Museo Sugbo

Museo Sugbo is the Cebu Provincial Museum located in the former Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center (CPDRC), four blocks from Plaza Independencia.HistoryAs a prisonMuseo Sugbo is housed in what was once called Cárcel de Cebú, the provincial jail of Cebu.Designed in 1869 by Domingo de Escondrillas, the lone architect in Cebu at the time, the Cárcel de Cebú was originally proposed as the Cárcel del Distrito, the main prison for the Visayas District. This accounts for its relatively large size at the time it was built. After a flurry of endorsements and independent review in Manila, the project was approved and construction commenced around 1871. It is believed that most of the coral stone blocks from the Parian church – which was demolished in 1878 after the Bishop of Cebu won a long-drawn court case against its parishioners in the 1850s – were used to build parts of the cárcel. After twenty years of use, a renovation was ordered in 1892, which added more buildings behind the main structure that now serves as the first six galleries of the museum.Records are not clear as to when the second storey of the main building was added, but the architectural design suggests this to be during the American colonial period.The gaol housed not only criminals in its 135-year history. During the revolution, many of the Katipuneros were incarcerated here without trial and many of them were eventually executed in nearby Carreta cemetery. During the early years of the American period, the gaol served as a stable for horses competing at the hipódromo (racetrack) nearby, but it was eventually used once again as a prison, both for the city and the province. During the Japanese occupation, guerrillas were imprisoned here after enduring torture under the hands of the Kempeitai, the Japanese secret police. After the war, many of the collaborators in Cebu were also imprisoned here. From the 1950s to 1976, the front section of the gaol served as the city jail, while the three structures behind were used as the provincial jail.