Dumaguete is growing at an ever increasing rate. As one travels the streets and back ways of the city, it is very apparent that change is everywhere. Brightly colored concrete and glass buildings dazzle the eye attracting one's attention to the bussiness or pension house contained there in. If you decide to "see" the old Dumaguete, you now have to look hard for signs of it's colonial past.
It is still there, on a side street or even on the National highway as it routes through town. Sometimes plastered with concealing vinyl banners to lend a garish splash of color to the grey/brown wood underneath. The old colonial style buildings do not stand out, usually drab colorless bare wood etched by years into a uniform grey patina, they are relics fading into dust.
It would be great from a historical viewpoint if a few could be selected, restored and preserved as a connection to Dumaguete's historical roots. There seems to be little interest in anything old here. Dumaguete is plunging headlong into the future, with nary a glance backward.
A few examples on Silliman Universities campus will always remain, and there are some examples of early mansions converted to pension houses along the Boulevard. With those as inspiration, it would be nice to have a few more restored to give some connectedness to Dumaguete's colonial past.
This being the anniversary week of the liberation of Dumaguete at the end of WW II I thought I would submit this little anecdote. Too often the small stories, the local heroes are overlooked on momentous occasions.
The 164th Infantry went ashore in southeastern Negros on 26 April, approximately five miles north of Dumaguete. There it soon made contact with the Reconnaissance Troop of the 40th Division, which had worked its way south along the eastern coast without encountering opposition. Two days later the 164th attacked the 1,300-man Japanese garrison that occupied forbidding hill positions ten miles southwest of Dumaguete. Combat continued until 28 May, when the Japanese positions fell and the ever-present guerrillas largely assumed responsibility for mopping up. On Negros, the 164th Infantry lost 35 men killed and 180 wounded, while killing 530 Japanese and capturing 15
There are many stories about this pivotal time in Philippine history; we have one customer whose father was one of the more notorious freedom fighters throughout the war. His son is currently a sitting judge; his last name is well known in Dumaguete today. Ironically even though he was a wartime hero, there is not a street, monument, or building named after him in town.
This is stuff that movies could be made of. Apparently this Captain of the Philippine Army resistance had six fingers on one hand. Known as "Captain Eleven" he was constantly hunted by the Japanese occupiers. A very clever man, he was a constant source of information for the American troops getting ready to invade Sibulan and Dumaguete.
He had several identities and was able to visit with the Japanese officers and glean important information from them. Knowing they were on the look out for a man with eleven fingers, he would tape his eleventh finger, don gloves and escaped detection until the end of the war. The Japanese never apprehended Captain Eleven and he was instrumental in the liberation of Dumaguete.
1,200 meters above sea level, the Philippine-American-Japanese shrine is located at Barangay Sagbang, Built in 1977 to commemorate the spot where a heated battle took place in World War Two, it stands as a three nation memorial to this conflict’s end. On 26 April, 1945 remnants of the 164th U.S. infantry went ashore at Sibulan, some five miles (8 km) north of Dumaguete, rendezvoused with a Reconnaissance Troop of the 40th Division, and in two days, attacked the 1,300 strong Japanese force entrenched in forbidding hill positions surrounding Dumaguete. One of these sites was where the shrine now stands in silent and all but forgotten tribute.
It is possible to reach the shrine by motorcycle in dry weather, but it is a dangerous and tricky ascent. There are actually two routes going to the shrine. One goes up from Balugo Valencia just outside Dumaguete, and the other goes around the mountain from Valencia, near Cassaroro falls. Either route is arduous, and should only be attempted by experienced motorcyclists. The trail winds up and down the moutain with up to 60% grades in some locations. Loose gravel and washouts are common. The safest way to visit is to hire a jeep or four wheeler to make the trip. Given that there are few signs indicating the way, a guide would be a good idea as well.
True to our adventurous nature… we traveled to the shrine with none of the above. And as a further testament to our adventurous spirit, we not only rode our motorcycles to the shrine, but made the complete round trip from Balugo, to the shrine, then on to Valencia! The ride was the high point of the trip as it turned out.
