Category Archives: SPECIAL TOPICS

The Patupat of Pozorrubio (Pangasinan)

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Panutsa in sursur (coconut shells)

We had just finished an adrenalin-filled morning zip lining and driving ATVs at Pugad Pugo Adventure Park in Pugo, La Union and we were all tired and taking catnaps when we arrived at Pozorrubio, Pangasinan for a less tiring, quieter and more educational cottage industry observation tour as guests of Mayor Artemio Chan and Pangasinan Visitors Bureau (PVB) representatives Ms. Marion Puzon and Ms. Montserrat Escano.  This time we were to observe the making of  patupat, a uniquely Ilocano delicacy made from sticky rice called malagkit and wrapped in coconut or banana leaves.  The patupat of Pozorrubio is reportedly the best in the country. The factory, located in a large, open G.I.-roofed shack, was located right in the midst of a sugar plantation which was a short but quite muddy hike from the road where our special media bus was parked.

The  now motor-driven dadapilan (sugar cane mill)

The traditional method for making patupat starts with the dadapilan, the sugar cane mill.  For years, the mills were driven by carabaos but now they use motors.   Here, sugar cane is fed into the mill and pressed by its big iron rollers to extract sugar cane juice. At the same time, uncooked glutinous rice is poured into intricately designed, rectangular baskets or bags of different sizes made from banana or coconut palm leaves cut into even widths, then tied up and sealed.  The weaving of this basket is an art by itself. Using young coconut leaves with the midribs removed and knotted at both ends, the baskets are woven  with one leave overlapping the other, ending with two corners.  After the knots are removed, they are then joined to complete the basket. The baskets with the glutinous rice are then cooked and caramelized for at least 30 mins. in a large kawa or taliasi (cauldron) filled with a mixture of boiling and bubbling sugar cane juice and coconut milk, over a fire fueled by pressed sugar cane stalks. After boiling, the patupat are then tied together and hanged to drip. Soon, they would be ready to be served, cold or hot, and will be good for 3 days. On the other hand, the boiled sugar cane juice and coconut milk concoction, once thoroughly cooked and sticky, is poured into sursur (cut coconut bowls) then dried to be sold as panutsa or matamis na bao (brown sugarcane).  Thus, very little is wasted in the process.  The patupat has made Pozorrubio proud and is the star of the Patupat Festival, held annually in the town since 1999.

Boiling a concoction of sugar cane juice 
and coconut milk

Mayor’s Office: Municipal Hall, Poblacion, Pozorrubio, Pangasinan. Tel: (075) 566-7015 and 566-7020. 

Pangasinan Visitors Bureau (PVB): 33 Gov. Antonio Sison St., Lingayen, Pangasinan. Mobile number: (0928) 733-4798. Email: marionpuzon@yahoo.com.

A National Artist and a Haven for his Art (Tuba, Benguet)

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After our Lakbay Norte 2 visit to Tam-awan Village in Pinsao Proper in Baguio City, we all returned to our bus and proceeded to Asin Rd. in Tuba, 6 kms. from the city, to visit a prominent Filipino artist who has taken up permanent residence in the Philippines’ “Summer Capital.”

The author with Benedicto “Bencab” Cabrera

The city, whose lovely natural environment and the rich Cordillera cultural heritage has inspired creativity, has become a natural haven for artists and now home to a growing number of gallery cafes and exhibits that showcase the paintings and sculptures of groups of local as well as visiting artists.

He is one of many who shared a passion for indigenous art, injecting local elements and techniques in their works, and dedicated to nurturing and preserving Cordilleran culture. That man is painter, printmaker and 2006 National Artist for the Visual Arts Benedicto R. Cabrera, more popularly known as BenCab.

He’s not named Benjamin as mentioned in other write ups though I wish he had the same first name as me. He, together with popular local artists such as solar artist Jordan Mang-osan, mixed-media painter John Frank Sabado and self-taught artist Ged Alangui set up the Chanum Foundation.

