lifestyle Volume IV, No. 197
Saturday
web portal: www.mindanaodailynews.com
See6,story 12 February 2016on Page A6
Cagayan de Oro Chinese New Year Heritage Feature:
La Casa del Chino Ygua, the oldest house in Cagayan de Oro By Mike Baños
At the corner of Don Apolinar Velez and Archbishop Santiago Hayes streets stands an unimposing two story brick building which has withstood ravages of time, the Philippine Revolution, the Filipino-American War, and World War II. It’s perhaps unfortunate how today, despite the quantum gains made by modern communications, few of Cagayan de Oro City’s growing populace are aware it’s now the city’s oldest surviving residence and has quite a history behind it. Known to local history buffs as La Casa del Chino Ygua*, it has been recognized as a historically significant structure by the National Historical Institute of the Philippines, as confirmed by the NHI marker installed there in April 7, 2000, the Centennial of the Battle of Cagayan, also known as Siete de Abril. According to local historian Antonio Julian Roa Montalvan II, the house was built by Sia Ygua, a resident of Amoy (present day Xiamen) a city in the province of Fukien (now Fujian). Ygua is recorded as the earliest Chinese to have settled in Cagayan. While Amoy was an exit port, most of the Chinese who migrated outside the region came from the Yueyang and Fujian but Ygua was really a native of Amoy. (Montalvan, 2004) In a manuscript transcribed from Sia family records by Johnson L. Sia, a 4th generation descendant
of Ygua, he writes how his great grandfather arrived in Cagayan de Misamis (as Cagayan de Oro was then known) in 1854 and opened his business in 1857. Named “Tong Joo” after his second son, it was a typical trading post that dealt in indigenous products like copra, tobacco, abaca and the like. The business prospered and soon expanded to the nearby towns. In time it became one of the largest business establishments in the area (Sia, 2004) According to a short account of the house written by the late Fr. Francisco Demetrio, S.J. in his publication Cagayan (1971), Ygua became friends with the Recollect priests of the nearby San Agustin church. Due to his industry, and the help given him by the fathers, he gradually amassed a fortune. Like most Chinese who settled in Cagayan, he took active part in civic and public life. He was known for his good heartedness. It is said that when he died, practically everyone in Cagayan wore black in mourning (Demetrio, 1971). Ygua built his residence in 1882 at a time when the running conflicts between Moros in Sulu and Cotabato and the Spanish regime in Mindanao and the Visayas was beginning to affect his business. To better secure himself and his trade, Ygua had his house built of sturdy brick and stone which were shipped from Amoy (along with the builders) by Chinese junks in two boatloads. The original house was
a two-storey structure constructed on an irregular shaped 2,000 square meter lot. It was located on the corner of what today is Archbishop Santiago Hayes (formerly Victoria) and Don Apolinar Velez (formerly Calle del Mar) streets, and extended all the way to Pabayo street. The house had a floor area of 600 square meters and was built of brick and stone. In addition, its posts, beams, floors, door, and window jambs were sourced from two large old Molave trees. Alternating planks of 1” x 8” Molave and Balayon wood were used for the floor, while the roof was also made of bricks and stone. (Sia, 2004). In his account Johnston L. Sia claims La Casa del China Ygua was the first brick house in town, but according to Fr. Demetrio, it was the second ‘balay nga bato’ (house of stone) in Cagayan, as houses made of brick and stone (which were status symbols then as they are now) were then known. “There were many houses of stone in old Cagayan, so we are not sure if the Sia house was the first. An old house in Burgos yielded 1800s adobe stones and bricks. In fact, nearby the Sia house, just across actually (the empty lot on the corner across it) used to be a big house of stone belonging to Consolacion Roa y Cases Abejuela,” Dr. Montalvan commented. “Barring any hard evidence, we should deviate from the qualifier See casa, page A11
Patag celebrates 54th Charter Day By MARK FRANCISCO
BA R A NG AY Pat ag i n Cagayan de Oro City led by its indefatigable chairwoman Mary Cor Calizo held their 54th Charter Day celebrations last January 29. The activity was opened with a Mass early in the morning at the barangay covered court spearheaded by the chaplain of the nearby 4th Infantry Division, Fr. Jerome Daluro. It was followed with a medical mission wherein more than 1,000 residents from the barangay graced and were attended to by the
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medical team. Two hundred of the beneficiaries were given reading eyeglasses courtesy of the JR Borja General Hospital. Hospital executive officer Dr. Ramon Nery graced the occasion and tagged along philanthropists George Goking and retired Maj. Gen. Romeo Calizo. A total of P50,000 worth of medicines were handed away courtesy of the barangay fund of Patag. Forty-seven donors likewise gave blood which were promptly collected by the Misamis Oriental chapter of the Philippine Red Cross. A total of P150,000 cash assistance courtesy of the
city government was likewise given away to indigent residents who graced the occasion. A team from Balay Mindanaw also arrived, bringing with them dozens of mosquito nets to be given to families with dengue patients. In the afternoon, there was a drum and bugle corps showcase featuring three schools – Camp Evangelista Elementary School, Camp Evangelista Evangelical School and Summer Hill School. It was then followed in the evening by a variety show featuring the 13 zones of the barangay.
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