By A. Paulita Roa
Past Speaks

(Last of 2 parts)

THE old town plaza of Cagayan de Misamis was a wide expanse of greenery that had rows of very old acacia trees. The pioneer Agustinian Recollect missionaries planted these trees and they did this in every place that they were assigned around the country. American travel writer, Ethel Colquhoun who visited Cagayan in 1901 admired the " double rows of picturesque gnarled trees that led to the church." But where are these acacia trees now?

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Some of the old trees survived the bombings but fell victims to urbanization. They were cut down when the city roads were widened and concretized. Acacia trees once lined both sides of the long Del Mar St. now Apolinar Velez St. Only one tree is left and it is near the Bank of Commerce building. However, we can still find old acacia trees in the City Tennis Courts near the Cagayan River. These are giants trees with massive branches covered with ferns and moss. They should be preserved at all costs by the City Government.

Back to the historical aspect of Gaston Park, there is a National Historical Institute marker that was placed there during the centennial anniversary of the Battle of Cagayan de Misamis. The plaza was one of the places where the bloodiest fights between the American soldiers and our local resistance fighters belonging to the Liber Troop occurred. Over a hundred dead bodies of our young heroes lay there and in nearby streets of Cagayan after the battle. The presence of an NHI marker indicate that the park is a recognized national heritage site.

Dr. Blas Ch. Velez wrote that during the early American occupation, the plaza was the scene of public executions of criminals most of whom were bandits who terrorized the countryside. They were hanged there by the hundreds. The top crowd drawer was the execution of Balodong, the most notorious and colorful outlaw of his time.

Just before World War I broke out in 1914, the American baseball game was introduced in the plaza. It became the town's most popular sport. The winning teams included Smith Bell, Constabulary, Misamis High School, Central School and the Government Employees. The first junk food known as the crackerjack similar to the popcorn was first sold in the plaza and was the favorite chicheria during the baseball games.

But all these changed when the First World War broke out. Kagay-anon volunteers were trained at the plaza by the National Guard prior to their assignment overseas. This was the second time that the plaza became a military training ground. The first one was during the formation of the Liber Troop in 1899 where the likes of Cruz Taal, Arcadia Valenzuela, Apolinar Velez, Nicolas Capistrano, Clementino Chaves, Zoilo Mercado and others took military instructions under Anselmo Abejuela, who was appointed by Pres. Emilio Aguinaldo to oversee the military operations for the Misamis Province.

In the late 1920s, Divisoria became the town's new commercial area. A kiosko was built there and was subsequently known as Plaza Divisoria. It became the center of the town's cultural and political events. The old plaza was then transformed into a park and had the town's only playground. The other half of the plaza was converted to tennis courts and was the venue for big balls and those popular comparzas that were held every New Year's Eve. After the war, the Provincial Government deeded the park to the Municipal Government of Cagayan.

It was City Mayor Justiniano R. Borja who made the major post war renovation of Gaston Park. From the original square shaped area, he had it transformed to a circular one. He then placed the park’s most enduring attraction, Mindanao's first jet fountains that were lighted at night. Palawan cherry trees were planted around the park and we used to see big bunches of these beautiful pink flowers that came out every month of March. This became a source of constant delight to hundreds of park goers especially on weekends. There are a few cherry trees left now and the saddest part is that we last saw their pink flowers years ago.

With Gaston Park undergoing renovation for the nth time this year, the Cagayan de Oro City Heritage Council plans to put a local historical marker in the area so that the people will know that this park that was once part of the 1622 settlement and was the original plaza. For 387 years, Gaston Park stands as a mute witness to Cagayan de Oro’s colorful history and is still counting!