Joaquim Magalhães de Castro
A few years ago, a Filipino researcher visiting Portugal said that the inhabitants of Cebu associate all foreigners with the Portuguese, “even if they are Austrians.” I did not stay long enough in that city to corroborate or disprove this statement, but the truth is that the first of the Cebuanos to whom I presented my Portuguese credentials – in the place where I took for “breakfast” an omelet with a mug of hot chocolate on the second day of my stay – thought Portugal was part of Spain and, oddly enough, had no idea who Cristiano Ronaldo was, although he knew Messi and “that player who bites his opponents.”
Anyway, let’s continue with our story …
The Magellan expedition of that remote year 1521 would find a Hindu rajanate in Cebu led by a certain Humabon and stocked with perfumes and household items from Japan and pieces of ivory, leather, precious stones and sugar from India and Burma; and these products arrived in such quantity that the entire port region (Parian district, in present-day Cebu) would be designated as “sibuor sibo,” literally, “the place of commerce,” from where the word “Cebu” would appear. The streets of that area are teeming today with people, dogs and children and on the parallel roads (where I wander in the hope of surprising me with some historical landmark) are full of jeepneys and several dumb wagons, curious reminiscences of the old “tartanilla,” the sege introduced by the Spaniards here and which in other parts of the Philippines is called “calesa.” Its use was reserved for wealthy families and high officials of the State, since only these could afford the costs of such a refined means of transport. The arrival of motor vehicles would lead to a drastic decrease in their number and the “tartanillas” may disappear completely in the near future…
Signs and inscriptions on top of the buildings evoke the height of the island’s commercial activity and the absence (so it seems) of a local musical expression of its own with wide dissemination is something that surprises. It is a constant festival, morning till night, of Anglo-Saxon music (recent and oldest hits) with the unconditional adherence of the locals who are always willing to hum the aired radio tunes. But, what about the traditional local music? Where is it?
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