the forgotten bells of ozamiz city

Bukagan Hill overlooking the scenic Ozamiz City and Panguil Bay.

Not many know this, that there are four bells, named by their German casters as “St. Peter”, “St. Marien”, “St. Joseph” and “St. Michael,” at Bukagan Hill (92 MASL) in Ozamiz City. These were supposed to be installed at the Immaculate Concepcion Cathedral but the church’s existing belfry could not adequately support the bells which reportedly weigh a total of 7 tons.

The residents could not afford to build another bell tower at that time, considering that they already raised a substantial amount for the construction of the church and the installation of its pipe organ. The bells ended up at Bukagan Hill in Barangay Malaubang, through the efforts of Fernand T. Bernad. The site was inaugurated on July 16, 1948 which was participated by various religious and civic groups.

When I asked my relatives and friends in Ozamiz about the bells, they did not know about them and were only aware of the cell towers and a monastery at Bukagan. So when I got the chance to go to Ozamiz last December, I knew that I have to find out for myself if they still existed. Thankfully, I was able to drag one adventurous cousin to accompany me in my madness.

We expected that there would be habal-habal (motorcycles) at the foot of the hill that would take us up to the peak. However, there was none in sight that afternoon. I managed to convince my cousin to hike all the way to the top since we came that far already. The winding road to the peak was unpaved, but for the most part, our ascent was easy and quite manageable.

After 30 minutes or so, we finally arrived at the peak and saw for ourselves the old bells of Ozamiz City. These are stacked in tiers – the big ones on the first two levels while the two small ones at the topmost.

It is said that during the bell’s inauguration in 1948, these were rung as ‘a symbol between the friendship of the Muslims and the Christians.’ But we may never get to hear these bells again because their clappers are missing. There was also no signage or any marker in the vicinity to inform visitors about the interesting history of the bells. The concrete bell tower is also laden with graffiti - a far cry to the glorious days when the bells first rang more than half a century ago.

It is then quite sad to note then that the old and rusted bells of Ozamiz city are uncared for. What they also stood for, may be probably forgotten by the generations to come.




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