The Ancestral Houses of Taal (Batangas)

Posted on by — Leave a reply

After exploring the town’s plaza, Jandy and I proceeded by car to M.M. Agoncillo St., the town’s main street and site of many of the town’s large, well-appointed and well-preserved bahay na bato (stone ancestral houses).   Most were built by the immensely rich and aristocratic illustrado merchant class   who made an economic windfall in 1841, planting Mexican coffee beans which flourished in the rich and fertile volcanic soil of Taal.   However, the town’s role as the province’s premier commercial hub declined in the 1890s due to a coffee disease caused by the bayombong worm.  Many of the prominent Taalenos actively participated in the revolutionary struggle.

Marcela M. Agoncillo Street

These massive and stately, 200-year old mansions, with their carved wooden eaves, solid stone foundations, “kissing”  balconies and brick roofing, exude Moorish influence.  They include the Felipe Agoncillo Mansion and Monument, the well-preserved Ylagan-De la Rosa Ancestral House (registered with the National Historical Institute in 1998), the Gliceria Marcela de Villavicencio Ancestral Home (33 Parella cor. Del Castillo St., not open to the public)and the Ananias Diokno Ancestral House (the former home of revolutionary general Ananias Diokno,  it now houses the totally inappropriate Powerhaus Fitness Clinic).

Ylagan-De la Rosa Ancestral House

A number have been been converted to museums managed by the National Historical Institute (Marcela M. Agoncillo Museum and Monument and Leon Apacible Museum and Library) while Casa Punzalan has been converted into a pension house, Taal’s first. The Eulalio Villavicencio Ancestral House is now a boarding house.  Casa Calanog and Casa Montenegro, both facing the basilica, feature copious and superbly rendered capiz windows, all having cloud-shaped capiz transoms.

Ananias Diokno Ancestral House

Ananias Diokno Ancestral Home: 2 R. Diokno St., Taal, Batangas

Casa Calanog: Brgy. Poblacion 7, Taal, Batangas

Casa Montenegro: Brgy. Poblacion 7, Taal, Batangas

Gliceria Marcela de Villavicencio Ancestral Home: 33 Parella cor. Del Castillo St., Brgy. Poblacion 2, Taal, Batangas

Ylagan-De la Rosa Ancestral House: Brgy. Poblacion 12, Taal, Batangas.

The Twin Wishing Wells of Sta. Lucia (Taal, Batangas)

Posted on by — Leave a reply

Later, Jandy and I proceeded to to the back of the Chapel of the Virgin of Caysasay where we ascended the 5-m. wide Chinese granite (“piedra china”) stairway called Hagdan-Hagdan.  This stairway was built in 1850 by Fr. Celestino Mayordomo to replace the original adobe stairs.  

Hagdan-Hagdan

After the first flight, we crossed over the railing and proceeded down a well-defined dirt path to the Twin Wishing Wells of Sta. Lucia.   This is the spot where the 2 Marias found the image.  It has a Chinese-inspired (supposedly erected by ethnic Chinese) coralstone arch with a bas-relief of the Virgin of Caysasay.

Twin Wishing Wells of Sta. Lucia

Underneath are two wells, the waters of which are reputed to have miraculous healing and therapeutic powers.  Devotees usually pray at the grotto to the Virgin at the back, wish and light candles and then take baths at the wells.  The waters of the left well, said to cure head injuries, is for the initial bath and the waters of the second well, for healing the body, is for “rinsing.”  Returning back to Hagdan-Hagdan, we reached the San Lorenzo Ruiz Arch, renamed after the first Filipino saint, after 125 steps and 3 flights.

Chapel of the Virgin of Caysasay (Taal, Batangas)

Posted on by — 3 Comments ↓

Returning to my car which was parked at an empty lot across the street, we proceeded up along M.M. Agoncillo St. and turned left to a street leading to Taal Coliseum.   Further down the road and fronted by an ugly and inappropriate basketball court is the small and beautiful coral-hewn Chapel of the Virgin of Caysasay. Located in Brgy. Caysasay (better known as Labac), it is home of the 272-mm. high pinewood image of the Blessed Virgin of Casaysay.

