Category Archives: Misamis Oriental

St. Augustine Metropolitan Cathedral (Cagayan de Oro City, Misamis Oriental)

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St. Augustine Metropolitan Cathedral

Just walking distance from the City Museum of Cagayan de Oro and Heritage Studies Center is the Neo-Gothic-style St. Augustine Metropolitan Cathedral, the ecclesiastical seat of the Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro (canonically erected on January 23, 1933).

Check out “City Museum of Cagayan de Oro and Heritage Studies Center“

The Neo-Gothic-style facade

This church was first built in 1624 by Father Agustin San Pedro but both church and convent burned down in 1778.  Rebuilt in 1780 by Father Pedro de Santa Barbara, it again burned down in 1831.

The cathedral interior

In 1845, it was rebuilt with coral stones imported from China by Augustinian Recollect Father Simon Loscos de Sta. Catalina but it was destroyed during the World War II bombardment in 1945.  Only the facade and the wooden cross in front survived.

A 1925 photo of the church’s original Baroque-style facade

The present Neo-Gothic-style cathedral was built from 1946 to 1951 by Archbishop James T.G. Hayes, S.J.D.D., the first bishop of Cagayan de Oro.

AUTHOR’S NOTES:

Comparing an old 1925 and present photo of the church, the Baroque-style facade of the church seemed to have survived the 1945 bombing but it was greatly altered during the rebuilding.  The semicircular arched windows were replaced by Gothic-style lancet windows, a portico was added and the finials at the ends of the triangular pediment (its raking cornice now adorned with drip molding) were not restored.

Only the base (now square), of the formerly octagonal bell tower (beneath which is the grave of Father Ramon Zueco de San Joaquin who died in 1889 in Cagayan de Oro), on church’s left, remains. A new bell tower, on the church’s right was, instead, built.

Stained glass window

Its nine century-old stained glass windows, the work of well-known masters, depict the life of Christ and came from the Chapel of the Sisters of the Sacred Heart (now the Church of the Sacred Hearts of Mary and Jesus), an old  Gothic-style chapel built in 1882 in New York.

Stained glass window

The bells, hung in the new bell tower in 1950, were fashioned from the church’s old bells shattered during World War II – San Agustin (1807), Santa Ana (1813) and El Salvador (1857).

The Relic Chapel

Just outside the porte-cochere is a wooden Sta. Cruz built by Augustinian Recollect friars in 1888, the only relic that remains of the church’s Hispanic past.

The Spanish-era wooden cross

St. Augustine Metropolitan Cathedral: Barangay I, Cagayan de Oro City, Misamis Oriental.  Tel: (088) 857-2139.  Feast of St. Augustine, Bishop of Hippo: August 28.

How to Get There: Cagayan de Oro City is located 94.4 kilometers (a 2-hour drive) from Malaybalay City (Bukidnon) and 88.7 kilometers (a 1.75-hour drive) from Iligan City (Lanao del Norte).

City Museum of Cagayan de Oro and Heritage Studies Center (Misamis Oriental)

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City Museum of Cagayan de Oro and Heritage Studies Center

We still had time to kill as we made our way to Laguindingan Airport for our return flight to Manila, so Wyller Manus, our Bukidnon tour guide, suggested we make a stopover at Cagayan de Oro City to visit the 3-storey City Museum of Cagayan de Oro and Heritage Studies Center.

Museum facade

Here, we were welcomed and toured around the museum by Mr. Jesus Christopher “JC” F. Salon, acting curator of the museum.

Mr. Christopher F. Salon (third from left) discussing the Higaunon Bancaso (ritual table)

Located across the street from Gaston Park, this museum, a fine example of adaptive reuse, is housed in an old cylindrical water tower that sourced water, for 3,000 people, from Mahuganao Spring, Brgy. Cugman in Malasag Hills.

Exhibit on the indigenous people of Cagayan de Oro

Built from 1919 to 1922, it survived the September 1944 American bombing during World War II and is considered as the city’s oldest known surviving public structure.

Exhibit on Cagayan de Oro’s early history

In the late 1970s, the National Waterworks and Sewerage Authority (NAWASA) took over the water system and stopped using the tower and it was abandoned.

Exhibit on Spanish Period

Between 1994 to 2000, it was used as a temporary office of Barangay 1 and, in 2001, it was used as a makeshift darkroom by photographers from the Golden Friendship Photographers Association, Inc. (GoFPAI).

Spiral stairs leading to second floor

On December 1, 2008, then City Mayor Constantino Jarula had the tank renovated and turned into a city museum.

Exhibit on Cagayan de Oro during the American Period

The museum houses old photographs of the city’s significant events and personalities; fascinating exhibits that trace the city’s evolution, from its early indigenous roots to its contemporary developments; as well as a diverse collection of some archaeological finds.

