Berto and the Surigao Treasure

Last August, I had the chance to visit the Ayala Museum and marvel at the Philippine's pre-colonial treasures in an exhibit dubbed as "Gold of the Ancestors".

The trip was highly personal because all I wanted to see was "The Surigao Treasure", specifically the "Mang Berto Collection." Mang Berto (Morales), of course, is a townmate and the piece of land in Magroyong where he accidentally dug those treasures was owned by my father's relative and my mother's closest co-teacher, Tia Payning. Oftentimes, enroute to Sagbayan for a summer vacation, we would drop by Tia Payning's house in Magroyong so Mama could chat with her. We didn't have an inkling then that just a few meters from where we sat eating boiled camote, Mang Berto would find the marvelous golden pieces that now adorn the halls of the Ayala Museum.

The "Surigao Treasure-cum-Mang Berto Collection" is beyond awesome!

In a documentary made by ABS-CBN, Dr. John Miksic, one of the expert interviewees, said that the "Surigao Treasure" is the single most important and tangible heritage of the country. And Dr. Baker, a curator, added that it is the largest collection of Philippine archaeological gold in the world.

The video screening that preceded the tour mostly featured breathtaking pieces from the "Surigao Treasure". But more than feeling good and proud of our heritage, I felt pity for Mang Berto.

Watching the opulence of the pieces, I was nagged by an image of a toothless Mang Berto being interviewed by Che-che Lazaro for Probe's “Surigao Treasure: Gintong Pamana” show. Then the irony hit me: while his golds have glass for a home in posh Ayala Center, Mang Berto has a crumbling nipa shack in rustic Victoria.



I would give my right arm to know how Mang Berto felt when Che-che Lazaro gave him a tour of the Ayala Museum to identify the golds that his bulldozer hit in Magroyong one wet summer morning in 1981. Looking at the video in YouTube, I can't tell what is contained in those eyes that have become tired and dull. Regret? Most likely. But there's more.

Maybe one of these days I'll ask Mang Berto for a chat. And if he'll allow me, maybe I'll write his story.

Me and my maybes.

(Photo credit: Ayala Museum)