Chapel of Caysasay

According to the awe-inspiring folklore of this deeply religious community, the carved wooden image was found in 1603 by Juan Maningkad, an honest fisherman and town chief, caught in a fishnet near the mouth of the Pansipit River.  Some claim its appearance as miraculous and a token of divine favor.  Others say that it was brought by some Spanish soldiers and given to some natives or that it was just lost from a passing or shipwrecked Spanish or Portuguese ship.

It was brought to Fr. Juan Bautista de Montoya, Taal’s prior, and was given a grand religious celebration.  The priest then entrusted the image to Maria Espiritu, widow of a judge, who enthroned it in a precious urn and guarded it zealously.  In spite of her zeal, the image mysteriously and continually disappeared from her niche and reappeared later on.

Informed of these strange excursions, Fr. de Montoya later placed it in a special niche above the main altar of the town’s church.   All the while, the image kept disappearing from the church and reappearing a few days later.  Later, it completely disappeared from the church.  A meticulous search proved fruitless and it was given up for lost.

Several days later, two women, Maria Baguhin and Maria Talain, gathering firewood in the forest, drew water at a water well 7 kms. from Lumang Taal, and discovered the image on a branch of a sampaga tree, surrounded by lighted candles on each side and guarded by a kingfisher (locally called a casaycasay).

It was brought back to the church but again regularly disappeared, reappearing at its chosen haven near the well.  Henceforth, the image was called the Virgin of Caysasay and a provisional chapel was erected in 1611 near the spot.

The present 50 m. long and 10 m. wide reef-stone chapel, located on a deep ravine by the right bank of the Pansipit River, was started in 1639 under the direction of its then parish priest, Fr. Alonso Rodriguez. Its roof was partially destroyed by ash and boulders during Taal Volcano’s 1754 eruption and the walls and the towers fell during the December 24, 1852 earthquake.

The church was later reconstructed in 1856 but was again damaged during the 1867 earthquake.  Fr. Marcos Anton repaired it, clothed the image of the Virgin with pure gold, installed a new altar and built an iron balustrade around the main altar.  The Italian artist Cesar Alberoni decorated its beautiful interior.   An organ was bought in 1880 from the famous organist, Don Doroteo Otorel (they previously installed the organs at Manila Cathedral and at Oslob’s church), in Palencia (Spain).

The chapel altar

The chapel has a central cross vault and a beautifully painted dome embellished with small windows.  Behind the main altar is the sacristy housing the niche of Blessed Virgin of Casaysay.  It is reached by a small staircase. Adjacent to the chapel is the hewn stone orphanage managed by the Oblate Sisters of the Holy Spirit. Formerly the convent, it was allegedly built in the mid-19th century by a Chinese maestro de obra.

The chapel pulpit

The image is transferred from its special niche in the Basilica of St. Martin of Tours to the chapel every Thursday and returned on Saturday afternoon, a continuous tradition since 1857 interrupted only in 1952 when then Bishop (and later Cardinal) Rufino Santos ordered the image’s permanent enshrinement at the sanctuary.  This controversial decree caused great apprehension and was resolved only when, upon the request of many of Taal’s fervent devotees, the tradition was revived.

The beautiful ceiling

On December 8, 1954, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, the image was canonically crowned by Spanish Cardinal Fernando Quiroga y Palacios, Archbishop of Santiago de Compostela and official representative of Pope Pius XII.  Since then her feast is celebrated on that day and is highlighted by the Taal river festival.

Chapel of the Virgin of Caysasay: Brgy. Tatlong Maria, Taal, Batangas.

Basilica of St. Martin of Tours (Taal, Batangas)

Posted on by — Leave a reply

On a hilltop overlooking the park, accessed by a broad flight of stairs and unobstructed by any edifice, is the majestic  Basilica of St. Martin of Tours.  Measuring 88.6 m. long, 48 m. wide and 95 m. high, it is the biggest in the country and is reputed to be the biggest in the whole of East Asia.  The first church on the half-hectare site was built by Fr. Martin Aguirre in 1755 but was destroyed during the 1849 earthquake.

