The Famous Carcar Rotunda

The Rotunda in Carcar reminds every Carcaranon of the old townsite. In a story handed down by word of mouth from their ancestors and repeated by old folks of Carcar today, this is where their forefathers had settled to avoid Moro assaults in Valladolid. This is where they found a place of safety,.. a place they called "Mowag".

"Mowag" was so named because it was on this spot that fellow travellers going home together from the feast of Sto. Nino in Cebu City would split apart. Those going home to Barili, Ronda or Dumanjug would separate from those going homeward to Sibonga, Argao or Dalaguete. Thus, "Mowag", which means, "branching out".

The Rotunda was built in the time of Mayor Mariano Mercado. Its concept was designed by Martino Abellana and was carried on by Manuel Abellana and Ramon

The Plaza Rotunda was built in the time of Mayor Mariano Mercado. Martino Abellana designed its concept. It was Ramon and Manuel Abellana, however, who sculpted the figures at the Rotunda.

According to Ramon Abellana, the figures on top of the kiosk signify America guiding the Philippines while the figures around it represent the 3 regions (Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.) 

The City of Carcar is 40.5 kilometers southeast of Cebu City. Its boundaries are the Municipality of San Francisco in the north, the Municipality of Sibonga in the south, the Bohol Strait in the east and the municipalities of Aloginsan and Barili in the west. Carcar City has a population of 100,632 people. The Heritage City of Cebu, Carcar is home to various Spanish to American period structures. Carcar is administratively subdivided into 15 barangays namely Bolinawan, Buenavista, Calidngan, Can-asujan, Guadalupe, Liburon, Napo, Ocana, Perrelos, Poblacion I, Poblacion II, Poblacion III, Tuyom, Valencia and Valladolid.

The oldest convent in Cebu

In November 26, 1874, a friar named Manuel Rubio Fernandez arrived in Carcar, Cebu. He was an Augustinian priest who came from Belonio, Asturias, Spain. He came to the Philippines in 1873 and was first assigned in the convent of Sto. Niño in Cebu City. Carcaranons remember Fr. Fernandez as the cura who was responsible for the completion of St. Catherine’s Church and at the same time, the construction of the convent.

The convent, which is more than a hundred years old, remains enormous, unravaged by the disasters that time could bring. It still stands beside St. Catherine’s Church in Carcar, the town that has given the Province of Cebu a generation of priests, bishops and even, an archbishop

Carcar is the home of Archbishop Teofilo Camomot, Mons. Manuel Yap who was the bishop of Bacolod City, and Mons. Sincero B. Lucero, Bishop of Borongon, Samar in the late 1970s. Mons. Manuel Yap was noted to have translated the Bible, both in the Old and the New Testament into the Cebuano language from St. Jerome’s (San Geronimo) Vulgata (Latin translation, Catholic Standard.) Mons. Yap was also part of the team composed of 10 people who translated the Sunday Misal into Cebuano in 1965. With him, were Fr. Cesar Alcoseba, Fr. Diosdado Camomot, and Fr. Sergio Alfafara who were also from Carcar. Fr. Cesar Alcoseba who became a Prelado Honorario in November 4, 1975 was the one who translated the Lectionary into the Cebuano language.

Carcar...the Ampao Capital of the World???

You will know you’re in Carcar when frenzied vendors, selling sweetened, crispy rice or otherwise known as ampao, loiter the Rotunda of Carcar. Ampao making in Carcar began sometime in the early 1900s. Ampao became very popular throughout the Province in the 1940s and until now, it still is.

Ampao are sugary treat made from rice crispies. The colorful cellophane plastic covers only add to the merriment.

Balay na Tisa or the House of Tiles

Carcar’s Heritage Houses

Houses built during the Spanish occupation lends old charm to Carcar, Cebu 

So named by a friar after his hometown in Spain, the town of Carcar, Cebu is located more than 40 kilometers south of Cebu City. The town’s affluence in the Spanish colonial era is still, to this day, evident in the sprawling town plaza, surviving large, antique manors, as well as old, charming, smaller houses decorated with intricate woodwork.

With some older than the 1876 Graeco-Tuscanian style St. Catherine of Alexandria church still standing to this day in the town plaza, about 46 heritage structures called Balay na Bato (Stone Houses) are scattered all around the town. One of these is the Don Sarmiento’s manor which is popularly known in Cebu as the Balay na Tisa (named after the material used for its construction, limestone blocks or tisa). Built in 1859, Balay na Tisa along Sta. Catalina Street is one of the best and painstakingly restored ancestral houses. Not only is the house well-preserved, but the original pieces of furniture used by four generations of the Sarmiento family are still intact and functional. Inside the house, one can find priceless antiques from silver and ceramic dinnerware to the wooden poster beds, cabinets, tables, and chairs.

