El Museo de Zamboanga - Part 4

This is the concluding article to the series on the Zamboanga Museum. This last part is on Zamboanga City after 1946 and Philippine independence.

Diorama showing the Zamboanga City Hall as it looked like right after the American Period. The building is preserved and still in great condition. Some buildings nearby that probably was from the same era have also managed to survive including one hosting a branch of BPI. The building is witness to much of Zamboanga's history including historical figures like the late Mayor Climaco.

Write-up on Zamboanga under the Philippine Republic. Similar to the other write-up in the previous articles in this series, there is a Chavacano version and an English version.

Maps showing the evolution of what was Zamboanga Province in 1946 (note the inclusion of Basilan) into the current Zamboanga Peninsula comprised of 3 provinces (Zamboanga Del Norte, Zamboanga Del Sur and Zamboanga Sibugay) and Zamboanga City.

Zamboanga's history is very interesting to me and continues to pique my curiosity. I have grown to like the city and its people. I have experienced their hospitality and witnessed how we can live in harmony given the supposed differences among people of different religions and cultures.

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El Museo de Zamboanga - Part 3

This third part on the Zamboanga Museum focuses on the feature on Zamboanga during the American Period.

Write-up on Zamboanga during the American Period

Photo of the American Provincial Governor with various leaders of the region (i.e., Datus).

Photo on the inauguration of the then Municipality of Zamboanga, which included Basilan

Evolution of Mindanao and Zamboanga under the Americans - note that the Zamboanga Peninsula was basically one province from 1921-1945. Zamboanga was part of what was termed as a Moro Province during the early years of this period. The province became a Department before eventually being reformed into several provinces.

The conclusion to this series in Part 4.

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El Museo de Zamboanga - Part 2

This is a continuation of the post on the Zamboanga Museum. I love history and this second part on the museum shows information on Zamboanga during the Spanish Period. There's a nice map at the last part of this article.

Write-up on Zamboanga during the Spanish Period.

A diorama showing Zamboanga City during the Spanish Period shows Fort Pilar on the right. The diorama reminded me of similar ones at the Ayala Museum in Makati City.

Cannonballs on display

A replica of a Spanish Era cannon. I think these were typically mounted on walls or galleons rather than used in the field.

Map of Mindanao circa 1860 showing the large districts - the Zamboanga Peninsula is District I, Northern Mindanao including the Misamis and Bukidnon Provinces are in District II, Surigao and Agusan are in District III, Davao and Sarangani are in District IV, and the Cotabato provinces are in District V.

More on Zamboanga and history in the next article!

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El Museo de Zamboanga - Part 1

Unlike previous visits to Zamboanga City, we had some free time and used it to go around and revisit some places we've been to but have not been able to really check out. One place at Pasonanca Park is the Zamboanga Museum or El Museo de Zamboanga.

At the museum lobby

Artifact at the museum

Write-up on the beliefs and practices of the Badjaos

There's a lot of information on the native peoples of Zamboanga like their art and architecture.

Belief and practices of the Subanen

Map of the homeland of the precolonial inhabitants of Zamboanga

Information on the Subanen

Zamboanga's historical timeline

Exit

Entrance

More on the museum and its features in the next posts!

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Return to the Angono Petroglyphs

Earlier this year, we went back to the Angono Petroglyphs. This time, our daughter is older and more knowledgeable. It was like a technical tour or field trip for her as she learned about the petroglyphs in her Araling Panlipunan class.

The National Museum is in-charge of the site, which is shared by the towns of Angono and Binangonan in the Province of Rizal.

There is a tunnel leading to the site. You leave your vehicle or alight from one at area near a shooting range. There is a security guard to watch over your vehicle.

It is dark and somewhat damp inside the tunnel. It was breezy that day we visited and so it was cool inside as we walked to the site.

The dirt road leading to the petroglyphs site

Waiting sheds at the site

We discovered that the museum already had upgraded the walkways and platforms used by visitors to view the petroglyphs.

A look back to where we entered the site

There are information about the petroglyphs including their discovery by a national artist, Carlos "Botong" Francisco, and the preservation work that was required.

Old photos showing the investigation of the site

History of the petroglyphs

Significance of the petroglyphs

It is now easier to walk around the site

Marker showing the cultural value of the petroglyphs

Path leads from and to the main building. Unfortunately, there are not much on display as artifacts are currently kept at the National Museum.

Platform for viewing the petroglyphs

They replaced the old wood flooring with what appears to be treated wood. We were informed that there are many termites in the area.

Examples of the petroglyphs

Images include those that appear to be people, turtles and birds

The petroglyphs are in relatively good condition.

What appears to be large turtles are a surprise to many even though Binangonan and Angono are along the Laguna de Bai.

Groups of what appear to be people may be families?

Some parts of the rock face are hidden and perhaps have similar petroglyphs or others waiting to be discovered.

Trees and bushes abound around the site

Another marker indicating the petroglyphs to be from ca. 3,000 BC.

 

After the visit, you can opt to eat in the area. There is the Thunderbird Resort and the East Ridge Golf Club. There is an excellent Japanese restaurant at the Golf Club. There are other restaurants and cafes in the area particularly at East Ridge Subdivision where there is a strip of restaurants and cafes overlooking Laguna de Bai.

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Mug shots: Singapore Art Museum

We lived in Singapore for almost 2 years. Among the places we liked to visit were the museums there. The National Museum of Singapore had a collection that included artwork from Southeast Asian countries and they had some nice paintings from the Philippines. Another museum we liked to visit was the Singapore Art Museum, where we got this nice souvenir mug. There's a unique feature to the mug that I show in the following photos.

Floral art work on the mug

The design of the handle caught our attention and was among the reasons for getting this souvenir.

The mug and its handle looks like a face with a long nose from this view.

The other side view showing the form of the mug

Not much info here like whether the mug is microwave-safe or where it was manufactured.

More souvenir mugs from other museums or institutions in future posts!

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