It has been more than a decade since I graduated from University but it never went out of my mind as to what a mysterious lake that I found ...
It has been more than a decade since I graduated from University but it never went out of my mind as to what a mysterious lake that I found on an old Cebu City map. At that time, I was working on my term paper and I was looking for a book in one of the Filipiniana archives and then I stumbled upon this map. When I saw the map, I noticed that there was an odd-looking water feature that somehow suggested that there was an old lake or perhaps a marshy area in what is now the North Reclamation Area.
Nowadays, that area occupies a lot of run-down buildings, warehouses, and logistics facilities that most people don't normally go to. It's interesting to imagine what the area looked like way back when. If I just had a time machine, I would love to know how that area changed over time. We can compare it with different maps at different times so we can see how the place evolved.
Cartographic History
Among the oldest maps, the lakes did not seem to exist yet. The 1699 map only showed the Estero de Parian but did not show if it was connected to the other end. The lake southwest of the Parian was probably formed later.
By 1739, the extent of the Estero had surrounded the old city by then. The areas marked in yellow would have been the places where lakes would have appeared in later maps.
In a crude 1833 topographic map of Cebu, the Estero de Parian extended to the west of the old city wherein there was a huge lake or reservoir that formed in between. Interestingly, the Estero may have been a protective moat for the Spanish inhabitants thereby serving as a barrier from the Chinese in the Parian and locals from San Nicolas.
A few years later, the bay started to form at the mouth of the Rio de Camputhaw. Interestingly, you can see some lost estuaries that formed to connect different rivers.
Soon when the western end of the Estero dried up and lost its water, the central lake soon dried up. Eventually, silt clogged up the waterways and the bay to form the lake that connected the fishing community north of the Spanish settlement.
The 1873 map made by Domingo de Escondrillas saw a sparsely populated agricultural area outside of the walled Fort San Pedro and the surrounding Spanish settlement. At that time, the city was racially segregated to separate the Indios from the Spanish and their mestizo subordinates as well as the growing Chinese immigrant class residing in the Parian. Escondrillas, who made that map, was the architect who built the Carcel de Cebu in 1871. Now known as Museo Sugbo (or Cebu Provincial Museum), it was built in the old Spanish area of Tejero where it served to imprison those who opposed Spanish rule. It was believed that a lot of coral stones from Parian Church were used to build part of the prison.
That clue suggests that Chinese laborers may have gathered a lot of stones around the area to build that structure. The lake may have been a salty and marshy area that eventually dried up as more and more people lived in that area. When more people live, silt, refuse and trash may have compacted the land thereby pushing the water into the existing river system.
The small inlet south of the lake may have been an area where fishermen dock their boats to protect it during strong winds and high waves during typhoon season. The main street called Calle Enrile (later Calle Martires) connects it to the semi-paved Camino para Talamban where there is a small fishing community by the sea. The source of the lake's waters may have come from the Rio de Camputhaw in the north or the Estero de Parian in the south. There is no mention of the lake being freshwater or saltwater. Further west of the city has been largely agricultural land up to San Nicolas.
By 1880, the supposed lake had remained similar in size yet the coastline had undergone some change probably because of the slow expansion of some areas to accommodate bigger and bigger ships as Cebu had played a much bigger role in world trade since the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869.
In five years' time, the Parian has expanded so that more houses have been built around the area of the lake. It would suggest that the lake may have been their freshwater source. It would soon dry up as the lake would lose its connection to its nearest water source.
In 1914, an area was proposed to be reclaimed that would have totally ended the lake's existence as much of the river water would have been blocked by rising silt deposits by its mouth. Interestingly, there seems to be another lake up north where the lost lakes near the Parian area would have existed.
The reduction and eventual disappearance of these lakes and some extended estuaries have changed the landscape of the city forever. In the old days, small bancas could go in and out of the river unimpeded, and perhaps, some people go fishing on the lake, take a swim, and let their water buffalo roam in its shallow areas. Life around the area may have centered around the river and the sea.
A cartographic study conducted by the National Institute of Physics of UP Diliman has shown that the water source still exists under the modern landscape of that area. Residents of Tinago, who now occupied where the lake was, are still facing rising floodwaters from time to time when it rains hard as the area remains lower than the sea level. In fact, oral history from the oldest residents has suggested that many people have washed their clothes there.
Current Location
If we're going to locate where it was, we may have to superimpose old maps where the lakes are indicated over a current Google Map showing current places we now know.
The Lake in the Estuary
The 1833 map showed a lake that connected the west and east sides of the estuaries is now part of the bustling streets of downtown Cebu. It would have been a sleepy part of the city where boats come and go.
If you were standing in the middle of where it was, you are now in the middle of the street.
'Laguna de Parian'
This large lake located west of the Parian is perhaps the largest lake to have disappeared in Cebu. No one knows exactly when it disappeared but it's something people of today don't know about. It is now a densely-populated residential area composed of small houses and ramshackle, rundown structures.
The Google Street View of this place is like an alien world if you compare it with what it was 150 years ago! This is what you see when you're facing the lake from the north.
This is what you see from the south:
The Inlet / Bay
There was a bay at the mouth of the Kamputhaw River that eventually dried up as silt accumulated. Now it is further inland surrounded by old buildings and some informal settlements.
Final Thoughts
We are living in a world in constant change and even the natural topography of where we live is terraformed across time and generations. As we progress, the original places we left behind are no longer there. Forever gone as the fabric of time replaces the old with the new and perhaps what we have today may no longer exist 100 years from now!
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