Seventeen years younger than Balay na Tisa, another ancient house that is considered as one of the town’s treasures is the Sanchez’s house. Still another Carcar heritage abode built in the same year as Balay na Tisa is that of the Noel’s which came to be known in these parts as Dakung Balay (The Big House). 

The Monument of Leon Kilat (the white statue on the left )

Who could ever imagine that a simple boy, once an acolyte in church, would turn out to become a legendary hero. Who could have thought that an innocent lad who didn’t even finish elementary would rise up as a man of distinguished valor to fight for Filipino freedom.

Born in Bacong, Negros Oriental on the 27th of July 1873, "Leon Kilat," the nom de guerre (war alias name) of Pantaleon Villegas de Solde was the military leader in the onset of hostilities in April 1898.

In 1895, he left Bacong for the port town of Cebu and worked for MacLeod & Co. as an abaca press laborer. The story goes that Leon also worked as an erand boy for Botica Antigua, a German-owned pharmacy, a delivery man, at the same time, a baker for Pascuala Cala’s bakeshop and a jockey-horse trainer for Federico Laing.

Sometime in the middle of 1896, he joined a circus troupe, which was then on its way to Manila. While in Manila, Leon was brought into Emilio Aguinaldo’s revolutionary society, the Katipunan. In late 1897 or early 1898, he was sent to Cebu to help lead the rebel movement. It was here where Leon and his men planned a revolt against the Spaniards on the Easter Sunday of 1898. The Spaniards however, learned about the scheduled uprising. As Leon was informed about the Spanish discovery of the intended insurrection, he became determined to fight the Spaniards on that day of the discovery. Thus, he said: "In that case, we rise in arms today."

For that reason, on April 3, 1898, the afternoon of Palm Sunday, General Leon Kilat staged a bloody "hand-to-hand" combat right at the now Leon Kilat and Tres de Abril Streets in Cebu City. As the Spaniards obtained reinforcements, Leon Kilat and his men went to Carcar to seek help from the people. Leon Kilat tried to regroup his men to confront the progressing Spaniards. However, in the early hours of Good Friday, April 8, Leon Kilat was perfidiously murdered - allegedly upon orders of prominent mestizos of Carcar. The assassination of Leon Kilat was said to have happened, through the "intercession of Don Florencio Noel" in the Sato residence. On that day of Leon Kilat’s death, the Spaniards gained control of Carcar.

Leon Kilat was one of the greatest Filipino revolutionaries in the rebellion against Spain. He was reputed as a tagolilong (one who has an amulet to appear and disappear when one so desires). It was commonly believed that Leon Kilat could also swallow knives, bend bladed weapons and fly on a magic handkerchief.

Now, at the "patio" of St. Catherine’s Church, Leon Kilat’s monument stands elegantly as a symbol of Carcaranon gratitude. The monument shows the general with a sword in hand, riding his legendary horse "Puti." Constructed under the administration of former mayor Galileo "Liling" G. Varga, it was built to honor Leon Kilat who died in the town. It is a constant reminder to Carcaranons and Cebuanos of Leon Kilat’s remarkable heroism.

Cebu’s Shoe Capital

         This shoe is probably the biggest shoe in the world!                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           I have always liked Car Car, and my childhood memories always remind me of how peaceful and beautiful it is. There are a number of things that can be done upon reaching Car Car. Lately, a new small resort has been added to please tourist and locals alike. There are also shoe makers in Car Car that are very devoted in promoting Filipino products.

               There are many hidden treasures in the Philippines. One is the thriving shoe industry of Carcar which is about 1 hour's drive from Cebu. Last year, the shoemakers of Carcar made what is unofficially the world''s biggest leather shoe. According to rumors, it will not be listed in the Guinness Book foWorld Records yet, because it is only a half pair of shoe.  

 

 

 

 

                 St. Catherine of Alexandria Church in Carcar

The church of St. Catherine of Alexandria in Carcar, Cebu is already 124 years old and is among the great wonder and treasure of the town. It is not clear in the history records as to who built the church but it must be observed that the Augustinian friars were in charge of the parishes from San Nicolas up to Tañon and from then on.

Fr. Antonio Maglano became the parish priest of Carcar on October 16, 1858, he began the construction of the present day church a year later. The construction lasted for six years since it was left unfinished by the succeeding friars. At that time St. Catherine’s already had three naves. The style was patterned after the “mujedar” in Spain, comprising of two bells. With an onion-shaped tip. Nine years later, Fr. Manuel Rubio Fernandez from Asturias, Spain became the parish priest and continued the construction which was finished after two years.

