Lutac's Barangay Museum

CEBU, Philippines - Naga City has positively responded to the directive from the Cebu Provincial Government for the putting up of a museum in the barangays. Barangay Lutac is one of two barangays in the city that now have their own museums.

According to Lutac Barangay Chairman Eleazar Tolentino Gesman, their Heritage Room (that's what they call their small museum) sprung from a realization that heritage is a communal treasure. "We have here a collection of artifacts and earthenware depicting the lives of our ancestors and the early community life of Lutac residents," he said.

On display at their barangay museum are donated items - from farm implements to cooking tools and utensils dating back in the early 1800s. The most interesting piece is a blue-and-white fish-and-lotus bowl, said to be from the 1600s, from the collection of one Rosita Tolentino Galeos.

"Crude farm implements and old stones used in grinding maize (corn) can be found in our collection. These items show that our barangay relied mainly on agricultural production during earlier times," Chairman Gesman added.

There's a "kimona de gaza" with intricate embroidery said to have been worn in the 18th century by the late Señora Honoraria Suarez Tolentino, the wife of the first appointed juez (judge) of the Municipal Trial Court in the then town of Naga.

A coin bank, a phonograph, a flat iron, and a brass kettle are among the old items that now lend interesting color to the cultural landscape of barangay Lutac.

The historic value of each piece, however, is up for authentication yet, Gesman emphasized. "We have not really tapped the services of an archaeologist or an expert in antique objects because we are out of budget for that. The items are also donated by kin of our elderly folks here, that's why we think these qualify [as] old and therefore precious."

Barangay Lutac is nine kilometers away from Naga City's poblacion (town or city proper). The area is accessible via the Uling-Toledo Road. It has nine sitios (smaller villages), two of which are Kaduldulan and Kadahuan, both situated upland and may soon be developed to attract hikers. 

With a measly P300,000 annual share from the Internal Revenue Allotment, Chairman Gesman said that they found it a very big challenge to put up their Heritage Room. They had other priorities to spend for, like livelihood programs and street lighting.

"[People have] to appreciate the value of heritage, the value of who we are as a people before a barangay can come up with one like this," he said.

"In the first phase of the [museum] project last year, we had to deal with where to source [the] funds to sustain this," he continued, citing that they relied mainly on donations. "I have a cousin who is so much into heritage and culture." Chairman Gesman shared the same passion and, so, the project came to be.

In 2011, Barangay Lutac won first place in the province-wide search for outstanding barangays that supported the E-Gwen program (Expanded Green and Wholesome Environment that Nurtures) of the provincial government. The said Capitol-endorsed program was geared at promoting sustainable development beginning in the grassroots level, in order to "achieve a vibrant, progressive and self-reliant community," with local heritage and culture as part of the focus areas of the program. (FREEMAN)