Update on the Cuartel de Santo Domingo controversy (minutes of meeting)

CUARTEL DE SANTO DOMINGO
Minutes of the Meeting
19 March 2021

Opening:
The meeting on the updates regarding the ongoing restoration of the Cuartel de Santo Domingo was called to order a few minutes past 11 AM on 19 March 2021 at the Philippine National Police – Special Action Force (PNP-SAF) Training Branch by Brig. Gen. Bernabé Balba.

Present:
Gemalin Batino-Díaz – Executive Director, Kilusan Cuartel De Santo Domingo (KCdSD)- representing Arch. Mario Zavalla
PLTCOL Ronielon M Castañeda –SAF Commandant (representing Brig. Gen. Balba – SAFPNP Head )
Engr. Ferdinand Hernández – Santa Rosa City Engineering Office
Arch. Edgardo Mar Castro – Consultant, Santa Rosa City
Engr. Peter Paul Ambas – Santa Rosa City Engineering Office
Engr. Philip Reginald Lai – Santa Rosa City Engineering Office
Engr. Shefrine A. Sy – Santa Rosa City Engineering Office
Ronald Posadas – Consultant (botanist), Santa Rosa City
Pepe Alas – heritage advocate, historian
PCPT (Atty) Benito Alba Jr. –SAF legal officer

Agenda: To resolve the controversy regarding the petition to lift the cease and desist order (CDO) issued by the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) to the Santa Rosa City Engineer’s Office (and their contractor, Robig Builders and Development Corporation) regarding the latter’s unwarranted restoration/preservation activities on the Cuartel de Santo Domingo, a recently declared Important Cultural Property of the Philippines.

1. PLTCOL Castañeda allowed those present in the meeting to introduce themselves one by one.
2. Delegates from the city engineering office presented a PowerPoint presentation on Robig Builders and Development Corporation’s activities on the Cuartel de Santo Domingo.
3. Before the city engineering office was able to begin their PowerPoint presentation, Ms. Díaz emphasized the important but pro bono role that the KCdSD played which made the Cuartel Important Cultural Property.
4. After the PowerPoint presentation, Ms. Díaz again reiterated why the KCdSD was not consulted about the restoration/preservation project despite the years that the group have sacrificed for the Cuartel de Santo Domingo.
5. Engr. Hernández apologized to Ms. Díaz for not consulting the KCdSD with their plans for the Cuartel de Santo Domingo.
6. Alas interpellated the city engineers and their consultants if they have asked permission from governing agencies (NHCP, National Museum of the Philippines, and the National Commission for Culture and the Arts) that they would do conservation and preservation activities on the Cuartel de Santo Domingo. After being given the runaround, it was found out that the city government did not inform the said governing agencies after all.
7. Díaz lectured the engineers and their consultants the importance of the Cuartel de Santo Domingo, that it should not be tinkered with arbitrarily even if sanctioned by the Mayor’s Office. She also reiterated the years of thankless sacrifice that she and the KCdSD have made throughout the years just so that the Cuartel de Santo Domingo would garner national attention.
8. Alas also asked who among the city engineers communicated with Councilor Ina Cartagena who, two days prior (on March 17, during the 11th regular session of the city council), announced to her colleagues that the Engineering Office requested their chamber’s help to have a resolution drafted in order to repeal the CDO issued by the NHCP. The city engineers present denied having talked to Cartagena.
9. Díaz asked Atty. Alba if it was possible for the Santa Rosa City Council to repeal the CDO issued by the NHCP through a resolution, but the latter begged off from further questioning, stating the matter was already sub judice.
10. Díaz made sure to the engineering office and their consultants that the NHCP will not lift the CDO, regardless of an issuance of a city resolution that will attempt to repeal it; no local ordinance can veto the said CDO unless motion is filed to a proper court .
11. It was agreed on both sides that the city engineer’s office will have to provide the KCdSD a transparent development plan. KCSD will submit the said development plans and it is the call of NHCP to lift that CDO.

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Cuartel de Santo Domingo: heritage crisis in Santa Rosa, La Laguna

The Cuartel de Santo Domingo is a 19th-century barracks located within the headquarters of the Special Action Force (SAF) of the Philippine National Police in Santa Rosa City, La Laguna. It was built in the 1870s as an outpost for the guardia civil. In 2019, the barracks was declared as an Important Cultural Property by the National Museum of the Philippines. The cuartel’s declaration, therefore, should have been a cause for celebration for the local government of Santa Rosa. As it turns out, they have little to no regard for it at all.

