Monday, April 21, 2008 Keeping the legacy By Arch’t. Karl A.E.F. Cabilao, UAP
HERITAGE is a vital foundation of a city’s identity.
For Mandaue City, a very important bequeathal from one of its most-admired public servants, Sotero Barte Cabahug, will witness a glorious renaissance. It will be simultaneous with the re-dedication of his monument into a more fitting place within the city core in time for his 117th birth anniversary tomorrow.
Sharing with us the exploits of one of the very few Filipinos who served the top echelons of all three branches of government (executive, legislative, and judiciary) is educator, environmentalist, and proud Mandauehanon, Guadalupe Cabahug-Latonio. She is the youngest of the former Cebu Provincial Governor’s nine children with his wife, the late Vicenta Barba-Labucay.
Latonio, who runs the Sotero B. Cabahug Forum for Literacy campuses in Mandaue and Consolacion with her family, is especially excited on the comeback of the Cabahug Medal award.
It was “forced into involuntary hibernation” for some time. It was a tradition some years ago to bestow the prestigious gold and hand-carved medal to Mandauehanons who have achieved highest academic scholarship.
Among the past medalists are former Mayor Conrado Seno, Atty. Amadeo Seno, Engr. Zoilo Cortes, Haydee Cortes-King, Sun.Star Cebu (SSC) Live executive editor Nelia Garcia-Neri, Elma Garcia-Muangkroot and Zenda Garcia-Lat. The roster is a proof of the Mandauehanons’ great musical inclination and intellectual prowess.
“Cabahug Medal Committee chairperson, Dr. Susana Cabahug, informed me that the awarding will be made on his birthday (tomorrow). April 22 is also International Earth Day. This makes it doubly significant for me. My father was the very first environmentalist I ever met,” shares the environmental advocate. She also heads the Citizens’ League for Ecological Awareness and Responsibility, a non-government organization.
SSC shares this interview with Latonio.
SSC: How would you describe your father?
Guadalupe Cabahug-Latonio (GCL): He stood by many values that have become rare today: humility, hard work, honesty, strong sense of justice, morality and integrity above all else.
He led by example. I think that for those whose lives he touched, this made a difference.
SSC: What was his impact as public servant on his community?
GCL: He was a true-blue Mandauehanon. Although government service brought him to different parts of the country, he chose to retire in Mandaue.
His unparalleled concern for the city was repaid when Mandauehanons, led by then Mayor Demetrio Cortes, built a monument in his honor.
As governor of Cebu, he led Cebuanos in raising funds for the Provincial Capitol’s construction through regular caroling activities and for donating of a warplane, known as the “Spirit of Cebu,” to the Philippine Government.
SSC: How do you feel about the rededication of the Cabahug monument this year?
GCL: I am happy and grateful. Not too long ago, I would meet people who would say that I should have taken steps to keep my father’s statue where it originally was (in a rotunda in front of the city hall) instead of having it relegated to some corner in the plaza.
That was the time when there was an upheaval in the Mandauehanon’s core values. And so, I consoled myself by saying “when there is a change in a community’s values and principles, there is a concomitant change in its statesmen and heroes.”
Yet, that was just tongue-in-cheek. I and other family members were hurt by the affront.
After all, his service and worthiness were supported by records and documents, and not just as a result of folklore or imagination.
SSC:Tell us more about the medal.
GCL: My father told us to “keep this legacy going for as long as we can financially afford to.” Indeed, it became the most coveted medal for many achievers in Mandaue.
The first Cabahug Medal was awarded in 1923 to the late Atty. Eriberto Seno Sr. It was awarded yearly thereafter, except during the war years, and the time when the City Council chose not to make the selection and declaration as required by the ordinance. The Cabahug Medal is actually formerly known as the Mandaue City Council Medal because a City Council ordinance established a system whereby the selection of the Cabahug medalist is made by the council or any of its officially tasked committee.
My father was just the donor. I hope that the award will be sustained and eventually regain its legacy stature in the near future.