Basilica of St. Martin of Tours

The famed Spanish architect Luciano Oliver was commissioned by parish priest Fr.  Marcos Anton to design the present big church.  He arrived in Taal in 1857 and managed its construction from 1858 until its official inauguration (although unfinished) in 1865.  Adobe quarried and cut from riverbanks in Barrio Cawit were used as building blocks for its thick walls.  The church was finally completed by Fr. Agapito Aparicio in 1878. It was made into a basilica on December 8, 1954 and was restored in 1972 by the Taal Quadricentennial Council, in time for the 400th anniversary of the town’s founding.   The church was declared a National Shrine on January 16, 1974 by virtue of Presidential Decree No. 375.

Basilica interior

The elegant 28-m. high, two-storey “Baroque” facade is unconventional yet exudes a character of stability and permanence.  It has two levels of 12 columns each, the lower, standing on pedestals, is Doric while the upper and shorter level, supporting the cornice of the entablature on top, is Corinthian.   In between every pair of columns at the lower level are five doors of different sizes and type of arches with the largest at the center.  Above it are semi-circular arched windows.  In between the paired columns at the upper level are semi-circular arched windows with depressed or triangular-shaped segmental canopies above it.   At the edge of the entablature are three pediments: triangular at both sides and half moon at the center.   From my point of view, this Palladian-style structure has a look of a Roman villa, manor or a government office building rather than that of a church.

The magnificently large and cavernous interior has a grand transept and three naves, with the central nave bounded by twelve pillars, six on each side.  Behind the main entrance, supported by two huge pillars and hemmed in by a wooden balustrade, is a choir loft.   On the right side of the nave, attached to a pillar nearest the altar, is a beautiful canopied pulpit.  At the end of the left nave is the Altar of St. Martin of Tours, Taal’s patron saint (its feast is celebrated on November 11), and at the end of the right nave is the altar of the Virgin of Caysasay, designed by Arch. Ramon G. Orlina and built in 1972. The circular baptistery  with its marble font and European-made floor tiles, was built by Fr. Agapito Aparicio in 1878 and repaired by Fr. Antonio Javan after a fire in 1959.

Pulpit

The 24 m. high and 10 m. wide main altar has a badalchin on top supported by 6 columns.  At the center is a huge, ornate silver tabernacle with ornamental sunburst on top.   Attached to the high ceiling are five huge chandeliers with the biggest, hanging on the 44.5 m. high cupola above the altar, installed during the town’s 1972 quadricentennial.  Behind the facade’s walls is a truncated mass of stones, former site of the short bell tower destroyed in the 1942 earthquake.  The present truncated and massive, stone and lime bell tower is accessed by an 18-inch wide winding stairway and has a spectacular view of the town, Taal Lake, the narrow but scenic Pansipit River, tranquil Balayan Bay and the surrounding countryside.  To the right of the basilica is the adjacent school run by Benedictine Sisters since 1945.  Formerly the convent, it was built together with the present church and its tiled roof, as well as that of the church, was replaced by galvanized roofing sheets in 1946.  The facade was restored by Fr. Eliseo Dimaculangan, after typhoon damage in 1970.

Southern Luzon’s Heritage Village (Taal, Batangas)

Posted on by — Leave a reply

Jandy and I checked out of Villalobos Lodge in Lemery by 6 AM, had an early breakfast at the town  and drove beyond the small bridge (Lemery’s boundary with Taal) over the Pansipit River to Taal’s poblacion (town center)  which was zoned and patterned by Spanish architects after the town of Albuquerque in Spain.

Taal Park

Our first stop was the town’s stately municipal hall, the former Spanish-era Casa Real.  It was built from 1846 to 1850 by Augustinian Fr. Celestino Mayordomo.  Directly in front is the wide, landscaped Taal Park with its mercury lights and statues of Jose Rizal (installed by Banaag Nang Tagumpay), Apolinario Mabini (installed by the Malvarian Society on December 1928), A Los Heroes Nacional (installed by La Sociedad La Patria on May 20, 1929) and the newer one of Marcela Agoncillo (installed January 20, 1979).  This central area was restored in 1976 during the administration of Mayor Corazon A. Caniza.