_{Cuartel de Santo Domingo (image: Nolisoli).}

The treachery

On March 1st, the members of Kilusan Cuartel De Santo Domingo (KCdSD) an NGO created to protect the said ruins, were shocked to discover several scaffoldings and drainage pipes being installed there without their knowledge. To make matters worse, a swimming/training pool for the SAF cadets was being built within the cuartel’s 15-meter buffer zone! As a result, the dug up soil were all piled up within the said area.

Surprisingly, it turns out that the culprit was the city mayor herself, Ms. Arlene Arcillas, who, through the office of City Engineer Albertini Solatan, permitted Robig Builders and Development Corporation (owned by a certain Robert Ignacio) to “preserve and restore” the cuartel. This construction company was given a budget of nearly ₱14 million for the project.

_{This document came from this guy.}

Nothing wrong with it, you might say, because the said project went through the usual legal process. Except for one huge crack in the proceedings: the Mayor’s failure to coordinate with the National Museum, the National Commission for Culture and the Arts, the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP), and the KCdSD.

Curiously, Mayor Arcillas is good friends with Ms. Gemalin Batino, the Executive Director of the KCdSD. But why didn’t the Mayor notify her first hand about the said project? Delicadeza should have also entered the picture here especially since the said NGO has been taking care of the ruins for more or less two decades already. And just a few days before the March 1st incident, Mayor Arcillas was even dining with the members of the KCdSD. She didn’t tell them anything at all about her contract with Robig Builders.

Culpability, not capability

Another big question is the capability of Robig Builders. Do they have experience in handling a 19th-century heritage site? In JOBLUM’s website, the company is described as such:

Construction is one of our core businesses in as much as develop properties. Our projects such as but not limited to residential, condominium, hotel, and Renovation works. We also conduct different government projects like Water systems, Irrigation and Housing.

By not mentioning anything at all about heritage preservation and conservation, Robig Builders has effectively admitted to their non-experience regarding the matter. And judging from the photos and videos that were shown to me by Ms. Batino herself, they really don’t (I posted them on my Facebook wall last March 4 and 5; they’re in public setting for everyone to see). During the March 1st ocular inspection, the KCdSD, together with Congressman Dan Fernández, saw several alarming irregularities in the activities. There was even a part of the cuartel’s tower which has already toppled down!

To the best of my knowledge, there are only two groups in our country that can best handle heritage sites: New San José Builders, Inc. and the Escuela Taller de Filipinas. But Mayor Arcillas opted for Robig Builders, a construction company that has been her “partner” since her days in congress (this, according to my mole).

Councilor’s coarseness

After posting those photos and videos on social media, I wrote another Facebook post encouraging the members of the KdSD to publicly decry the treachery of their Mayor, to join their leader (Ms. Batino) in the protestation. Eventually, my rants reached Santa Rosa City Hall. The matter was immediately tackled during a regular session of the city council last March 10 and was presided over by Vice Mayor Arnel Gómez. The Vice Mayor also gave a brief history lecture to reiterate the importance of the cuartel not only to Santa Rosa but to the whole country as well. During the point of order, all councilors present gave their respective personal comments and opinions, interjected with some questions. However, there was only one councilor who disappointingly was unmindful of the cuartel’s well-being: Councilor Antonio Tuzon Jr. (he goes by the Facebook name Kon. Jun Marquez Tuzon). He went against the wave by politicizing the issue, alluding to my Facebook post by saying that I only did what I did because “election is near”. You can watch Jun Tuzon’s disparaging and useless comment at the 42:01 mark in this video.

I certainly did not politicize the issue. First of all, I am not even from Santa Rosa. Secondly, I will not profit from the cuartel’s preservation (the KCdSD has no money for that, and even if they do, they will not do that). Whether the local government of Santa Rosa destroys the cuartel or not, I won’t get anything out of it.

Later on, I realized why Mr. Tuzon mentioned the elections: he and Mayor Arcillas are from the same political party: the PDP-Laban. Since Mr. Tuzon realized that my posts are harmful to Mayor Arcillas’ reputation, it was his “duty” to defend her. I get that; such are the workings of a classic trapo.

