Nov 08 2009
CIC-Mandaue’s Pre-War School building
Above: The pre-war main building.
Tucked behind high concrete walls is another heritage jewel waiting to be discovered. The Mandaue campus of the Colegio dela Inmaculada Concepcion has a pre-war school building that is still in perfect condition and serves as one of the last examples of religious educational edifices in Cebu that have survived the ravages of war — and man.
The main structure, a high-ceiling two-storey wooden building, is slightly elevated from the ground similar to Gabaldon-type school buildings. Beside it is an adjoined low structure that bears obvious influences of the typical bipartite “bahay-na-bato” construction. Perhaps the two structures were from two different periods of time.
Below: An archival photo of the old building (Photo courtesy of Jobers Bersales).
What caught my attention was a low round concrete structure beside the main building with some of the cement chipped away revealing some cut-coral stones beneath it. It was obviously a water well that dates back to the Spanish colonial era only that it has now been covered with concrete on top and plastered with cement all over. A water well is an excavation or structure created in the ground by digging, driving, boring or drilling to access groundwater in underground aquifers.
A staff from the school told me that during the Japanese occupation during World War II the basement of the main building was used as a garrison by the Japanese Imperial Army. History now plays a role here. It’s good enough to know that the Sisters running the school have very much well preserved the buildings especially that they tell a story of their humble beginnings as an educational institution.
Below: The adjoined low structure.
Below: A water well that has been covered with concrete on top and plastered with cement all over.
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August 3rd, 2010 at 11:05 am
it’s so nice to see my old school..i spent my elementary days here in immaculada…from grade 1 to 3 before my family and I left for Manila. I have so many memories with this school and I couldn’t help but recall my childhood,on how I became so makulit and so playful…I clearly remember my teachers..Miss Tanod-Tanod..Miss Sales and of course the nuns that ran the school during those years..Sister Erlinda David is so vivid in my memory…the very long drive from the gate to the school playground..the gardening we had in the afternoon beside the acacia tree..(donno if it’s still there..)the BIG gate that led to the sea at the back of the school where we are brought by our teachers in the afternoon during our leisure time before going home..these are so clear to me..this is such a wonderful school that I’m so proud to be a part of…can’t beleive I would still see it..I am now 42 and will continue to love and cherish this school…Viva Imaculada Concepcion!!!