Category Archives: Museums

Leon C. Apacible Museum and Library (Taal, Batangas)

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Returning to our car, I drove further up the street, across Taal National High School, to the Leon C. Apacible Museum and Library, ancestral house of Leon and Matilde Apacible.  Leon Apacible, son of Don Vicente Apacible and Catalina Castillo, was Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo‘s finance officer and was a delegate to the Revolutionary Malolos Congress of 1898.  This extremely well-preserved bahay na bato home to 4 generations of Apacibles, was remodeled twice, in 1870 and from 1938-40.  It was recognized as a National Historical Landmark and was donated to the government on December 6, 1976 by former town mayor (1975-80) Mrs. Corazon Apacible Caniza, daughter of Leon Apacible, Jr. and Consolacion Noble.  It is now managed by the National Historical Institute with Mrs. Annie Marie Moreno as curator. 

Leon Apacible Museum and Library
Upon entering the house’s foyer, the first thing you would notice is a karitela (horse carriage) restored by the NHI on August 1992.  We were toured by Mr. Oprenilo Canoza.  Below the stairs are displays of old documents, faded photos, a chart showing the family’s genealogy and a 400-year old gallinera said to have been used as a coop for the master’s (and his friend’s) fighting cocks. Upstairs we were shown the house’s extremely well-preserved American Art-Deco interiors with details carved and inlaid into the floor and door trims.  Display cases exhibit the hand-painted fans of Dona Matilde, lace veils, the fans of Corazon when she was five years old, embroidered camisa blouses, and the children’s clothes she wore.

On display at the dining room are blue and white Ming Dynasty Chinese pottery, gilded Florentine wine decanters and a gilt-edged and hand-painted Venetian dinner service. The kitchen, which is still being used by the adjoining house of Mrs. Caniza, is closed to the public.  The family collection of fine antique furniture includes an 18th century hand-carved mahogany divan.  Inside the 2 bedrooms are 19th century vanity tables adorned with 4 oval mirrors inlaid with a hundred tiny circular mirrors; a beautiful carved wooden cabinet with two big mirrors; an early 19th century mahogany cabinet with 3 big mirrored doors;  an 18th century writing desk; a massive escritorio displaying Dr. Galicano Apacible’s 19th century medical equipment and 4-poster beds.   A piano, made in 1870 by M.F. Rachals of Hamburg, Germany, still works.  On the ceiling above the stairs is an 18th century chandelier.   There are also a 16th century statue of the Virgin of the Holy Rosary and 17th century ivory santos.

On the enresuelo (ground floor) are old documents showing Don Leon’s involvement in the revolutionary movement; a 1880 laminated photo of 16-year old Jose Rizal, Don Leon and younger brother Don Galicano as members of Intramuros’ Artist Club; pictures of Don Leon and his family and paintings of the Don Leon’s ancestors.   Underneath the azotea (court garden) is the aljibe (cistern) where rainwater is stored. Also on display are an old cannon, a stone water purifier, horse and cow brands, rice and corn grinders and other artifacts.  

Leon Apacible Museum and Library: M.M. Agoncillo St., Brgy. Poblacion 4, Taal, Batangas.  Open daily, 8 AM-5 PM. Admission is free. 

Marcela M. Agoncillo Museum and Monument (Taal, Batangas)

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The first ancestral house Jandy and I visited was the 2-storey Marcela M. Agoncillo Museum and Monument, ancestral home of the wife of Aguinaldo’s first Secretary, Felipe Agoncillo, and the country’s equivalent to America’s Betsy Ross.  While in exile in Hongkong with husband Felipe, Marcela sewed, with the assistance of her daughter Lorenza and Herbosa de Natividad (National Hero Jose P. Rizal‘s niece) and in the tradition of Taal’s fine embroidery, our first Philippine national flag

Marcela M. Agoncillo Museum and Monument

The house was built in the late 17th century by Marcela’s grandfather, Andres Marino, making it one of the oldest, if not the oldest structure in the town.  Don Felipe and Dona Marcela had six offspring, all daughters who never married. Like most Spanish-era ancestral  houses, the main living quarters were located on the second floor which still has its original wooden floorboards.  The antique furniture, arranged in the Louie XVI (Luis Quince) and Charles XII (Carlos Trece) style, are mixed with Viennese bentwood pieces.

