic,” said Zafra.
The two topics of the first lecture series were:
1. The Philippine Heritage Charter that was discussed by Dr. Jocelyn Gerra, City Consultant for Tourism and Development; and
2. The Architectural Heritage of the Eversley Child’s Sanitarium American Period Facility, that was delivered by Architect Bro Bela Lanyi, SVD and Editor of Lantawan Magazine of University of San Carlos (USC).
The next lecture series will be in August and the topic will focus on how Mandaue became a city.
Zafra said they also already tapped the Departmemt of Education (DepEd) so that the material could be used by the teachers in teaching their students about Mandaue’s history.
Zafra said the UnsaMANDAUE will now be celebrated every year and every May and August.
“Nag-estorya mangud sad mi ani ni Mayor Jonas Cortes and he really wanted this to be sustained ba nga nindot siya we do this yearly, May and August lahi-lahi mga lectures para sad everybody will know nga unsa mangyud ang Mandaue. May kay month man sa charter,” said Zafra.
The launching was also spearheaded by Mayor Jonas Cortes, Vice-Mayor Glenn Bercede, guests from USC, National Shrine of St. Joseph, Department of Education, among others.
Mandauehanons are encouraged to watch the lecture series at the Mandaue City Public Information Office Facebook page.
/dbs
RELATED STORIES
Cebuanos abroad urged: Take opportunity in learning heritage virtually