Taal Municipal Hall (Casa Real)

To the left of the basilica is the former Escuela Pia, now Taal’s Cultural Center.  It was built by Fr. Aniceto Aparicio in 1885 and was restored by the Taal Arts and Culture Movement in cooperation with the National Historical Institute.  It was made into a National Historical Monument by virtue of Presidential Decree No. 260 (August 1, 1973), Executive Order No. 375 (January 14, 1974) and Executive Order No. 1505 (June 11, 1978)

Taal Cultural Center (Escuela Pia)

Church of St. Bartolomew (Nagcarlan, Laguna)

Posted on by — Leave a reply
From the Nagacarlan Underground Cemetery, we proceeded to the Nagcarlan town proper. A notable feature of this town is its old and narrow 3-storey Spanish-era houses surmounted by small watchtowers.  In those days, ostentatious displays of wealth were frowned upon so that the lot sizes were made quite small.  To get around this restriction, the wealthy residents built up rather than outward.  Hence, the tall structures. 
      
Church of St. Bartolomew
 
Opposite the market is the town’s tiered-wall St. Bartholomew Church.  It was first built of light materials in 1583 by  Fr. Tomas de Miranda.  The second church, of brick and stone, was built in 1752 by Fr.  Cristobal Torres but was badly damaged by fire in 1781.  It was repaired by Fr. Atanacio de Argobajo soon after and continued by Fr. Fernando de la Puebla who also built the four-storey bell tower. Fr. Vicente Velloc restored it in 1845 in “Laguna Baroque” style and added a choir loft.   
       
The church’s facade has a semicircular arched main entrance flanked and topped by semicircular arched windows.  The super-positioned orders consists of coupled columns on the first level and single columns (reaching only halfway on the walls) on the second.  Its pediment has a Baroque-inspired slightly curved raking cornice. The unusual bell tower is topped by Muslim-inspired crenelations.  Built on alternating layers of stone and brick, its blue and white tiles impart a Moorish tone to an interior which features fine woodcarving in its 3 tableaus of antique santos, stained glass windows depicting Jesus Christ and the saints and a unique depiction of Purgatory in mural.

Underground Cemetery (Nagcarlan, Laguna)

Posted on by — Leave a reply
Underground Cemetery

Jandy and I left San Pablo City early in the afternoon of Easter Sunday.  It was just a short 14-km. drive from the city to Nagcarlan, passing by the tuba and lambanog-producing town of Rizal (formerly a barrio of Nagcarlan called Pauli).  Along the way, you can’t help but notice bamboo scaffolding linking coconut trees used by tuba gatherers.  Nagcarlan is Laguna’s vegetable garden and is the  biggest supplier of sweet lanzones (harvested  September to November) to Manila.  

Legend has it that the town’s name was a corruption of the name of Ana Kalang, a rich and generous benefactress much love by the townspeople.  Her name was eventually corrupted by speech to the more mellifluous Nanang Clara and Nang Clara before it became Nagcarlan.  In time, the town bore that name.   

Our first stop, before reaching the poblacion, was the Underground Cemetery, the first and only one of its kind in the country.  We parked our car at the service station opposite it. From this vantage point, I couldn’t help but admire its restored scrollwork-decorated octagonal red brick walls and  elaborate wrought iron gates.  Upon entering, we were ushered into an  enclosed circular garden surrounded by 240 above-ground crypts similar to Manila’s Paco Cemetery.  At the opposite end of the red tiled walkway is a dome-like chapel atop a hillock.  Quite spooky.

Entrance to Underground Cemetery

The first thing we saw upon entering the chapel is the Sto. Entierro, the glass bier of the dead Christ, at this time enshrouded.  The planked ceiling was water-damaged and in dire need of repair.  We were welcomed by the caretaker who narrated the history of the place.