The garden with Marcela’s statue

The house is now managed by the National Historical Institute with Ms. Estela Atienza as curator.  We were toured by Mrs. Sylvia Alvarez who showed us the house’s antique period furniture, a chart showing the family’s genealogy, the library of old Tagalog, English and French books; portraits of Don Andres, Doña Marcela and Don Felipe in the chapel-shaped drawing room (with its carved ceiling and four corner angels), capiz windows and a display of the different flags of the revolution at the basement.  Beside the house, and accessible by a steel gate from the street, is a garden with flagpoles displaying the Katipunan and revolutionary flags as well as a bronze statue of Dona Marcela presenting the new flagsculpted by Florante Caido and inaugurated on February 14, 1985.   

Marcela M. Agoncillo Museum and Monument: M.M. Agoncillo St., Brgy. Poblacion 4, Taal, Batangas. Open Mondays-Fridays, 8 AM-5 PM, admission is free.

Stopover at Bontoc (Ifugao)

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Bontoc Village Museum

After a 4-day stay in Sagada, Jandy and I left in a jeepney bound for Bontoc, the Ifugao provincial capital, early in the morning of April 11, Black Saturday.  The 18-km. trip took all of an hour and we arrived at the provincial capital’s municipal plaza by 11 AM. From here, we were to take another jeepney bound for Banaue (Ifugao).  The 396.1 sq. km. Bontoc, the biggest town in the Cordillera heartland and the Bontoc Igorot’s cultural center, lies 3,000 ft. above sea level in a trough formed by the eastern and central ranges of the Cordillera mountains in the Chico Valley.

With curator Sister Teresita Nieves Valdes

We still had time to spare before the jeepney leaves for Banaue, so we did some sightseeing. We walked to nearby Catholic ICM Sisters’ convent and the St. Vincent’s Elementary School and visited the Bontoc Village Museum. Also called the Ganduyan Museum, it was established by Mother Basil Gekiere and run by the Belgian ICM missionaries.  The museum presents a good overview of the differences and similarities between the mountain tribes (Bontoc, Kalinga, Kankanai and Tingguian and the Gaddang, Isneg and Ibaloi of the Ifugao).

Jandy at the outdoor museum

Its 4 well-laid out and labeled  rooms features artifacts (woven fish traps, death chair, head basket, ceremonial bowls, ritual backpack, etc.), musical instruments (jew’s harp, zither, flute, etc.), a group of miniature traditional houses, a collection of rocks and fossils from different parts of the Cordilleras and interesting old photos of the Bontocs’ colorful pre-Christian history, including some early 1900s photos of their headhunting days (one shows a beheaded person tied up in a bamboo pole and, another, a burial for such a beheaded person). At the basement is a library with a limited collection of books. There is also a carved wooden chest to put a curse on people and a basket where a chick is placed to awaken the spirits with its constant chirping. Its museum shop sells postcards, carved wood  items and other novelties.  I,  being a postcard collector,  bought a sepia-colored  postcard pack of 6 featuring pictures of the museum artifacts.  I also got to interview Sister Teresita Nieves Valdes, the museum curator.

Banny and me with our sons

We also visited the adjacent outdoor museum with its full-scale model of a traditional Bontoc village including the ulog for maidens and a pit shelter for swine.  On my way out I met my former officemate (Manosa-Zialcita Architects) Jose Bayani “Banny” Hermanos who was also travelling with his wife Carol and two sons.  An avid traveler like me, he is also a professional photographer whose colored photos were featured in The Philippines: Action Asia Adventure Travel Guide.  After our museum visit, we proceeded to the nearby Pines Hotel & Kitchenette for a quick lunch. Then, we went back to the municipal plaza where we boarded the last Banaue-bound jeepney. Here, I befriended sisters Asia and Min-Min, one of which was traveling with her German boyfriend named Tom.  We left Bontoc by 1:30 PM.

Hiking along Bontoc Road (Sagada, Mountain Province)

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We spent the whole afternoon hiking along Bontoc Road. On both sides of the road is the 34-hectare Mission Compound.  It includes St. Theodore’s Hospital (established in 1926), the Rectory, the recently restored Doctor’s Residence, the Girl’s Dormitory (established in 1912) and residence  of American historian William Henry Scott. Across St. Theodore’s Hospital  is the DOT accredited and Episcopalian parish-operated St. Joseph’s Resthouse. Further out along Bontoc Road, on the left, is Sagada Weaving & Souvenir Shop.  Established  in 1978, it produces quality products hand-woven on backstrap looms and supervised by Mrs. Andrea Bondad and daughter Rhoda.  Finished products sold at reasonable prices include backpacks, shoulder bags, tapis (Igorot skirts), wallets and blankets.

