ABW Dec 2017

y concerned teachers and parents, the wisdom
of environmental protection and conservation.
Every time a species becomes extinct owing to
man’s greed or negligence, mankind is poorer,
for the gene pool is diminished, as consequently
are the resources available to it in terms of
potential economic, survival or aesthetic value.
This pilot Butterfly Sanctuary has provided in its
modest space the natural habitat of 55 butterfly
species and scores of moths and associated fauna.
Itself a veritable botanical
garden, it has grown within
the 1,460-square-meter
enclosure more than one
hundred plant species,
some serving as part of
the life-support system of
butterflies in their larval
stages. Although many
a visitor strays into the
garden to catch a glimpse
of these flying gems in their
poetry in motion, through the years students
with scientific inclination have been assisted in
their term papers and master’s theses by having
materials in the Sanctuary available for them
for research on natural history. It is also a place
where sometimes an overenthusiastic adult,
with sharpened reflexes, can be young again by
chasing something beautiful and elusive.
Casa Gorordo Museum Cebu
The Casa Gorordo Museum, located in Lopez
Jaena Street, is one of the best preserved
Spanish colonial houses in Cebu.
Once home to the first Filipino
Bishop of Cebu, it was
Casa Gorordo was
declared a historical
landmark of the nation
in 1991, by the National
Historical Institute Board.
acquired by the Spanish merchant Juan Isidro
De Gorordo in 1863 and four generations of his
family lived there. Built of timber and stone it
typifies Spanish architecture in the Philippines
and is situated in the Parian district, once home
to Cebu’s most prominent families.
Within the museum are religious relics, antique
furniture, paintings and household items that
reflect the lifestyle of the period, including
ceramics and pottery. The courtyard is quite
pretty and the museum well
maintained and carefully
refurbished to maintain
the integrity of the original
house. Built by Alejandro
Reynes Y. Rosales in the
middle of the 19th Century,
the building was acquired
by the Ramon Aboitiz
Foundation, Inc., in 1980.
After restoration,the home
was turned into a museum
and opened to the people. Casa Gorordo was
declared an historical landmark of the nation in
1991, by the National Historical Institute Board.
Fort San Pedro
Fort San Pedro is the oldest, and smallest,
triangular bastion fort in Cebu, was named
after the galleon ‘San Pedro’ on which Miguel
Lopez De Legaspi, navigator and governor who
founded Cebu in 1565, sailed the Pacific. Two
sides of the fort face the sea and were equipped
with cannon to ward off unwelcome visitors.
Entrance to the fort is on the third side which is
the base of the triangle and looks inland towards
the city. Fort San Pedro was briefly the focus
Casa Gorordo Museum
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