In those days and until today, fountains are objects of art
and admiration. For the ancient Romans who believed that water was a gift from
the gods, every water source even had its own god or nymph behind the gift.
Centuries thereafter, water channeled through aqueducts
became a means for the religious powers to manifest their power on earth, such
that family crests of the most powerful Popes are embellished onto many a Roman
fountain.
Very recently, the National Museum of the Philippines
declared among other sites, an old fountain in Camiguin, simply known as
"the old Mambajao Fountain" an Important Cultural Property (ICP). The
National Cultural Heritage Act of 2009 defines ICP as cultural properties
“having exceptional cultural, artistic and historical significance to the
Philippines.”
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| Mambajao Fountain - Juliefe Cuenca |
So what do we know so far about the old Mambajao Fountain?
There's very little information about this fountain found in
Camiguin except that it was a '1914 water fountain located at Mambajao's town proper
that also serves as their Rotunda'.
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| Old photo with Fontana de Boac, a landmark. |
How about our Fontana de Boac?
The Mambajao Fountain is probably not much different from the once-upon-a-time
greatly admired "Fontana de Boac" built in the same year (1914).
Greatly admired because that was in the days of yore a popular site where
locals, visitors and dignitaries had their souvenir photos taken. It stood right in the middle of the town plaza for all to see.
What else do we know about "Fontana de Boac"?
Not much really except for old, faded photos that remained after over a century, but thanks to the late historian and good Konsehal of Boac, Myke L. Magalang. He
happened to write about the Boac fountain's 100th year of existence in an
article he posted in his blog in 2014.
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| A.k.a. G. Nieva Public Fountain |
Magalang found a paper written by Hamilton V. Miles, a
member of the American Society of Civil Engineers who presented details of the
construction of two small water supply systems installed by the Insular
Government in Boac and in Sariaya, Tayabas.
Miles noted that like many other towns on small
islands,water is scarce, and it has been impossible to secure a well with
sufficient flow to obviate the necessity of pumping. The Boac Waterworks System
in the Boac poblacion was undertaken by virtue of the Insular Government Act
No. 2059 in 1913.
At that time, Marinduque was still under the jurisdiction of
Tayabas as a subprovince. According to Miles, the population of Boac including its barrios was 15,823, with the town proper having a population of
4,000.
Behind the founding of the Boac Waterworks System was
Gregorio Nieva of Boac, then a member of the Second Assembly of the Province of
Tayabas. Nieva obtained an Insular allotment of P5,000 by Act 2059, with the
subprovince providing P2,500 more.
According to Miles, when the waterworks system was completed
a balance of P 1,496.30 remained on hand out of the original P7,500. What did
they do with the excess money to inspire the people more in those days of good
governance and honesty? It was decided to install a fountain in the lower plaza with that money!
Miles wrote: "The pedestal was constructed of concrete
by administration, while the life-sized statue of a Filipino child holding a
fish, was cast in concrete by B. Nepomuceno, a Filipino sculptor located on
Calle San Sebastian, Manila. It presents a very pleasing appearance."
The "Fontana de Boac" was finally finished in
1914. Magalang wrote that "In the bygone years, the public fountain became
a symbol of aesthetics in the plaza and a landmark for group pictures during
important events until it was moved to its current location in the 1970’s or
1980’s".
Magalang was quite emphatic: "The 'Fontana' is an
important cultural property of the municipality of Boac. It needs repair and
repainting, and maybe to be returned or re-installed in its rightful and
prominent place in the plaza."
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| Fontana de Boac today. Moved in front of the Marinduque Museum, not repaired. Its full circular stairs buried under the ground. - Eli J. Obligacion |
And we must add, as it is one such cultural object “having exceptional cultural, artistic and historical significance to the Philippines”, it must really be declared - eventually by the National Museum of the Philippines as such. With the same importance and recognition that our local, provincial and national authorities concerned gave to "the Old Mambajao Fountain, Old Mambajao Municipal Building... together with 14 heritage houses in the province of Camiguin".
And by the way, how many heritage houses do we have in all of Marinduque after the endless cultural mapping that has gone on and on for years and years and years already?
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| Fontana de Boac - Eli J. Obligacion |