Masferre Photographs

Further out along Bontoc Road, at the Bagaan Road Junction, is the Masferre Gallery.  Here, Mrs. Nena Masferre, wife of the late photographer Eduardo Masferre, welcomed us.  In the 1930s, 40s and 50s, through his pioneering skill and sensitivity as a photographer, Eduardo took photographs of the vanishing life and culture in the villages of Mountain Province. Mrs. Masferre showed us the black and white photographs taken by her husband and a few maps and artifacts.

Eduardo, a Spanish mestizo, was born on April 18, 1909, the second of eight children.  He was the son of Jaime P. Masferre, a retired Spanish soldier from Cataluna, who settled in Sagada at the turn of the century, became a coffee farmer, married an Kankanai woman (Mercedes Cunyap Langkew), joined the Episcopal Church and became a minister.  From 1914 to 1921, Eduardo first lived with his family in Spain where he began his education.  After completing his schooling in the Philippines, he became a missionary teacher like his father and then a missionary administrator.  In addition, he took up farming.

In the 1920s, he learned photography from U.S. missionaries.  Returning to photography in 1934, his artistic focus were the mountain people of the Cordilleras with whom he shares part of his heritage.  After World War II, he opened a photographic studio in Bontoc.  In 1951, he married Nena Ogues, a nurse from Kapangan.  The union produced six children.

His grainy, high contrast monochrome photos are displayed here and around the world.  His first exhibit was held in Manila in 1982.  After a second Manila exhibit the following year, his work traveled to Copenhagen (1984) and Tokyo (1986).  In 1988, his third Manila exhibit was mounted.  A book of his work, “E. Masferre: People of the Philippine Cordillera” was also produced.  Mobil Philippines funded the work, provided 1,500 copies to Philippine schools, museums and libraries, and funded the touring exhibit of his works to the cities of Baguio, Cebu, Cagayan de Oro, Davao and Bacolod.

In 1989, Masferre exhibited his works at Les Recontres International de la Photographie in Arles (France), the only Filipino to be accorded such an honor.  In 1990, again with Mobil support, the Smithsonian Institute of Washington D.C. purchased 120 of his impressive original photos and exhibited them for six months at the main rotunda of the American National Museum of Natural History.  They are now carefully archived in the same museum.  He died on June 24, 1995 at the age of 86.

Jandy with Ms. Nena Masferre

Plodding on, we reached a bend opposite the Rocky Valley Inn.  Here, a path lead down to the small Matangkib Burial Cave. However, it was closed due to the recent death of a hapless Irish tourist who slipped and broke his head.  Coffins here are carefully stacked. At  the lower end of the path, to the left of Matangkib burial cave, is the unmistakable mouth of the Latang Underground River.  We didn’t bring along a good flashlight and weren’t prepared for a 15-min./500-m. spelunking hike through  cold, knee-deep waters and a scramble over rocks.  It was late in the day and we made our way back to the inn.

Latang Underground River

The night was chilly and foggy.  Tourists from Manila were beginning to arrive, all looking for places to stay and most without any success.  Even St. Theodore’s hospital beds were rented out (barring any emergencies) for PhP45 per head.  Others camped out on the Mission grounds while others just slept in their vehicles.  Poor fellows.  Sagada has a reputation as a meeting place for travelers and I also made a number of friends during my stay.  Many were guests staying at the inn while the others I met were straying in the town’s  different coffee shops.

Sto. Nino Shrine & Heritage Museum (Tacloban City, Leyte)

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After lunch at Agus Restaurant, Grace, Jandy, Cheska and I, with Manny, Paula, Mark, Nenette, Dad, Mom and Cheska’s new friend Kookie Bal, continued on our tour of Tacloban City, this time visiting the Sto. Nino Shrine & Heritage Museum, one of 29 presidential resthouses built by the late Pres. Ferdinand E. Marcos and Tacloban’s top tourist attraction because of its association with Mrs. Marcos.  This 20-room, colonial-style structure, designed by Arch. Jorge Ramos and built from 1979 to 1981, houses former First Lady Imelda R. Marcos‘ vast collection of art objects from all over the world.  

Sto. Nino Shrine & Heritage Museum

At the ground floor is the 100-pax chapel, lit with beautiful chandeliers from Czechoslovakia; with narra pews and a replica of the image of the Sto. Nino of Leyte (made with Italian ivory) as the altar’s centerpiece.  This is where the Sto. Nino connection ends.  Everything else speaks of the Marcos family, especially the former First Lady.