St. Catherine’s Church holds unprecedented history.  Inspired by the Graeco-Roman style, with strong Muslim influence, the church is made of masonry with one main nave and two aisles. The nave measures 68 meters long, 22 meters wide, and 12 meters high. The main entrance has a double arch design inviting attention in the massive rectangular façade. The twin bell towers of solid geometric pylons, act as buttresses but are integrated as part of the façade. The twin bell towers end up at the third level in the minaret shape common to Muslim mosques.

The only embellishments that have been provided are the geometric flora on the spandrels, the blind rose window below the upper recessed arch and the carved Augustinian symbol above it. The simplicity of the design of the facade is countered by the complex pattern of the upper-story of the Muslim like bell tower and the Baroque pediment. It is noticeable that all the twelve apostles were carved in white except for Judas, which was done in black.

  

               My hometown:Perrelos,Carcar!!

Perrelos – , a place name interesting for the very uncertainty of the origin of the name itself. Even the inimitable Julian Daan, as Teban Escudero, forewarned a fellow character in his mega-hit radio series in the 1980s: It is very dangerous. It is very Perrelos, Carcar, Cebu.]

Although unverifiable as to when it started but a legend in Perrelos says the name is derived from the Spanish “los perros” (the dogs). The apocrypha relates of a Spanish priest who in his rush to administer the sacrament of Extreme Unction — now anointing of the sick (not just the extreme) –, rode over newly-planted rice (or corn), causing an uproar among the farmers that the Spaniard likened to mad dogs. Such must have been the high urgency with which priests of old held the battle for a dying man’s soul. Nowadays, many a priest would just say, “Kon dili awahi na, dili mangita ug pari” (If not too late, they don’t look for a priest). Pero, di ba mao man nay katuyoan sa pari? (But isn’t that what priests are for?) — to ride hell over high water to get to a man’s soul before the devil does? Very few laymen would do that for a man’s soul–because they have other more worldly concerns. Perhaps some priests today just have been distracted from the primordial battle by secular interests, too–say a basketball game on TV or whatever it is that makes a priest require the dying set a prior appointment.

But stretching los perros to account for Perrelos is just stretching it a bit much. For instance, how did the article in los perros metamorphose into what seems rather the accusative pronoun in perrelos?  For isn’t an accusative use of los likelier here, even if perre- may still refer to dogs?  Maybe it’s a Spanish curse the priest screamed at the frenzied mob:  Turn them to dogs! (Perrelos!)

That’s not the meaning of course and such a long-winded comic disputation of a well-meaning legend-making. Actually, Perrelos is a pueblo-parish with a quaint old church Santa Maria Perrelos under the ayuntamiento of Serreaus in the province of Orense in Galicia, Spain.  A historian Padre Juan Alvarez Sotelo was born in Perrelos.  There is also a street named Perrelos in the capital Orense. And then, Perrelos and Perelos are also Catalan/Galician surnames, with variant Perelló (Rafael Nadal’s girlfriend’s) and Perellós. A legend could thus be also woven about a priest who gave his surname Perrelos to the place.

Spanish references one can read do not use an acute diacritical mark on the word. That may just be an omission but if not, then it must be correctly read as per-RE-los. The PER-re-los accent could have been an American influence since they usually accent the first syllable in three-syllable words, many of these the foreign ones they meet.

Interestingly, none of the present places (now called sitios) of Perrelos appears in the 1850-51 parish books yet. There was, however, a place called Minag-a, quite populated then but now apparently non-existent or having another name, and this may have been a settlement by the Valladolid River (once called Minag-a River), and may have been the forerunner of Perrelos. As such Minag-a could very well be what is presently called sitio Bas, still in Perrelos, which sits on the mouth of the river.  An old watchtower in sitio Bas could be a clue in the search for its old name because there was no such place name Bas yet in 1850-51. On the other hand, Lumbia already appears by 1850 although we cannot be certain whether that was the part in present-day Perrelos or in Can-asojan (which name too had not appeared by 1850-51). And beats me what Lumbia means.* I here agree with the priestly admonition: if not too late we don’t ask what our places’ names mean!

It’s regrettable that history about the facts of Perrelos is quite inadequate especially since, like the other Spanish-named barangays Guadalupe and Valencia, I also never saw in the old church records any mention of a place called Perrelos (or Perelos) even well into the early American era. Meaning the place may have gotten the name not that long ago.  How can we lose information in such a short time?  If not for the fire that burned down records, Carcar would still have its archive of official acts, ordinances, resolutions or proclamations (the official naming of a place or barrio would be found there certainly) and there would not now have been these issues, and us chasing fable after fable — like mad dogs.