The author seated at a hagabi (a rich Ifugao’s bench)

Chanum which, in Ibaloi, means “water,” was the name adopted to symbolize its vision and role to be as nurturing and life-giving as a spring in the once vast pastureland of Pinsao.

After passing a woodcarver’s village with rows of shops selling a fabulous collection of carved figures, in varying sizes, ranging from giant statues to “stickmen,” we arrived at the ultra-modern BenCab Museum, built on a promontory.

Here, we were welcomed by BenCab himself. A Baguio resident for a quarter of century now, Bencab set up this permanent home for his art as well as his personal collection of the works of other acknowledged Filipino masters and rising contemporary artists and his collection of Cordillera artifacts.  After the interview, we explored the different areas of the museum.

The BenCab Gallery features the artist’s own works over a continuing artistic career that spans more than four decades.

The Cordillera Gallery is the repository of BenCab ’s collection of Cordilleran tribal artifacts and indigenous crafts such as bulols (rice granary gods); functional carved objects such as furniture, spoons, bowls and other utilitarian implements such baskets; and tribal weapons.

The Philippine Contemporary Art Galleries (1 and 2) houses the artist’s collection of paintings, drawings, prints and sculpture accumulated by BenCab through the years.

Philippine Contemporary Art Gallery

The Maestro Gallery houses a selection of works acknowledged masters of Philippine art such as Lee Aguinaldo, Roberto Chabet, Victorio C. Edades, Jose Joya, Cesar Legaspi, Arturo Luz, Anita Magsaysay-Ho, Juvenal Sanso, Fernando Zobel and others.

Erotic Gallery – Sculpture

Erotica Gallery

The Erotica Gallery houses paintings, drawings, sculpture and other artworks by various artists with an erotic subject or theme. The Print Gallery exhibits vintage maps, prints, photographs and postcards on the Philippines as well as contemporary prints and photographs.

The tall Sepia Gallery, adjoining the museum shop (which sells art books, paper products such as postcards, and notepads, highland art & crafts such as wood carvings and textiles as well as other souvenir items from t-shirts, and caps), is a venue for changing exhibitions.

Patio Salvador, an open terrace adjoining the Indigo Gallery, is used for receptions and sculpture shows while the Larawan Hall serves as a function room for art workshops, meetings, seminars, art film showings, and other related activities.

 

Prior to leaving, we enjoyed a merienda of clubhouse sandwiches and pasta dishes at Cafe Sabel, the museum’s coffee shop which overlooks the hill beyond and the mini-forest and duck pond below the museum.

Also below the museum is the farm and garden which showcases organic farm produce (seasonal vegetables, herbs, strawberries, sweet potatoes, coffee and ornamentals) and the typical Ifugao, Kalinga and Bontoc indigenous architecture.

Cafe Sabel

A river, which meanders through the property, has cascading waterfalls on one end.  There is an aviary housing peacocks and various birds,plus  ducks, geese, turkeys and other local livestock.

The organic farm below

BenCab Museum: Km. 6, Asin Rd., Tadiangan, Tuba, Benguet.  Tel: (074) 442-7165.  Mobile: (0920) 530-1954.  E-mail: bencabartfoundation@gmail.com.  Website: www.bencabmuseum.org. Open Tuesdays to Sundays, 9 AM-6 PM.  General Admission: PhP100.  Students and Senior Citizens (with valid ID): PhP80.

