This is the third time I am writing about the Cebu Chinese Cemetery.
Coming on the heels of two milestone events: the conversion of the old Carreta Catholic Cemetery into a heritage park by the Cebu City government and the rehabilitation and conversion of the Gotiaoco Building into the Sugbu Chinese Heritage Museum, the forlorn and seemingly-abandoned Chinese cemetery in Cebu cries out to be noticed too.
Three days back, my good friend Mayen Tan sent me a text message about a call to finally address the dismal state of the cemetery, apparently led by Atty. Augusto Go, president of the University of Cebu. His own father and mother, the late Chinese honorary consul Manuel Gotianuy and his wife Alicia, are buried there in a well-kept mausoleum amid a morass of abandoned, unkempt, broken-down mausoleums.
The appeal is made via a short video clip posted on YouTube entitled “The Sad State of the Cebu Chinese Cemetery, An Appeal for Help” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-YSz0iBR8rs). The title page of the video carries the by line: “by: Atty. Augusto. Tel. (6332) 2554234” and an e-mail address: [email protected]
Then there is a picture of the original entrance arch to the pre-war section of the cemetery and the words.
I believe that finally a very serious attempt is being made to save the cemetery from ignominy if not eternal ruin. And the reasons, as stated in the video – which I urge the reader to see and share on their Facebook accounts – are very compelling, spelling out the value of Chinese ancestor worship. Then the question is asked:
“Have we kept our ancestral belief of reciprocity?” followed by photographs graphically demonstrating how the Cebuano Tsinoys of today have failed in this obligation: piles upon dirty piles of garbage everywhere, people living inside or beside mausoleums and many abandoned tombs, left with gaping holes.
The video ends by providing glimpses of how Chinese cemeteries should be regarded by showing examples of those in Manila, Los Angeles, Hawaii, Indonesia and Singapore.
The Cebu Chinese Cemetery marked its centennial with no apparent improvement in 2009. It was built together with the Cebu Chinese Hospital in front of it, just beside the shores of Mabolo, now reclaimed. Both cemetery and hospital (named Chong Hua or Zhongguo, in reference to China) were established by the
“Asociacion Benevola de Chinos de Cebu” led at the time by Benito Tan Unchuan.
If there is one direct link to a future Chinese heritage museum now being funded, it is this cemetery that will provide literally the bones of history: the remains of countless historical figures in the ups and downs of the Chinese migration to Cebu, from the late Spanish period to the present, names like Tan Unchuan, Tan Unjon, Yap Anton, Lucio Uy Herrera, the Lim brothers Bonfing, Jiaco, Bonsing and Bonjuy; Lim Tian Teng, Ong Kin King, Go Chan, Go Occo, Go Bon Lee, Lim Chiu, Timoteo Yutiong, among many countless more. Some of their descendants have moved their bones to better memorial parks but the main bulk of Chinese migrants are still there.
I urge all the Cebuano Tsinoys to seriously reflect on how they have treated their ancestors who toiled and struggled amidst all kinds of laws thrown at them to prevent them from settling and making good in Cebu. True, there are many who have not reneged on their obligations. But in the end, the best and ultimate evidence is always how clean and well-kept their final resting place, the cemetery, is.
Rally, therefore, Cebuano Tsinoys and save the resting place of your ancestors!
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