Posing in front of the replica of the Sto. Nino de Leyte

On the chapel’s periphery, elevated by 2-3 steps, are 13 tastefully decorated guestrooms of varied Filipino motifs, each unique and exceptional as they represent the different regions of the country. Each room had a diorama of the First Lady.

One of the themed guestrooms
At the second floor is a spacious ballroom, a 30-pax dining/conference room and 7 magnificently designed and decorated private bedrooms for the First Family.  Imelda’s bedroom had a very large bathroom.  The whole place just screams grandeur, power and magnificence. 
 
Wooden bas relief of Malakas and Maganda
The whole mansion was furnished with original paintings done by by the late National Artist Fernando Amorsolo, Amadeo Y. Manalad and Malang; the 14 Stations of the Cross done by Filipino painters; priceless furniture; musical instruments; fine English, French and Chinese porcelain; Austrian mirrors; Argentinian and Persian carpets, grandfather clocks; Italian tiles; wooden bas-relief of the legend of Malakas and Maganda, ivory and wooden sculptures of local and foreign  origin; Russian dolls; Chinese Qing Dynasty vases: a whole glass case filled with ivory carvings; and other priceless collectors items. 
 
One of the 7 bedrooms
Sto. Nino Shrine & Heritage Museum: Real St., Tacloban City, Leyte.  Tel: (053) 321-9775. Admission: PhP60 (maximum of 6 per group).  Open daily, 8 AM to 5 PM.  Guided tours from 8 to 11 AM and 1 to 4 PM.

Sentosa Island – Pioneers of Singapore/Surrender Chambers Museum (Singapore)

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Upon arrival at the ferry terminal, we strolled along the Fountain Garden to the eclectic Pioneers of Singapore/Surrender Chambers Museum (opened in 1983).

Fountain Gardens

The Pioneers of Singapore offers a chronological history of the city-state, from the 14th century to the early 20th century, recreated via an animated and narrated tableaux in wax depicting the pre-British period of Malaysian rule, British colonialism, the founding of colonial Singapore by Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles, the Japanese Occupation and the post-colonialist era under Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore’s first Prime Minister.

Pioneers of Singapore

The Surrender Chambers, which depicts Singapore during the World War II years (1941-1945), captures the humiliation of defeat and the joy of victory through the use of rare audio and visual archive material such as photographs and footage, with realistic wax works recapturing the historical moments of the signing of both the British’s humiliating surrender on February 15, 1942 and the Japanese surrender to the Allies on September 12, 1945.

In 1994, the Pioneers of Singapore/Surrender Chambers Museum was extended to include a section called Festivals of Singapore and the attraction was rechristened “Images of Singapore.” The popular wax tableau Surrender Chambers has now been relocated, from Sentosa’s Images of Singapore Museum, to Fort Siloso.

Surrender Chambers

AERA Memorial Museum (Villa Escudero Plantation & Resort, San Pablo, Laguna)

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Part of day tour package of Villa Escudero Plantation & Resort included admission to the resort’s AERA Memorial Museum which houses the priceless collections of Arsenio and Rosario (nee Adap) Escudero.  Begun on June 29, 1923, it is run by the AERA (acronym of the founders’ names) Memorial Foundation.  It is housed in an exact replica of the beautiful San Francisco Church of Intramuros.  The original church was destroyed by heavy American artillery bombardment on February 3, 1945 during the liberation of Manila and the site is now occupied by Mapua Institute of Technology. 

The pink-colored  building took 10 years to build on a massive 7-ft. thick concrete foundation and has a high 200-sq. ft. ceiling with trompe l’ oeil paintings by Benny Cabezada.  Attached to the ceiling are ten chandeliers copied from an Arte Espanol original.  Its display arrangement was said to have taken 3 years to complete.  Ninety percent of the display is family-owned while the rest were donated or acquired by the foundation.

AERA Memorial Museum

The museum’s collection of religious art is its main attraction.   A wooden bas-relief of the Nuestra Senora de Augustia, donated by my late uncle and National Artist, Arch. Leandro V. Locsin, is located by the massive  ornate door made in 1768.  By the way, cameras and videocams are not allowed.   A kamagongSto. Entierro (glass bier of the Dead Christ, circa 1856) carriage fashioned by noted sculptor, Isabelo Tampingco, was formerly from the Sta. Cruz Church of Manila.  It is adorned with 24 batikuling (a local aromatic softwood) cherubs and was donated by Dona Maria Luisa Quiogue (of the funeral parlor chain).

