No this isn’t about the coming national elections. I’m referring here instead to the 495th anniversary of Magellan’s arrival at the port of Sugbu today, which should mark the start of the five-year countdown to the 500th anniversary or quincentennial of that historic moment in the lives of Cebuanos.
We would have marked this day with a reading of Dr. Danilo Gerona’s controversial 450-page book entitled, Ferdinand Magellan, the Armada de Moluco and the European Discovery of the Philippines, Based on Primary Sources” (see my previous column on January 13) but time does not permit and so it was decided to bring him over on April 27, the day Magellan died in Mactan courtesy of Lapulapu.
What should one expect in the next five years, if plans push through?
First, insofar as the academic community is concerned, there ought to be a series of seminars, lectures and symposia on the impact of the Magellan arrival and, writ large, the two sides of the resulting Hispanization of the native: the erosion and submergence of indigenous cultures and the various facets of colonial experience, generally centered on Catholic religiosity. Both are two sides of the same coin and I would venture to imagine research papers on how facets of native culture, especially folk beliefs, continue to merge with Christian practices today, what anthropologists refer to as the Little Tradition amidst the Great Tradition.
Second, I understand there is a plan to build a Ferdinand Magellan Park to be built somewhere near Punta Engaño, as if the park with his memorial obelisk is not enough. As an aside, I hope this future park will not be called Magellan’s Park (with the possessive “s”) as reported in newspapers because unlike the so-called cross that Magellan supposedly planted at the present Plaza Sugbu (hence, Magellan’s Cross), the planned park was not brought by him from Spain and so there is no need to resort to the possessive term as he does not own it. And while at it, perhaps it would be better to call it Lapulapu Park to honor the man who ended Magellan’s career inasmuch as we should be proud of him too. Spain will never put up a park called Lapulapu in their country to honor our hero. So why, a park for Magellan when there is already an existing one?
Third, I have it on good record that there is something in the works to put up a huge theme park with a museum near the South Road Properties to honor the Magellan expedition and its aftermath but focused on the native Cebuano culture and what has happened thus far. This is something I would love to see and even volunteer to work on, given that it was hinted to me, so that we can also show that we did have a way of life different from the Spanish when Magellan arrived and that Cebu was indeed already a thriving port that welcomed foreign traders.
Fourth, and this is mine and my good friend Bobit Avila’s dream, the construction of replicas of the native “karakoa,” the boat used by Cebuano natives and the Victoria, the “capitania” or head ship that Magellan used.
Whatever happens, I believe much excitement awaits the Cebuano as we prepare to mark the arrival and eventual demise of Magellan.
We must never forget that while the guy survived all the places he passed through, it was here that we ended his career.
The worldwide celebration begins in Cadiz two years ahead of ours. It was at that port that the Magellan expedition was outfitted and then left port in 1519 (and so their quincentennial is properly 2019). Cebu will without doubt be at the crux of this worldwide celebration that will close on September 6, 2022 in Seville to mark the completion of the expedition (and hence the first successful circumnavigation of the world) by Sebastian Elcano and his ragtag band of 17 survivors out of the 265 when the expedition began.
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