When we drive eighty-four kilometers southeast of Cebu City, most of us are programmed to think of Dalaguete solely as the “Vegetable Basket” or the “Summer Capital” of our province, with our minds drifting toward the cool pine breezes of Mantalongon or the jagged silhouette of Osmeña Peak. Yet, if we descend from the highlands and stand in the sweltering, salty air of the coastal Poblacion, we find the true, ancient soul of this town, the Poblacion and the Dalaguete Municipal Hall, once called the “Casa Real.” To walk the streets of the Poblacion is to walk through a “Heritage Zone” that was once a frontline of defense, a place where the indigenous geography collided with the grand urban planning of the Laws of the Indies.
We cannot understand the layout of Dalaguete without first acknowledging the terror that shaped it: the Moro Wars of the 18th and 19th centuries. The Bohol Strait was not just a maritime highway; it was a vulnerable frontier exposed to slave-raiding fleets from the south. This fear gave birth to the town’s “Stone Age,” a period of frantic and massive construction led by the Augustinian friars and the military genius of Fr. Julian Bermejo, the “Padre Kapitan.” Look closely at the “Kiosko” in the town plaza. Today, it might serve as a leisure pavilion or a café, but the curious explorer will not fail to spot its original purpose. It was originally a two-level watchtower built in 1768, a sentinel designed to spot the raiding vintas on the horizon. This adaptive reuse is a beautiful, albeit stark, reminder that this town was built on the dual foundations of faith and fortification. Up until this day, one can observe for themselves, the large walls surrounding the church property and the oldest dated Watchtower in Cebu located adjacent to the church.
Behind the church while located on the National Highway, standing in behind, with the ecclesiastical power of the church, is the Casa Real. Completed in 1832, this structure is the secular anchor of the town, the physical manifestation of the Gobernadorcillo’s authority. It is a quintessential piece of Arquitectura Mestiza, built from the same porous coral stone (mamposteria) as the church, bound together by lime mortar that breathes in the humid tropical air and then faced with cut coral stone. While the friars commanded the spirit of the town, this is where the taxes were collected, where the Guardia Civil garrisoned, and where the administrative heart of the town beat. It is tragic, however, to see what time and modernization have taken from it. The original tisa (clay tile) roof has given way to galvanized iron, and the translucent Capiz shell windows that once filtered the harsh sun into a pearlescent glow have been replaced by glass and jalousies, trapping the heat inside.
THE FILIPINO REVOLUTION AND THE MARTYRS OF DALAGUETE
History abounded in this structure in the form of the Philippine Revolution. It was on April 10, 1898 (Holy Wednesday) that revolutionaries stormed the town hall and set fire to all the papers concerning the Spanish government in the community. A certain Jorge Llanos was installed as Municipal mayor. Money belonging to the church was confiscated; this situation remained until the following Monday. The Spanish transport ship, the San Juan De Austria, had docked at the town and was landing troops to secure the town when the revolutionaries were able to occupy the town hall first. Probably after an altercation, the Spanish retook the town from the rebels and executed 12 of them – Jorge Llanos among them. The local population, outraged at this brutality, armed themselves and set out to attack the Spanish forces in the town. It was under Fr. Ruperto Sarmiento’s direction that the populace did such a drastic action, so as to revolt in this manner. Later on, during World War 2, the Municipal hall of Dalaguete served as a Japanese prison in addition to its regular administrative duties. Japanese forces maintained a paltry force in the area, mostly for peacekeeping purposes; they used the municipal hall as a headquarters.
The survival of the Casa Real is nothing short of a miracle, serving as a cautionary tale for heritage conservationists across Cebu. In 2013, this grand dame of civil architecture was declared “unfit for occupancy” by local engineers (probably due to the earthquake that affected many other structures that year), threatened by structural deterioration. It required the intervention of the Cebu Provincial Government and 13 million pesos in funding to stabilize the structure, saving it from the fate of “demolition by neglect” that has claimed so many other ancestral structures in our province. It is a testament to the laborers who quarried the reefs by hand, hauling these stones to build a legacy that would outlive them by centuries. Could they have known that their handiwork would serve for this long? Could they have known that their Casa Real would still serve today as the Dalaguete Municipal Hall?
The town has developed a “Heritage Trail,” inviting us to look beyond the vegetable markets and engage with the Casa Real, the Watchtowers, and the Museum. As we stand in the shadow of the San Guillermo Church, looking out past the seawall where the watchtowers once signaled danger, we realize that Dalaguete is more than just a summer destination. It is a stone archive of Cebuano resilience, a place where the walls still speak if we are quiet enough to listen to the echoes of the Dalakit and the bells of the 1800s. There is more than meets the eye when you look at the Municipal hall of Dalaguete.
Sources:
Ramon Aboitiz Foundation. Cebu Heritage Frontier: Argao – Dalaguete – Boljoon – Oslob. Cebu City: Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc., 2004.
Historical Data Papers: History and Cultural Life of the Municipality of Dalaguete. Manila: National Library of the Philippines, 1953. Microfilm.
300 Years of Grace and Pride: Dalaguete Souvenir Program. Dalaguete: San Guillermo de Aquitania Parish, 2011.
Abatayo, Rosalie. “Dalaguete Church Declared National Cultural Treasure.” The Freeman, February 13, 2024. https://www.philstar.com/the-freeman/cebu-news/2024/02/13/2333012/dalaguete-church-declared-national-cultural-treasure.
Manto, Mitchelle L. “Capitol Shells Out P10 Million for Dalaguete’s Town Hall.” The Freeman, April 6, 2018. https://www.philstar.com/the-freeman/cebu-news/2018/04/06/1803407/capitol-shells-out-p10-million-dalaguetes-town-hall.
“Arch 362 p2 Research Paper Programming 1: Dalaguete Heritage.” Scribd. Accessed December 18, 2024. https://www.scribd.com/document/906906714/Arch-362-p2-Research-Paper-Programming-1.
“San Guillermo de Aquitania Parish Church of Dalaguete.” PH Tour Guide. Accessed December 18, 2024. https://www.phtourguide.com/san-guillermo-de-aquitania-parish-church-of-dalaguete/.
“History of Dalaguete.” Best of Dalaguete. Accessed December 18, 2024. https://bestofdalaguete.weebly.com/history.html.
