The Sugbu Chinese Heritage Museum

CEBU, Philippines - The Sugbu Chinese Heritage Museum Foundation Inc and the National Museum of the Philippines signed the SCHMFI-NM Memorandum of Agreement last Sept 23, 2013 at Cebu Country Club. The important MOA grants SCHMFI the authority to restore and convert the 99-year-old Gotiaoco Building into the Sugbu Chinese Herritage Museum.

Present in the MOA signing were the members of the SCHMFI Board, NM Director Jeremy Barnes, Assistant Director Ana Larador, Board Member Fr. Rene Javellana, SJ, NDRC President Felix Mariñas, Margot Osmeña, Mayor Mike Rama and Governor Hilario Davide III.

In 1914, Don Pedro Gotiaoco, who came to the island after the opening of its port to international trade in 1860 as a penniless immigrant from Kei-tang (part of present-day Fujian Province in China) built the neo-classical Gotiaoco Building. It is the first structure to have an elevator in Cebu, and has been declared by the Sangguniang Panglungsod as a local heritage site to be protected and remembered.

The Sugbu Chinese Heritage Museum is the leading institution in the appreciation, preservation, and promotion of Chinese-Cebuano heritage and culture. It values the Chinese legacy through research, curation, and exhibition; conserves artifacts, documents and other collections through new technologies and techniques; and enriches the community and the nation through educational programs.

The National Museum is envisioned as the premier institution and repository of the Chinese heritage, and as an exciting, informative and enjoyable place to visit - a place that inspires people to learn from Chinese traditions so as to help shape a better future. It is also dedicated to the mission of collecting, preserving, studying, interpreting and exhibiting the cultural and natural history specimens of the Philippines, from the historic times to the present, albeit the diversity of their cultural origins.

The SCHMFI-NM MOA signing is made possible with the invaluable help of the National Museum, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, the National Resources Development Corporation and the Cebu City Government. (FREEMAN)