Tam-awan Village: A Showcase of Cordillera Life (Baguio City, Benguet)

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Tam-awan Village

The first leg of our Manila North Tollways Corporation (MNTC)/North Philippines Visitor’s Bureau (NPVB)-sponsored Lakbay Norte 2 Tour brought us to Baguio City, the country’s “Summer Capital,” where we were to check out the city’s art scene inspired by Baguio’s lovely natural environment and the rich Cordillera cultural heritage.  Our first stop was, fittingly, Tam-awan Village in Pinsao Proper where we were welcomed by Baguio City Visitors Bureau (BCVB) representatives Eric Pangilinan, Matt Roncal and Claire Iniong. This model village is laid out just like a traditional Cordillera village, making it accessible for those who have not had the opportunity to explore the different parts of the vast Cordillera region in the Philippines.  This recreated village, uniquely blending indigenous aesthetics and exquisite Cordilleran craftsmanship, has a charming collection of 9 authentic knock down huts built by clever mortise makers without nails or hardware Seven of these are compact and deceptively simple Ifugao huts transported from Bangaan, (Ifugao ).  The other two are more spacious Kalinga huts made of hand-hewn pine wood.  Some huts are over a hundred years old but have new cogon roofs which are periodically re-roofed from time to time.  All huts are named after the areas where they come from.

Jordan Mang-osan with one of his works  

Upon entering the compound, our media group, consisting of travel writers, bloggers and photographers, all explored the grounds including its art works at the art gallery and gazebo (across which is a stone-paved dap-ay where rituals and dances are performed) and the areas used for conferences, seminars and workshops.  Workshops here offer livelihood and crafts demonstrations on woodcarving, bamboo crafts, papermaking, weaving, printmaking, rice wine making and solar drawing, all envisioned to foster a deeper understanding, respect and pride in the cultural heritage of the Cordillera people.  The latter, a specialty of  Mr. Mang-osan, is an ancient Ifugao technique wherein a wooden surface  is burned using the sun’s rays to create an image.  

Portrait Sketching Session with local artistsA highlight of our visit was having our portraits sketched (for a fee of PhP100 per sketch), using charcoal pencil, by one of the many well-known artists who have their artwork on display. Other members of our group tried a hot cup of aromatic native Arabica coffee or sipped a glass of Winers tapuy (made from rice) or bugnay (made from Benguet strawberries) wine. Come lunchtime, we were served native pinikpikan, kintuman (brown rice), a salad of Baguio veggies and strawberry crepes for dessert.   Pinikpikan is prepared by beating a live chicken with a stick prior to cooking. The beating bruises the chicken’s flesh, bringing blood to its surface, which is said to improve the flavor after cooking.   
Tam-awan Village: 366-C Pinsao Proper, Baguio City, Benguet.  Tel: (074) 446-2949.  Fax: (074) 442-5553.  Website: www.tam-awanvillage.com. Admission: PhP50 (adults), PhP30 (students and senior citizens), and PhP20 (children).
Baguio Convention Visitors Bureau: 2/F Philippine Tourism Authority Bldg., Abad Santos Drive, Burnham Park, Baguio City, Benguet.  Tel: (074) 442-4315.  E-mail: baguio.cvb@gmail.com.

Kape Alamid: My First Taste of Coffee Heaven (Rosario, La Union)

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Kape Alamid

I first heard of kopi luwak from the 2008 movie Bucket List (literally, “things to do” before one “kicks the bucket” or dies) starring Academy Award winners Jack Nicholson (as hospital magnate and billionaire Edward Cole) and Morgan Freeman (as blue-collar mechanic Carter Chambers). Cole drinks a specific brand of coffee called kopi luwak, one of the most expensive coffees in the world, and Carter and Cole both “laugh till they cry” (an item from Carter’s bucket list) when Cole finds out that his favorite coffee comes from the undigested beans defecated from the Asian palm civet.  Well, so much for the movies.  However, the movie did bring out the curious in me as I added “trying out kopi luwak” in my own bucket list. Only lately did I find out that we had a local version called kape alamid (in the Tagalog area, but called motit coffee in the Cordilleras).