The video below is in response to Councilor Tuzon’s uncalled for attitude during the session.

Cease and desist order

Thankfully, Mr. René Escalante, Chairman of the NHCP, has already issued a cease and desist order. But the fight is not over yet. If Mayor Arlene Arcillas can easily deceive her friends at the KCdSD, what more her constituents? I am doing this not to popularize myself but to raise more awareness (as you will notice, I don’t do live public Facebook videos of myself on my wall; this is the first time that I did such a thing). Take note that the CdSD should already be automatically protected by government authorities (including Mayor Arcillas herself) on account of its being an Important Cultural Property. But now that this cultural classification has been blatantly disrespected and abused by the local government unit that is supposed to uphold it, just imagine what kind of future our country’s built heritage has.

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Santa Rosa Heritage, a magazine for ages

Last January 29, my wife and I had the privilege to witness the launching of Santa Rosa Heritage (Magazine of Old Santa Rosa) at Seda Nuvali. A publication of Architect Mario Zavalla, himself a cultural icon of La Laguna’s heritage city, the magazine features various articles about Santa Rosa’s rich history. I am in fact one of the magazine’s contributors, thanks to my good friend (and Architect Zavalla’s life partner) Gemalin Batino, the Executive Director of the Kilusan Cuartel de Santo Domingo (KCdSD) which is tasked in taking care of the group’s namesake Spanish-era bastioned fort.

My wife’s copy autographed by heritage advocate Gemalin Batino whose writings dominate most of the magazine’s contents.

The austere event was graced by the presence of Congressman Danilo Fernández, former Mayor José Catindig Jr., and members of the KCdSD (Atty. Jun Ragaza subbed for Mayor Arlene Arcillas who was then under the weather). Batangas-based historian Derrick Manas gave a brief lecture about the historical ties that bind the Tagálog provinces of La Laguna and Batangas while motivational speaker and author, Architect Tzarina Saldaña, gave an inspiring talk about the importance of heritage.

With former Mayor Joey Catindíg Jr., one of the founding members of the KCdSD.

My wife with Ms. Nonia Tiongco, former Executive Director of the KCdSD and current director of the Santa Rosa Studies Center.

With 1st District Representative Danilo Fernández.

With the star of the night, Ms. Gemalin Batino. She is also one of last year’s Most Influential Filipina Women in the World (Behind the Scenes Leaders awardee), conferred by the Filipina Women’s Network.

With Mario Zavalla, the architect behind The Ritz Towers, SM City Santa Rosa, and the left wing of Malacañang Palace just to name a few.

The maiden issue of the 56-page glossy magazine highlights Santa Rosa’s heritage landmarks such as the Bantayan or the 19th-century welcome arch, the Casa Tribunal (which is now the city’s museum), and the Cuartel de Santo Domingo which was publicly declared last year as an Important Cultural Property of the National Museum of the Philippines. The magazine’s pages are dominated by Gemalin’s writings, most interesting of which is her argument that Santa Rosa’s purported original name is not what it really is. Throughout many decades, locals have been made to believe that Santa Rosa’s original name was Barrio Bucol when it was still part of Biñán. Gemalin counters this in the magazine:

Contrary to what we all know, it is not Bucol, but Bucal. During that time, the name of a town was generally derived from its geographical location: a bed of springs. Bo. Bucal was composed of five places named Ytaás, Ybabâ, Aplaya, Tagapo, and Balibagó. Ytaás and Ybabâ (Ylaya and Ylawod) are the terminologies used to depict direction of the flow of water as in "upstream-downstream riverine polarity".

We can also see with our own naked eyes that Tagapo, Aplaya, Ybabâ, and Ytaás are almost within the sea level of the shorelines of Aplaya and not "naka Bukol" (lumped in English) as what locals claimed to be the origin of the name Bucol. No scientific explanation can prove that Bucol is upland hilly.

Gemalin even went so far as to visit the Archivo General de Indias in Sevilla, Spain just to prove her point. From there she was able to secure copies of rare documents and maps pertaining to old Santa Rosa as evidence to prove her hypothesis (I told her that very few Filipino historians had the privilege of exploring its nine kilometers of shelving).

