Subangan Museum — Attraction in Mati

It is clear that the museum strongly upholds its mission to 'safeguard the world's cultural property and present it to the public.' And also it is rich in historical artifacts. However, the security measures appear inadequate. The guards are stationed only at the gate, with none positioned at the museum's entrance. Additionally, the security personnel were not properly uniformed, wearing jeans and shirts with their firearms casually slung over their shoulders. While the premises are generally clean, certain areas show signs of neglect, with visible dust indicating a lack of regular upkeep. There also seems to be a shortage of staff to properly manage and facilitate the museum’s operations.

During our visit to the museum, a staff member—though I’m unsure if she was an official guide—briefly appeared to give us a quick 3-minute orientation. She discussed the basic rules, including no video recording and areas that were off-limits. However, her attitude was unwelcoming, and her demeanor felt overly strict. If I were a foreign tourist, I would have felt quite put off by the way she addressed us. After outlining the restrictions, she left us on our own, instructing us to explore the museum without any further guidance. I had expected a tour guide to accompany us and provide more insights throughout our visit since it is a big museum. Additionally, I was surprised to see child freely roaming the museum, disregarding the rules, including entering off-limits areas and casually touching artifacts and historical displays. This lack of supervision raises concerns about the protection of the museum’s valuable collections.

In addition, some of the jars in the cultural heritage section were not stored in a box or a glass and it can be easily stumbled by people or they can easily touch the artifact or object and it can lead to the deterioration of the object. It also possesses dust and some of the labels and descriptions has scratches already which makes the description hard to read in addition with the lights as the background. There is no attendant in the souvenir shop in which we didn't have the chance to buy their souvenirs and products.

My suggestion is that the museum should put more museum attendants, a guard on the entrance door, detection system in any case there's an emergency that would occur, a standby tour guide and a curator. And they should also review their policy and guidelines. And lastly, I still enjoyed my visit in the Subangán Museum and I still learned a lot from the artifacts inside. I would also recommend to visit but I hope it would be...

I just want to share my experience during our visit to Subangán, From the moment we entered, the staff didn’t greet us warmly, which made us feel a bit unwelcome. Based on my understanding in our cultural heritage major, The curator is supposedly the one who will guide and explain certain artifacts to us and should be knowledgeable in handling them. However, during our visit, it seemed like the curator lacked knowledge on how to properly handle these artifacts. They even told us to ask the manager if we had any questions, which showed that the staff didn’t seem knowledgeable in their roles, even though they should be the ones who know what to do.

Additionally, I hope that next time, in the section with the Mandaya tribe artifacts particularly those fragile items such as pots that can break easily they should be covered or protected to prevent them from falling in case of an disaster occurs like earthquakes. The artifacts and items on display should also be cleaned more, as they were dusty.

In the economic section, the items weren’t organized well; they should at least be arranged properly. Security-wise, it would be better to have security personnel stationed at the entrance of the museum, as I only saw staff members. The restroom was also very cramped and not accessible for PWDs who use wheelchairs. Lastly, the lighting on the artifacts didn’t match well with the items. I noticed the descriptions were overly lit.This visit showed me why those things matter, as having someone explain the artifacts would have helped us understand the displays on a deeper level.

In a nutshell, my experience at the museum strengthen what I learned in class about how museums serve to protect and share cultural heritage. It also highlighted the need for museums to be welcoming, informative, and interactive. When these elements are missing, as they were during my visit, it can make it harder for visitors to truly appreciate and connect with the exhibits, which is something I hope Subangán Museum's continue to improve on...

I’ve come from the mainstream in the Land of Davao, and traveling to the museum really does take us time. Yet, as I have entered the museum, I am surprised at how we are treated. As we entered with my co-colleague, not only were we not greeted warmly, but also we were stared at, and the tone of voice that the curator was giving was not really welcoming. After that, inside, she began introducing us to "Davor,” which is their most famous artifact, and after she introduced it, she left us already. Well, I was expecting that they or she would tour us, as I believe it is the proper way of welcoming guests. And so, as I have also observed around, I did not expect to have seen that most of the artifacts are full of dust, and some even have food waste in them. Also, some of it is not properly placed, especially the one beside the bahay kubo, where it was placed near the door, and as the sun rays into it, it can be hardly seen. And even on where they put the description, especially those in glasses, it was also kind of hard to read as the lighting of it was too much, especially those who are placed around the presence of sunlight. And also taking about description, I also do believe and recommend putting a glass on it or some protection, as I have observed all of it was full of scratches that, reading it, was not viable anymore. And also, please do fix some of your lights, as they were flickering. Overall, I would say that my visit was a bit fun. All I have stated here was not to discourage but to give insights on what to fix, as because artifacts are such an important part of managing a museum, let’s treat them as something so valuable and preserve them for future generations. And lastly, please do treat your guest with proper...