S.O.U.L. Cafe

Kafe alamid comes from civets (you guessed it, locally called alamid or musang)  who eat the coffee beans for their fleshy fruit pulp. Proteolytic enzymes in the civet’s stomach seep into the beans, making shorter peptides and more free amino acids and, when defecated, the beans keep their shape. After gathering, they are thoroughly washed, sun dried and lightly roasted. S.O.U.L (Soul for Spice of Urban Life) Café in Rosario, La Union was our first stopover (6:30 AM) on the road to Baguio City during the 5-day, North Philippines Visitors Bureau (NPVB) and Manila North Tollways Corporation (MNTC)-sponsored Lakbay Norte 2 Tour (officially launched on January 23 from the Victory Liner Terminal near Kamias St. in Quezon City).

Breakfast of Alaminos longanisa, garlic fried rice
 and tortang talong

Our hearty Filipino breakfast combo here consisted of Alaminos logganisa, boneless daing na bangus, garlic fried rice, hot chocolate, tortang talong made with creamy egg pesto and olive oil and, to kick start our day, an expresso shot of kape alamid with caramel. According to the menu, this expresso shot costs PhP350 and, according to the cafe manager, was sourced all the way from Cavite. This brewed concoction truly lived up to its name as one of the most expensive coffee in the world as it proved to be more aromatic and less bitter than the other coffee treats I’ve tried. Banish the thought of where it came from and you get a truly great coffee experience, with its great flavor without the bitter after taste of other brewed coffee.  Scratch this one from my bucket list.

The cafe’s chic interior

S.O.U.L. Cafe: Camp One, Rosario, La Union.  Tel: (072) 712-0852.  Fax: (072) 712-1190.

New Year’s Day (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia)

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Upon our return to our hotel from our Melaka trip, we decided to rest a bit. It was now just a few hours before New Year’s Eve, our first outside home and country, and we asked around at the front desk on where to spend our countdown party.  They suggested watching the free, spectacular fireworks displays at either the Merdeka Square (Dataran Merdeka) or the Petronas Towers.  We opted for the latter.

The Last Dinner of the Year at Sushi Tei (Pavilion Mall)

Before anything else, we still have to take our dinner so we all walked to Pavilion Mall along Jalan Bukit Bintang and dined on Japanese cuisine at Sushi Tei.  Here, we were surprised to find out that our waiters were Filipinas.  One was already a supervisor.

Waiting for the New Year at Petronas Towers

After dinner, we returned to our hotel to change clothes and decided to start our long walk all the way to Petronas Tower.  Others were doing the same. The numerous pubs we passed by were also filled with countdown revelers.  When we arrived at the park in front of the iconic Petronas Towers, it was already packed full with local residents and foreign tourists.

The Brightly-Lit Petronas Twin Towers

At the stroke of midnight, the street party started, with kisses, hugs, greetings and shouts of “Happy New Year!,” just as spectacular fireworks started to lit up, coloring the sky near the brightly-lit, landmark towers, Mandarin Hotel and the other buildings around us. The show was over when the fireworks stopped. There were no crackling and exploding firecrackers like in Manila, just horns and merriment in the streets.  What a unique way to start the New Year.

The Spectacular Fireworks Show

Sushi Tei: Level 1, Pavilion Kuala Lumpur, 168 Jalan Bukit Bintang, 55100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Tel: +603 2141 4640. Fax: +603 2141 466.

Jonker Street (Melaka, Malaysia)

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The last leg of our walking tour, prior to our return to our tourist bus waiting for us at the Tamil Methodist Church, was all shopping at the narrow but busy Jonker Street (Jalan Hang Jebat). From Stadthuys, we crossed a bridge over the Melaka River to get there. The Melaka River is now canalized to resemble an Amsterdam (Netherlands) canal, with a popular river cruise service running along the river.

Melaka River

Once the rich man’s street, Jonker Street is famous for its more than 15 antique shops (antique furniture, Chinese porcelain, brassware, cast iron beds, lamps, etc.).  Also along this street are cafes (Hai Nan coffee, Nyonya cuisine, beer, etc.), several art galleries,  mini-markets and souvenir shops among others. Souvenirs sold here include items made in Melaka, China and other Asian countries (Thai puppets, Balinese masks, etc).