The magazine also features many other articles about Santa Rosa City’s heritage, history, and its people. My three-page contribution is about the general history of the people of the province. Gemalin also included my translations of old Spanish documents pertaining to both Santa Rosa and its mother town, Biñán. Architect Zavalla and Gemalin plan to release two issues of the magazine yearly. This modest project is a great leap forward to further emphasize and disseminate the importance of not only the city’s history and heritage but of the province’s overall cultural upliftment.

My article “Los Lagunenses: Peopling a Paradise” is three pages long, from page 30 to 32.

My transcription and translation of old Spanish documents on pages 12 and 13.

Copies of Santa Rosa Heritage are available at the KCdSD office (old Santa Rosa High School, on top of Maybank) located at Feliciano Gómez Street corner José Rizal Boulevard in Población, Santa Rosa City, La Laguna, to the right of the old town plaza. Proceeds of the magazine will fund future projects of the KCdSD. Please contact Ms. Gemalin Batino for more details. Follow me on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Hoy en la Historia de Filipinas: la llegada de Camilo de Polavieja como nuevo gobernador general

HOY EN LA HISTORIA DE FILIPINAS: 13 de diciembre de 1896 — Camilo de Polavieja llegó a Manila como nuevo gobernador general de Filipinas y sucesor de Ramón Blanco. Era el gobernador general cuando José Rizal fue ejecutado.

Camilo García de Polavieja y del Castillo-Negrete (1838–1914), marqués de Polavieja (imagen: EcuRed).

Polavieja vino con el General José de Lachambre y con tropas adicionales así como suministros militares. Lachambre, el subcomandante de las fuerzas españolas, salió al campo inmediatamente contra los rebeldes filipinos en Cavite (liderados por el General Emilio Aguinaldo quien un año después se convirtió en presidente de la primera República de Filipinas); hizo el Cuartel de Santo Domingo en Santa Rosa, La Laguna como su cuartel general.

El tumultuoso término de Polavieja fue breve — renunció debido a dolencias físicas y rogó a la Monarquía Española que nombrara un sucesor. Se embarcó para España el 15 de abril de 1897. Lachambre asumió temporalmente el cargo de gobernador durante una semana (15 a 23 de abril) mientras esperaba la llegada de Primo de Rivera, el sucesor de Blanco. Fue la segunda vez que Rivera se convirtió en gobernador general de Filipinas.

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2019 Seal of Good Local Governance (Region IV-A)

Congratulations are in the offing to the winners of this year’s 2019 Seal of Good Local Governance (SGLG) for CALABARZON (Region IV-A). It is an award given annually by the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) to outstanding local government units (LGU).

But what exactly is the SGLG all about? The DILG Region IV-A’s official Facebook account has a succinct explanation:

The SGLG is a progressive assessment system that gives LGUs distinction for their remarkable performance across various governance areas such as Financial Administration, Disaster Preparedness, Social Protection, Peace and Order, Business-Friendliness and Competitiveness, Environmental Management, and Tourism, Culture and the Arts.

Out of all the cited LGUs on October 17, two are close to my heart: San Pedro Tunasán in La Laguna and Imus in Cavite. San Pedro Tunasán (simply known today as the City of San Pedro) is where my family has been living for the past fifteen years. I was once its consultant for historical, cultural, and tourism affairs as well as its historical researcher from 1 December 2015 to 12 July 2017. On the other hand, I’ve been with Imus as history consultant as well as a translator of their Spanish-era documents from 9 November 2016 up to the present.

But in citing favorites, I cannot exclude Santa Rosa and nearby Biñán, both of which are also in La Laguna Province. Santa Rosa almost never fails to invite me whenever its historic Cuartel de Santo Domingo holds an important event, and for that I am truly grateful. As for Biñán… well, let me just put it this way: I have something exciting cooking up with its LGU, and I’d rather keep mum about it for now. Because the last time I got too talkative with a historical project, it only went up in smoke, haha. 😞😂

It is interesting to note that both San Pedro Tunasán and Imus are consistent recipients of various DILG awards. Having said that, congratulations to Mayor Baby Catáquiz and Mayor Manny Maliksí (including their respective teams) for a job well done! Congratulations as well to all the other LGUs for this citation! May your tribes increase throughout the archipelago!

Click here for the complete list of awardees nationwide.

¡A Dios sea toda la gloria y la honra!