An exclusive burial ground for Spanish friars, the cemetery was built in 1845 by Franciscan Fr. Vicente Velloc (or “Belloc” as spelled by some artifacts or documents). The crypt was a secret meeting place of Katipuneros in the 1890s and the historic Pact of Biak-na-Bato was first planned here by Pedro Paterno and Gen. Severino Taino in 1897.

In 1898, Emilio Jacinto, the “Brains of the Katipunan,” was captured here after being wounded in an encounter in Mahabang-Tanaw in Majayjay.  The Underground Cemetery was made into a National Shrine on August 1, 1973 by virtue of Presidential Decree No. 260 and again by Exec. Order No. 1505 on June 11, 1978. 

Still in use until 1981, the chapel was built in a strange arabesque style and has blue and  white tiles.  We went down the  stairs leading down to the underground crypt which contain tombs and burial plaques. I was, however, not allowed to take pictures or videos.   According to the caretaker, Fr. Velloc  also  built an  underground passage leading to 5 underground chapels where he was said to have held solitary masses.  Very spooky indeed.  It is also said to have continued all the way to Mt. Banahaw. The passage was then sealed off and its location now unknown.  Our visit ended, we signed the customary guest book and left.

Nagcarlan Underground Cemetery: open Tuesdays to Sundays. Admission is free.  Donations are needed and welcomed.

The Lakes of San Pablo City (Laguna)

Posted on by — 1 Comment ↓

San Pablo is also known as the “City of the Seven Lakes” and number one on my list of places too see is these lakes.   Within the city limits are 7 (actually 8 including a very small one) crater lakes of extinct volcanoes, all with scenic charm and worth seeing.  Total aggregate area is 210 hectares.  Leaving our car at the cathedral grounds, Jandy and I walked towards the City Hall where, as told to us by residents, the 105-hectare Sampaloc Lake could be found. It is the largest, nearest and most accessible of all the lakes.  The other lakes have an aggregate area of 34 hectares.

Sampaloc Lake

We viewed the circular Sampaloc Lake from the massive stone balustrade off the street above the lake.  It is also best viewed from the stone benches and picnic tables of the small Dona Leonila Park located adjacent to the City Hall and accessed by an 89-step concrete stairway (built 1912 to 1916).

According to legend, there once lived a well-to-do but childless couple with a large orchard of tamarind (sampaloc) trees which bore the sweetest fruits in all the land.  Proud and selfish, they fenced in the orchard and placed a big watchdog to guard it.  God was not pleased with the selfish couple.

He sent a fairy disguised as an old and hungry woman beggar to beg for some of their fruit.  They refused to give her any and instead let the watchdog loose to bite the woman.  Before turning away from the inhospitable spot, the old beggar touched the tree with her wrinkled, skinny hands and told the couple “You shall be punished for your selfishness.”

After she left, a terrible storm broke out with heavy rain falling throughout the night.  The following morning, a vast expanse of water covered what used to be the couple’s orchard.  Through the transparent waters, the dark mass of the tamarind trees still rooted to the sunken ground, could be seen.  From that day onwards, it was called Sampaloc Lake.

The lake is 1 km. across and 27 m. deep and has a fairly large river flowing through it.  A 4-km. cemented peripheral road (Dagatan Blvd.) encircles the lake which also serves as a walking path.  Around the lake are floating fishpens and cages (bangus and tilapia), water hyacinths (a special variety used for sandal weaving) and several lakeside restaurants (serving Filipino and Chinese cuisine) standing on piles along the shore.  The massive silhouette of Mt. San Cristobal forms a beautiful background on the east.

Lake Calibato

After exploring Sampaloc Lake, we retraced our way back to the cathedral and our car.  Driving south along Narcarlan Road, we parked within the entrance of Villa Reyes in Brgy. Sto. Angel (within is Kalibato Lake Resort).  From there, we made a 500-m. walk along a dirt track to the edge of Calibato Lake. It also has fishpens and has a fine view of Mt. San Cristobal and Mt. Banahaw.