The shrine itself is in a state of serious neglect. Not that the property is not well kept, there is simply nothing there to give a clue as to what the place actually is. There are no plaques, (rumour has it the local Barangay captain took the monument plaque and put away for safe keeping??), no signage of any kind, nor anyone that seems to be on duty to collect the 10 Peso entrance fee. That said, the Japanese Shrine offers an incredible view of the Dumaguete harbour, Cebu, and Siquijor island. It is easy to see why the Japanese saw this as an excellent defensive position. It is a beautiful spot, but I am not sure everyone will have their expectations met if they are expecting any kind of organized presentation of historical information. There is a monkey in a cage…
After hanging out and catching our breath from our motocross expedition up the hill, we decided to trek on to Valencia, hoping the road there would be even just a bit less difficult. It wasn’t. The hardest part was finding the road to Valencia, as the shrine access road was a dead end. We tried to ask the few folks at the shrine, all had varying stories as to the whereabouts of the road continuing to Valencia. I had a good idea that the fork in the trail we had passed a few kilometers down the road was the way. As it turned out, after asking several more passers by we came to the point where we had to decide. Back the way we came, or on to unknown parts in search Valencia.
It was a no brainer, on to the unknown we would go. The road was a bit longer in distance than our ascent, but the inclines were more mild, still, washed out dirt trails were the norm. As we turned and twisted towards Valencia throught the mountains, we were occasionally forced to stop just to take in the outstanding vistas presented to us. Finally we came to a concrete road and a stream forded by a bridge. We again stopped our bikes and enjoyed a moment at this last bit of primitive Philippines before trekking on to now nearby by Valencia.
After a kilometer or three, we came to the main road to Valencia. We stopped at Tejeros swimming area to have a beer at the restaurant located adjacent. Three beers later and a hot meal and we were recounting our newest adventure to ourselves and wondering how many others had followed our path.
Included as an imbedded video is a piece done by a Japanese television crew some years ago. The slide show is from our trip 3/20/08 Enjoy.
I am just getting to know a little about Dumaguete's role in WW II. It was the scene for the U.S Invasion of Southern Negros at the end of the second world war. Occupied by the Japanese on May 26,1942, it was liberated by U.S. forces assisted by Filipino Militia April 26, 1945. If you travel casually around the city of Dumaguete today most likely you won't see much remaining evidence of the conflict. However, if you know where to look, there are some interesting historical structures and locations to see. The first one I found was smack in the middle of Town, just north of Silliman University.
This defensive position, or "pill box" is located about four blocks inland from Looc, sight of the landing of one contingent of U.S. forces here. The Landing sight itself is now occupied by the Dumaguete port and pier. If you want to find the pill box, travel North through Silliman University on Airport Road, i is located in Piapi Barangay on the right hand side of the street.
Unfortunately, it is not a preserved historical site, but is located on what appears to be private property with a small house built almost on top of it. You can still see the gun port on the East side. The entrance is intact as well as what looks like a rear exit.
10/9/09: Today we moved to the number one result in searches for Dumaguete Philippines on Google! All the best stories, and pictures of Dumaguete, Dumaguete Philippines continues to be one of the top ranked Dumaguete search results on Google! Just search "Dumaguete Philippines" or "Dumaguetenews" and check it out.
We are still number 1: As of 11/24/10 We are still the number one result on Google for "Dumaguete Philippines", and number one for "Dumaguete".
Dumaguete is growing at an ever increasing rate. As one travels the streets and back ways of the city, it is very apparent that change is everywhere. Brightly colored concrete and glass buildings dazzle the eye attracting one's attention to the bussiness or pension house contained there in. If you decide to "see" the old Dumaguete, you now have to look hard for signs of it's colonial past.
It is still there, on a side street or even on the National highway as it routes through town. Sometimes plastered with concealing vinyl banners to lend a garish splash of color to the grey/brown wood underneath. The old colonial style buildings do not stand out, usually drab colorless bare wood etched by years into a uniform grey patina, they are relics fading into dust.
A few examples on Silliman Universities campus will always remain, and there are some examples of early mansions converted to pension houses along the Boulevard. With those as inspiration, it would be nice to have a few more restored to give some connectedness to Dumaguete's colonial past.