Jonker Street

Local food stalls sell local delicacies such as cendol (a cold mixture of coconut milk, brown syrup made from the local gula melaka, and shaved ice), laksa (spicy noodle soup), durian puffs, grapes-dipped in chocolate, caramel encrusted kiwis. kaya (a spread made from coconut) filled waffles, etc. The festively-decorated Restoran Famosa, occupying a century-old former goldsmith shop, specializes in dishes served with unique chicken rice balls, actually Hainanese Chicken Rice in the form of golf ball-sized, sticky rice balls cooked in butter and ginger.

Restoran Famosa

Pedestrians here share the same road with passing vehicles and trishaws during daytime but, during weekend night markets (6 PM-12 midnight, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays), the road is closed to traffic and its atmosphere turns carnival-like.

Jonkers Street

A living proof of Melaka’s rich Baba-Nyonya heritage, its buildings are immaculately constructed with elaborate carvings on its pillars and walls.  Also along this street is the Hokkien Huay Kuan, a well-preserved clan house. Its front porch has a pair of symmetrical pillars with dragon relief.  Beyond it are a striking set of door and wall panels with intricate carvings and bold colors. Two rows of Chinese characters frame the entrance door.

Hokkien Huay Kuan (Clan House)

Restoran Famosa Chicken Rice Ball: No. 28-30, Jalan Hang Kasturi, off Jonker Street, 75200 Melaka, Malaysia. Tel: 06-286 0120. Website: www.chickenriceball.com

Jadi Batek Gallery (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia)

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From Beryl’s Chocolate Kingdom, we moved on to the Jadi Batek Gallery, a family-owned batik and handicrafts retailer.   It has a spacious 30,000 sq. ft. gallery.  Though we didn’t buy any of their impressive array of batik and handicrafts merchandise, we did observe, up close, the batik making process.

Jadi Batek Gallery

Batik is a fabric dying method using wax to create patterns and designs. This method makes use of a resist technique; applying areas of cloth with wax (a dye-resistant substance) to prevent them from absorbing colors when the cloth is dipped into dye. Not only as a dye-resistant substance, the wax applied is also used to control colors from spreading out from a particular area to create motif when the dye is painted.  The use of batik has also extended from clothing to everything from home furnishings and table cloths to handicrafts.

In Malaysia, there are two major types of batik: hand-drawn batik and block-printed batik.  We observed the making of the former.  In the hand-drawn batik is usually produced in 4 m. (used for women’s wear) or 2 m. (for men’s wear) lengths.  Designs are drawn on the fabric (cotton, rayon, linen, voile and silk) with hot liquid wax by using a metal object called canting.

Design Outlines Being Drawn on the Fabric

When the wax outlines are done, artists use the brushes to paint the dyes within the outlines. The use of brush allows for the creation of shaded and multi-hued designs.  The fabrics are patterned with floral and geometrical motifs, arranged in various layouts as dictated by current trends.  Besides shirt and dresses, hand-drawn batik is also made into scarves, pareos, craftans and even as framed art.

Brushes are Used to Paint the Dyes Within the Outlines

In block-printed batik, the canting is replaced by a copper block or a wooden stamp with artistically patterned bottom.   The block is dipped into the wax and printed onto the fabric, which is then dip-dyed. Then the wax will be removed and batik with single color is produced. To create multi-colors and complex batik, waxing with different blocks, dying and de-waxing has to be done many times.

A Gallery of Framed Batik Art

Jadi Batek Gallery: 30 Jalan Inai, Off Jalan Imbi,  55100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.  Tel : (60) 3 – 2145 1133.  Fax : (60) 3 – 2141 0179.

Merdeka Square (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia)

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Part of our city tour itinerary and a “must see” is the 8.2-hectare Merdeka Square (Dataran Merdeka or Independence Square), actually a large grassy field used for cricket. Here, thousands of Malaysians celebrated 50 years of nationhood on August 31, 2007.  It is surrounded by many buildings of historical interest.

