Magellan’s Cross kiosk closed for ‘treatment’
WILL BE READY FOR APRIL 27
Anyone intending to see the cross Ferdinand Magellan planted in Cebu City 494 years will have to wait for several days.
Insects have attacked the original cross the Augustinian religious community has commissioned experts to properly treat it.
While the treatment process is ongoing, the Augustinians, who run the Basilica del Sto. Niño, have cordoned off the Magellan’s Cross kiosk so they could properly preserve the original cross.
The cross is a symbol of the birth of Christianity in the country after the baptism of Rajah Humabon, his wife Queen Juana, and other natives of Cebu.
The tile-roofed, octagonal kiosk, a well-known historical landmark of Cebu City, houses the original wood which is placed encased in Tindalo wood for protection.
“We had closed the Magellan’s Cross because after we lifted the cross, the original material, which is the wood which had been there for many years, has been deteriorating,” said Fr. Harold Rentoria, OSA, chairman of the Commission on Cultural Heritage of the Augustinian Fathers.
“I don’t want to show the people of the status of the wood,” he added, while assuring the public that they are supervising the treating of the original cross, a sample of which had been taken for testing by a group of specialists.
“They saw some sort of insects inside the wood, and they recommended fumigation,” Rentoria said.
“We had to do fumigation because the setting up (of the cross before) has been the traditional way of setting up the wood,” Rentoria said, adding that they already completed the method for pest control treatment.
He said two experts from the National Historical Commission of the Philippines, which is financing the restoration procedure, is assisting in the task.
“Now they are taking over to see and start the restoration of the original wood,” he said.
“We will restore it (original cross) so that it will last for years and years,” Rentoria said while adding, “we wanted that the cross will be in tacked for centuries and more.”
Meanwhile, with the 450th anniversary celebration of Kaplag is approaching, Cebuano choreographer Val Sandiego said the Grand Reenactment of the finding of the Sto. Niño image by the men of Miguel Lopez de Legazpi in 1565 will be “closest” to historical accounts.
Sandiego, who serves as reenactment director, said portrayal of the events would take place at the exact site on where the scenes occurred in the past, including Magellan’s planting of the cross before the baptism of Humabon, Juana, and their subjects.
The Grand Reenactment, set on April 27 before the Grand Kaplag Fiesta and is one of the highlights of the 450th anniversary, would show the arrival of the early explorers until the discovery or “kaplag” of the image of Santo Niño by Juan de Camus.
Rentoria, the anniversary executive director, said Legazpi’s landing will happen at the vicinity of the Malacañang sa Sugbo.
From there, the voiced-over play would proceed along M.J. Cuenco Avenue going to the Magellan’s Cross kiosk for the planting of the cross, which happened on April 14, 1521.
“We are doing and planning things in the way that the 450th (anniversary of) Kaplag will not be affected that much,” Rentoria said.