The Boljoon Blogs

By Jujemay G. Awit
Sun.Star Staff Reporter

EVIDENCE of pre-Spanish trade and industry in Cebu were found in Boljoon town, right in front of the Nuestra Senora Virgen del Patrocinio Parish Church.

Different kinds of artifacts and nine burials were found at the third archaeological excavation by the Department of Sociology and Anthropology of the University of San Carlos.

The recent excavation, done over a period of one month, was 60 to 70 centimeters deep.

Among those recovered was a large bent gold earring found at the right ear of a male skeleton. The tube earring is said to date back from the 14th to 16th century. Read the rest of this entry »

By M. W. MOSQUEDA JR.

BOLJOON, Cebu – Antique gold jewelry pieces, jars and plates as well as skeletons 500 years old were found in a digging site at the church plaza here which experts claim to be artifacts from the 15th Century.

Mr. Jojo Bersales, consultant on heritage and museum affairs of Cebu province, said details of the historical find underneath the plaza of Boljoon Church, south of Cebu City, will be announced in a press conference today. Read the rest of this entry »

BOLJOON, Cebu – Gold jewelries, antique jars and plates, and 13 centuries-old skeletons were found in a digging site at the church plaza here, proving claims of townsfolk that rich Cebuanos were buried at the plaza ground during the 15th century.

Jojo Bersales, Cebu Provincial Government consultant on heritage and museum affairs, said several gold jewelries, antique relics, 15th century jars and plates, and 13 centuries old skeletons were found in a digging site at the plaza of Boljoon Church, south of Cebu City.

Although Bersales said the details of the findings will be announced in a press conference today (Tuesday), he said the digging site could be a burial ground for affluent families in the 15th century based on the way the skeletons were dressed and with the jewelries and antiques that surrounded them.

Bersales, who is also the chairman of the Socio / Anthro Department of the University of San Carlos in Cebu City, said the practice of including jewelries, jars, and other valuable materials in burial grounds dates back to the early 15th century before the Spaniards arrived in the Cebu.

When the Spaniards introduced Christianity in the country, the said burial practice of placing jewelries in the body of the dead became prohibited, said Bersales.

The details of the discovery, including the reason for the digging, will be revealed in a press conference today.

Last year, a team from the Department of Sociology and Anthropology of the University of San Carlos and the National Museum also discovered skeletons within the Boljoon church grounds.

Bersales said the gold jewelries will be deposited to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas for safe keeping.

By Bernadette Parco
Cebu Daily News
First Posted 07:28:00 04/05/2008

More than a week after the 160-year-old Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception Church in Oslob town, southern Cebu, was destroyed by fire, museums and heritage centers in other towns have focused their programs on fire and disaster preparedness.

“After the (Oslob) fire, we had an emergency meeting in the parish. We discussed when we should have the (Boljoon) church’s electrical wirings checked. This would be our priority,” said Lindzey Romero, curator of the Boljoon Parish Museum.

Romero said the parish is also studying the possibility of creating a parish fire brigade.

Parish officials and the Boljoon Heritage Foundation Inc. will meet with the Filipino-Chinese Volunteer Fire Brigade to discuss the implementation of a disaster preparedness program, which will include frequent drills.

The Patrocinio de Maria Church in Boljoon was established in 1599 and houses centuries-old religious artifacts made of wood, gold and ivory.

The church rectory houses a museum that displays 60 percent of its collection to the public.

Joy Gerra, executive director of the cultural heritage program of the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc. (Rafi), said that the Visayas Association of Museums and Groups Inc. (Vamgi) would celebrate this year’s Museum Month in May with the theme, “Heritage and disaster: Is there life after burning?”

“We will have a partnership with other groups, such as the church heritage commission, on disaster preparedness for cultural sites,” Gerra said.

Representatives from the Casa Gorodo Museum, Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral Museum, and the Basilica del Sto. Niño Museum met last Thursday to create an activity lineup for Museum Month.

Among the activities planned is a “Gabii sa Kabilin” (Night of Heritage), wherein museums in Cebu would stay open until midnight in the last week of May.

“We will be calling on the different sectors to help promote heritage conservation,” Gerra added.

Louella Alix, a member of the Archdiocesan Commission on the Cultural Heritage of the Church, said heritage conservation is a concern of everyone, not just conservationists.

“When people heard that the Oslob church was on fire, they felt it was a great loss. That is why we also plan to organize a stakeholders meeting in Oslob,” she said.

“The people (in Oslob) are still stunned and have this feeling of helplessness,” said Alix.

The commission aims to help Oslob parishioners organize a heritage committee and a group that would handle finances for the restoration of the church.

Fire and disaster preparedness seminars and a workshop on documentation of religious artifacts were being organized in the parishes of Carcar, Sibonga, Dalaguete and Barili, among others.