Kuala Lumpur’s Tallest Flagpole

A 95-m. high flagpole, one of the tallest in the world, marks the spot (with a flat, round black marble plaque) where the British Union Jack flag was lowered and the  Malayan flag was first hoisted at midnight of August 31, 1957. It is located at the southern end of the square.

Royal Selangor Club

On one side of the square is the Royal Selangor Club‘s (founded in 1884) quasi-Tudor-style building.  Originally designed by British architect A.C. Norman and built in 1890, it was later redesigned by architect Arthur Benison Hubback and rebuilt in 1910, with 2 additional wings on either side of the main building.  The club is a place to watch a game of cricket on a Sunday afternoon.

Sultan Abdul Samad Building

In stark contrast across the square is the Mughal-styled Sultan Abdul Samad Building. A famous landmark for Malaysia and KL prior to the building of the Petronas Twin Towers, this unique, Indian Mughal-style  building, designed by British architect A.C Norman, was completed in 1897. Once serving as the Selangor State Secretariat and, later, the Supreme Court during the British era before being abandoned for a number of years, it is now home to Ministry of Heritage, Culture and Arts.

Sultan Abdul Samad Building Clock Tower

This much photographed building also has a 40 m. high clock tower (affectionately dubbed “Big Ben”) topped with a gleaming copper dome and flanked on both sides by two domed towers. Next to it is the original Kuala Lumpur Railway Station built in 1910.

Merdeka Square and Cathedral of St. Mary the Virgin

St. Mary’s Anglican Cathedral, an Early English Gothic style building, was built in 1895. Other notable structures include the National History Museum (formerly the Chartered Bank Building), the Memorial Library (formerly the Government Printer Building, built in 1899), and the Sanitary Board Fountain (built in 1897).

National History Museum

KL Tower (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia)

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After our visit to Petronas Towers, we next walked some distance to the KL Tower, locally called Menara Kuala Lumpur, until we reached the verdant and green Bukit Nanas Forest, the only gazetted forest reserve in the country.  Before anything else, we opted first to have lunch at Bangkok Expresso, which serves Asian, Indochinese as well as Thai cuisine.  We tried the pandan chicken among other dishes. Here, as in many areas in the city, we met up with Filipinos employed in the restaurant. Once done, we walked up to the gate at the base of 94 m. high Bukit Nanas (Pineapple Hill), where the tower stands.  Here, we availed of the free shuttle service, up the hill, to the tower entrance at the upper ground level.

KL Tower

At this level are 9 shops, a fastfood restaurant, a 222-pax, open-air amphitheater, souvenir shops and a mini-theater that shows a documentary, every 15 mins., of the construction of the tower. After paying the entrance fee, we proceeded to the fast speed elevator that brought us up the 335-m. high observation deck.

KL Tower Observation Deck

At its observation deck, we finally manage to get a panoramic, 360° bird’s eye view of the city, better than at its sister landmark as it is actually taller (at 515 m. above sea level) than the Petronas Towers, being built on a hill.  At the deck, we were given hand-held devices with Sony headsets that guided us through each of the windows and explain each of the attractions.  Around the deck are some souvenir shops and some Nikon 30×80 II coin-operated binoculars.

Getting a Better View via a Nikon 30×80 II Coin-operated Binocular

The KL Tower, locally called Menara Kuala Lumpur, was designed to withstand wind pressures of up to 90 mph.  It was built, with 45,000 cu. m. of concrete, over a period of 4 years and was completed on May 1996. Used for communication purposes, its antenna reaches 421 m. (1,381 ft.), currently making it the tallest in Southeast Asia, the second tallest freestanding tower in the world and also ranking it fourth amongst the tallest telecommunications towers in the world (after 553 m. high CN Tower in Canada, the 537 m. high Ostankino Tower in Russia and the 468 m. high Shanghai Tower in China). Here, we clearly saw the Genting Highlands, the Klang Valley and other buildings of Kuala Lumpur, including the Petronas Towers.