Bamboo spikes used by guerillas to trap and maim enemy targets

Its well-curated displays provide insights into the indigenous cultures, colonial influences, and the vibrant community life that defines Cagayan de Oro. The floors are accessed via spiral staircases.

Rayadillo uniform and sword

A Philippine bolo and a Japanese sword

At the Ramon and Rosario Chavez Gallery, at the first floor, JC first showed us the Higaunon Bancas0 (ritual table), a very important cultural artifact of the indigenous Higaunon community.

Third floor gallery

The Filomeno M. Bautista Gallery, at the second floor, showcases the history of the city during the Philippine-American War (notably the battle around 1900) and World War II.

Third floor gallery

The third floor houses the museum’s newest exhibit (opened last November 21) which showcases the history and modernization of the city after World War II.

The motorela

A notable artifact here is the Parker 51 fountain pen used to sign Republic Act No. 521, the law that created the city.

An antique radio

City Museum of Cagayan de Oro and Heritage Studies Center: Gaston Park, Fernandez St., Brgy.1, 9000 Cagayan de Oro City, Misamis Oriental.  Mobile number: (0915) 881-0719.  E-mail: hccc.cdo@gmail.com. Open Tuesdays to Sundays, 8 AM to 5 PM.

Laguindingan Airport (Misamis Oriental)

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Laguindingan Airport

The PhP7.85 billion Laguindingan Airport is the first airport in Northern Mindanao that serves the cities of Cagayan de Oro, Iligan, and Marawi, as well as the provinces of Misamis Oriental, Lanao del Norte and Bukidnon. Mindanao’s second-busiest airport (after Francisco Bangoy International Airport in Davao City), it is classified as a Principal Domestic Airport Class 1 by the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP).

This airport, sitting on a 4.17 sq. km. (1.61 sq. mi.) site, is 46 kms. (29 mi.) from Cagayan de Oro and 57 kms. (35 mi.) from Iligan City. it replaced both the old, worn-out Lumbia Airport (now Lumbia Airfield, a military air base for the Philippine Air Force) in Brgy. Lumbia, Cagayan de Oro and Maria Cristina Airport in Brgy. Maria Cristina, Iligan City.

Here is the historical timeline of the airport’s construction:

  • On January 10, 2006, the Laguindingan Airport Development Project was inaugurated, with groundbreaking ceremonies presided by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
  • By July 2007, the construction of the 4.4-km., 4-lane access road had started to connect the new airport to the national road.
  • On August 30, 2007, the cost of the airport project (US$09 million or ₱7.853 billion) was duly approved by the National Economic and Development Authority Board.
  • In early 2008, grading of the airport site area, headed by the Department of Transportation and Communications and its foreign and local consultants, South Korea-based Yooshin Engineering Corporation and Ortigas Center, Pasig-based SCHEMA Konsult, Inc. respectively, and Hanjin Heavy Industries and Construction Company(as the general contractor for the project), was
  • On June 13, 2013, the airport was inaugurated by President Benigno Aquino III
  • On June 15, two days after its inauguration, the airport was opened.
  • In August 2013, the Project Development and Monitoring Facility Board approved the revision of the operations and maintenance of the airport.
  • By December 2014, the installment of the Instrument Landing System and other equipment was completed.
  • On March 12, 2015, the airport began to accommodate night flights and operating hours were increased, from the previous 6 AM –6 PM daily schedule, to 5 AM–9 PM.
  • In September 2017, Ayala Land (which owns 183 of the 417 hectares of land acquired by the government to develop the airport complex), is set to build its first industrial estate outside Luzon within the planned aerotropolis around the airport.
  • On October 20, 2017, Cebu Pacific made Laguindingan Airport its seventh hub, with its wholly owned subsidiary Cebgo adding flights to Caticlan and Dumaguete at the same time.
  • On February 26, 2019, Aboitiz Infra Capital Inc. was granted by CAAP an Original Proponent Status (OPS) for its unsolicited proposal for the airport’s upgrade, expansion, operations, and maintenance.

One of two conveyor belts for baggage claim

The airport has a single 2,100 m. x 45 m. runway which can accommodate four takeoffs and landings an hour and features a cargo terminal that has a built up area of 350 sq. m.; a 46,150 sq. m. apron area for Code C/E aircraft (10,000 sq. m. for ATRs); 23 m. wide taxiway and facilities for general aviation and ground support facilities.

The 7,184 sq. m., 1.5-level very clean and modern passenger terminal building, overlooking the sea, can accommodate 2,000 passengers a day and 1.6 million passengers a year. It has 2 conveyor belts for baggage claim and two passenger boarding bridges.