According to legend, hundreds of year ago the place was once a beautiful valley with many kinds of verdant trees beneath which are numerous stone-covered paths called Cali-Cali.  It was inhabited by simple, peaceful and hardworking people who gathered firewood, picked fruits and hunted wild animals in the nearby mountains using the Cali-Cali.

The time came when no more wild animals were left.  Diwata, the goddess of the mountain, was deeply concerned.  She disguised herself as an old woman, going from place to place and observing how the people lived.  To her dismay, she found out that the people were living luxuriously beyond their means.

To punish them she sent a big storm into the valley, creating a fearsome flood that poured from the mountain and submerging everything in its path – trees, people, houses and the Cali-Cali.  Diwata followed this up with a strong earthquake.  The next day, people from the other side of the mountain saw a lake where the valley used to be. They named the lake Calibato after Cali-Cali and bato, the stones that covered the path.

With our limited time, we were not able to visit the other lakes (Malabunot Lake, Mohicap Lake, Palakpakin Lake,Pandin Lake and Yambo Lake) as we had to return to Manila.  Visiting the lakes involve varying amounts of hiking and some tourists may need the local guides to get there.  Just the same they are all worth visiting.

San Pablo Cathedral (San Pablo City, Laguna)

Posted on by — Leave a reply

Jandy and I were on our way back to Manila from Sariaya (Quezon) when we got caught up in a horrendous traffic jam in San Pablo City.  Quite tired and hungry, we decided to leave the traffic, stay overnight in the city and leave for Manila the next day.  We went around the city looking for a place to stay before deciding on the City Inn Hotel.  Here, we got an airconditioned room with bath and TV.  After watching the Kirk Douglas classic Spartacus, a Holy week staple, in the comfort of our room, we retired to sleep.

The next day, Easter Sunday, we decided to explore, in detail, what this rapidly developing Southern Tagalog city had to offer.

San Pablo Cathedral

Upon departing our inn, we first decided to make a belated visita iglesia to the city’s San Pablo Cathedral for prayers.  The church was first built with light materials by Fr. Mateo Mendoza in 1586 and the second, made of brick and stone, was built in 1629 by Fr.  Hernando Cabrera.  The present building was built in 1714 by Fr. Francisco Eloriaga on a foundation laid down by Fr. Juan Labao in 1680.

Its Neo-Classical facade has superimposed coupled Doric columns and windows crowned with triangular and segmented pediments on the second level.  Two balustrades, mounted on rectangular piers, flank the unique pediment embellished by a centrally located decorative round window.  On its left is a 4-storey bell tower with semicircular arched windows and topped by a pointed roof.

City Inn Hotel: 126 C. Colago Ave., San Pablo City, Laguna.

Rodriguez/Gala Residence (Sariaya, Quezon)

Posted on by — Leave a reply

Saturday was a rest day, so we decided to go swimming at the  private swimming pool of the Rodriguez/Gala Residence.  Designed by Arch. Juan Nakpil, this American-era residence was built in the 1930s by Dr. Isidro Rodriguez (a relative of Jun) and Dona Gregoria Gala and its furniture was designed by Gonzalo Puyat.

Rodriguez/Gala Residence

In the 1940s, during the war, its second floor was occupied by Japanese Army officers (the family stayed at the ground floor) and was bombed during the liberation.  The first bomb exploded in the front gate, the second blasted a huge, 20-ft. deep hole (from where the big swimming pool was built) and the third, a dud, went through the roof and got stuck in the stair banisters.

Swimming at the Rodriguez/Gala Residence

Before leaving Sariaya, we decided to take home some of the  towns famous mazapan sweets for pasalubong. Sariaya’s other pasalubong options include pinagong apas (turtle-shaped bread), espasol, broas, ube halaya and agit-it and woven buntal and buri products.  We also visited the Sina-Una Arts and Antique Shop along the national highway (in front of the public market).  Antiques sold here include wood carvings, period furniture, cherubs, aparadors, ceramics, angelitos and santos.  

Rodriguez/Gala Residence: 44 Rizal St., Sariaya, Quezon