A Spectacular View of the City (including Petronas Towers)

The tower’s Islamic tiles, classic Islamic floral and abstract motifs and soothing color combinations reflects the country’s Islamic heritage. Designed with vertical ribs on its external surface, the tower weighs 100,000 tons and was built on freestanding land with no piles.

Bangkok Expresso: The Weld Shopping Center, 76 Jalan Raja Chulan, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Menara Kuala Lumpur: Jalan Puncak, Off Jalan P. Ramlee, 50250 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Tel: 603-2020 5444. Fax: 603-2034 2609.  Email: menara@menarakl.com.my. Website: www.menarakl.com.my. Open daily, 9 AM–10 PM.

National Shrine of St. Anne (Hagonoy, Bulacan)

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National Shrine of St. Anne

First built of stone and brick from 1731 to 1734 by Fr. Juan Albarran, this church was burned down on August 12, 1748. In 1749, it was rebuilt on its present site by Fr. Eusebio Polo  and completed in 1752 by Fr. Buenaventura Roldan. 

It was replaced with a stone church by Fr. Juan Coronado from 1815 to 1836, damaged by fire (which also damaged 30 houses in the town center) in 1856 and enlarged in 1862 by Fr. Manuel Alvarez.  The church was again damaged by during the 1871 earthquake and was repaired in 1872 by Fr. Ignacio Manzanares who strengthened the choir loft’s supporting arches.

Historical plaque installed by the National Historical Institute in 1981

It was intermittently restored in 1936, 1961 (a monumental porte-cochere was added by Fr. Celestino Rodriguez) and from 1968 to 1970 (under Monsignor Jose B. Aguinaldo) which changed much of the design of the façade (the wood trusses and galvanized iron roofing were replaced, roof and main altar painted and the facade coated white and decorated with images placed above pilasters).

Statue of St. Anne

In 1981, a marker bearing a brief history of the church was installed on the church by the National Historical Institute (precursor of the National Historical Commission of the Philippines). In 1991, it was declared a National Shrine.

Statues of Augustinian saints

The church’s Baroque façade, bare of ornamentation (save for volutes founds on the end of the imaginary triangular pediment, circular reliefs and buttress-like pilasters capped with roof tiles), is pierced with 5 windows: three semicircular arched ones and two rectangular ones on the first level.

Main wooden entrance door carved with bas reliefs

A porte-cochere, with a balustraded top, mars the view of the bottom part of the façade. . The façade also sports three semicircular arched entrances (one main and two smaller flanking ones), all featuring antique hardwood doors carved with bas-reliefs.

One of two smaller wooden doors

Four sets of superimposed pilasters, incorporated with Tuscan capitals, divide the facade into two levels (the first smaller than the second) and ending up in a triangular pediment with huge contemporary statues of Augustinian saints flanking that of St. Anne.

Cross with two cherubs

The second level, dominated by a rose window and a tableau of St. Anne and the Virgin Mary in the center, has windows corresponding to the choir loft and partly hidden by the portico.  The entire façade is capped off with a cross held by two cherubs.

The six storey bell tower

The convent beside the church is now the main building of St. Anne’s Catholic School.  The six-storey rectangular  bell tower (originally with five levels , a sixth level and a cupola was added during the latest reconstruction of the church) is also bare of detailed ornamentation except for the balustraded semicircular arch openings and buttresses placed at the corners of the tower.

St. Anne Catholic School

National Shrine of St. Anne: Brgy. Sto. Niño, Hagonoy, Bulacan. Tel: (044) 793-2829. Feast of St. Anne: July 26.

How to Get There: Hagonoy is located 55.6 kms. (a 1.5-hour drive) from Manila an 15.5 kms. (a 40-min. drive) from Malolos City.