Branches of Seattle’s Best Coffee and Kenny Rogers at the Pre-Departure Area

Its Pre-Departure Area, at the second floor, has branches of Kenny Rogers and Seattles Best Coffee.  As of 2019, Laguindingan Airport was the 6th busiest airport in the country, with an estimate of 2,000,000 passengers passing through it.

Pre-Departure Area

It serves flights from Manila, Davao City, Cebu City, Iloilo City, Bacolod City and Zamboanga City through Cebu Pacific Air, Philippine Airlines or PAL Express and Air Asia.

One of two jet bridges service a PAL Express jet

Laguindingan Airport (IATA: CGY, ICAO: RPMY): Brgy. Moog, Laguindingan, Misamis Oriental. Open daily, 4 AM- 11 PM.

Solitude at Kibila Beach (Guinsiliban, Camiguin)

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Kibila Beach

On April 12, Holy Thursday, we checked out of Dayon sa Cabuaan Beach Resort and proceeded to Kibila Beach, in Sitio Kibila, Brgy. Cantaan, Guinsiliban where we were to stay two nights. This 750-m. long, coarse white sand beach, the only one in the mainland, has a well by the beach and a seabed that slopes gradually.

We all stayed at the DENR Training Center and Dive Camp, managed by the Cantaan Fishermen’s Assn., CBFM Scholarship Foundation, Inc. and the DENR.  It has a canteen, dining hall, cottage with bath and a seminar hall.  Our stay was spent sunbathing, snorkeling, dining al fresco, chatting (and playing Taboo) by a bonfire at night and sleeping in folding beds by the seashore.  We also visited a nearby Clam Culture Farm funded by a PhP120,000 grant from the Foundation for the Philippine Environment.  One of our evenings was capped by a marriage proposal (with the accompanying engagement ring hidden in a crab shell) coming from Jake to his girlfriend Tey.  How romantic!

We departed Camiguin on an early Black Saturday morning , April 14,  on board a very delayed and hopelessly overcrowded ferry back to Cagayan de Oro City for an overnight stay.  After last minute shopping for pasalubong at Cagayan de Oro’s Cogon Market (mostly Indonesian batik products) Jandy, Vi and I left the city for Manila on April 15, Easter Sunday, on the 11:35 AM Cebu Pacific flight, arriving at Manila by 1 PM.  The others followed suit on the 3:30 PM PAL flight (They almost missed it).

Camiguin or Bust

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The island province of Camiguin

I was still deciding on where to go with my son Jandy this Holy Week when my 2 companions from a previous climb up Mt. Makulot – Ms. Lourdes “Lulu” Siguenza, a Warner Bros. advertising executive, and free-lance artist Ms. Rosevie Sevilla – invited me to join them, with some other companions, on a week-long trip to the Northern Mindanao island province of Camiguin, an invitation I simply can’t refuse.  This would be my second trip to Mindanao, the first being in Zamboanga City way back in 1976.  I promptly secured plane tickets for me and Jandy.  

On board the ferry MV Royal Princess

We left Manila on April 8, Palm Sunday, on the 5:15 AM Cebu Pacific flight.  Joining us was Mr. Henry Chua, a Pizza Hut advertising executive and Lulu’s boyfriend.  Upon arrival at Cagayan de Oro City’s Lumbia Airport (Misamis Oriental), we waited an hour for our 8 other companions arriving on the incoming Philippine Airlines (PAL) flight.  On that flight were advertising executives Mr. Carl Allen and Begonia “Goni” Gonzalez of McCann Ericksson, Mr. Jake San Diego of Ace Saatchi, Ms. Tey Abonador of Harrison Communications, Ms. Rose Pantoja and Mr. Nubbin Beldia of Aviacom, Ms. Karen Rosel of Publicis-AMA and Mr. Randy Ypon, a balikbayan from Canada.  Carl and Randy brought along their own diving equipment minus the oxygen tanks which they intend to rent on the island.

Shuttling by jeepney

From the airport, we were picked up by a hired (for PhP2,000) Nissan Urvan to take our party on a 83-km. (1-hr.) trip to the Misamis Oriental ferry port town of Balingoan, the gateway to Camiguin.  Upon arrival, we all boarded the 11 AM ferry MV Royal Princess. Fare was PhP20 per pax  for the 45-min. crossing to Brgy. Benoni in Mahinog.   The boat was filled to the brim with passengers out on holiday, many crowding on the unshaded deck.  The trip was smooth all the way until we reached sight of Benoni. Or so we thought …. We heard a loud crash and were tossed about as the ship hit the pier head-on just when we were docking.  As if it were not enough, the crash was followed by a scraping sound as the ship sideswiped the dock ala Titanic.  What an exciting way to start a vacation!