I was still a child when they started constructing the monument of Rizal in the town plaza. Oh, we were very very curious then, you see they were building it under cover of large mats all around, we cannot see a thing of what was inside the cover. When the carnaval came, they removed the covers -- Hesus! It was the monument of Rizal, it was so tall! The Municipal Hall, situated in what is now the Police Station, was also inaugurated then. The Rizal monument has not been moved. It still stands where it was originally inaugurated.

Around the plaza were big palm trees. No, it's not buli, but a relative of the family of buli (banga). They are all gone now. The plaza had a bigger area then compared to to present plaza.

The Old Church was located nearer the street then (JC. Aquino Ave., formerly Zamora St.) right where the image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus now stands and where the people light their candles.

The Old Church, its roof was so high. It had a platform around it midway up -- we used to climb up there and and had fun walking across that platform. The church was made of different material then. It was made-up of stone which we call pagang. The walls were reinforced by a strong kind of wood.

My mother used to tell us a tale, I do not know if you already heard of it, but I believe the story is true. She told us that once, Butuan had a white bell, she called it ugis, which rang so loud that everytime it tolled, even the Muslims living from afar can hear it. And so it was that the Muslims, in exasperation, wanted to take away the bell. But the Butuanon elders hid the white bell temporarily down in the river just before the raiders arrived. After the raiders went away, the elders went back to the river to retrieve the bell, but it was gone! The strong current was said to have carried it away; where to, my mother cannot tell. There were stories that the Bell was swept by the river current and is now in some far away land.