Other displays include an ivory-headed statue of Virgen Dolorosa from a church in Marinduque, a Pieta by Ireneo Cristobal, rows of ivory-headed santos, a granite Chinese fu dog guarding the staircase, an ornate wrought iron pulpit (raised platform used by a preacher) on the right side of the nave, silver sanctuary lamps, statues of Christ with the Cross on his Second Fall, a statue of Christ embracing a molave Cross, silver main altar acquired from Quiapo parish in the 1960s and a massive retablo (altar backdrop) from Agno (Pangasinan).
       
Its non-religious collection includes a couple of 1,400-year old and 1.5-ft. high Chinese Tsu-Chao jars, 12th and 13th century celadon pottery, tear vials of early Roman aristocrats, gilded carrozas (Spanish carriages), life-size dioramas of ethnic tribes in authentic costumes, ethnic artifacts and clothing, antique furniture, paintings, a numismatic display of obsolete coins and money, U.S. astronaut suits, a Philippine and African beetle collection and an extensive freshwater, terrestrial and marine shell collection (including the rare “Golden Cowrie”). 
       
Next to it are a dioramas of stuffed rare and some already extinct Philippine fauna. The only foreign stuffed animal is a big leopard shot during the 1923 Manila Carnival for attacking and killing a dancer.  It was later bought by the Escuderos and mounted.   A properly identified 22,000-piece butterfly collection is at the ground floor gallery.  A walk through our country’s political history is revealed in the display of inaugural suits and gowns of all the past twelve Philippine presidents and their First Ladies, from Emilio Aguinaldo to Corazon Aquino.  There are also costumes of former beauty queens.  Outside are World War II weapons and relics including tanks and cannons.
       
For me, the most unusual (and grotesque) item in the collection is an amazingly preserved, fist-size shrunken head from the Upper Amazon River Indians of Ecuador.  A trophy of war and bravery, it was acquired from a Swedish collector.  Another unusual item is a pen-and-ink portrait of Christ which was donated by an American couple in 1970 and surrounded by cherubs.  I took a closer look with a magnifying glass and it revealed an actual text of the New Testament, from the first word to the last.  

Villa Escudero Plantation & Resort: San Pablo City, Laguna.  Manila booking office: 1059 Estrada St., Malate, Manila.  Tel: (632) 521-0830, 523-0392 and 523-2944. Website: www.villaescudero.com. 

Gallery XI – Our Natural Inheritance (National Museum of Natural History, Manila)

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Gallery XI (Our Natural Inheritance)

Gallery XI (Our Natural Inheritance) of the National Museum of Natural History, focusing on climate change, is where you can learn various environmental issues that the country has been facing over the years.

Check out “National Museum of Natural History”

The electronic globe showing the earth’s biosphere

This gallery starts with a five-minute audio-visual presentation of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites in the Philippines that are protected areas in the country with an introduction into the amazing biodiversity of the country.

Sitting at the center of the adjacent room is an electronic globe showing the Earth’s biosphere and some phenomena affecting the Earth’s climate system such as the 1991 eruption of Mt. Pinatubo, the 1997 El Nino phenomenon and the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami.  It animates ocean currents, phytoplankton movements, tsunamis and more.

Around it are audio-visual presentations with state-of-the-art sound domes of some of the country’s flagship species as well as species recently described in the past decade.

Some of the NIPAS Declared Sites

Gallery XI (Our Natural Inheritance): Phinma North Exhibition Hall, 2/F, National Museum of Natural History,  Agrifina Circle in Rizal Park, T.M. Kalaw Street, corner General Luna Street, Manila. Open Tuesdays – Sundays,   9 AM to 12 noon (cut off time is 11 AM) and 1 to 4 PM (cut off time is 3 PM). Tel: 82981100 local 3000 and 85277889.  E-mail:  cmvod@nationalmuseum.ph or inquiry@nationalmuseumph.gov.ph. Visitors shall be limited to 100 per museum per session. Visitors are required to pre-book online at https://reservation.nationalmuseum.gov at least a day before the visit. Confirmation of booking will be sent through email.Group reservations are limited to five (5) persons only.  Walk-in visitors will NOT be accommodated.  Coordinates: 14°34′59.9″N 120°58′55.9″E.