THE JEWELS OF TAAL

The sleepy town of Taal is the Philippines’ second heritage town after Vigan (which is now officially known as the Heritage City of Vigan). But aside from its well-preserved and magnificent colonial era houses, Taal also boasts of what can be called as ecclesiastical heritage sites: the Basilica of San Martin de Tours, the Shrine of Our Lady of Caysasay, and the ruins of an earlier church.



In 1572, the Dominicans established the mission of Taal and built the first church from light materials three years later in what is now San Nicolas during the administration of Fr. Diego de Espinar (OSA). This was replaced by a stone church in 1642 that was destroyed during the eruptions of the Taal Volcano in 1749 and 1754. The church was moved to its present site in 1575 where, after a year, a new structure was started to be built that was completed in 1782 under the successive supervisions of Fr. Martin Aguirre (OSA), Fr. Gabriel Rodriguez (OSA), and Fr. Jose Vitoria (OSA). This was probably destroyed and another was again built by the Augustinian Recollects in 1787 that was razed during a raid of moro pirates in 1798. Fr. Valeriano de San Pascual probably had the church rebuilt in 1839 that was probably again destroyed during the 1849 earthquake and the 1852 eruption of the volcano. The present church --- reputed to be the biggest colonial church in Southeast Asia --- was started to be constructed in 1856 under the supervisions of Fr. Marcos Anton and Arch. Luciano Oliver. It was finished in 1878 during the administration of Fr. Agapito Aparicio. Fr. Jose Sancho had the bell tower built from 1884 to 1888 that was destroyed in 1942. The church underwent restoration in 1972 and was declared as a national shrine in 1974.

Not as big and regal but perhaps more popular for pilgrims is the nearby Shrine of Our Lady of Caysasay. In 1603, a fisherman named Juan de Maningkad found what is now known as the image of the Caysasay Virgin while fishing in the river. The image was said to frequently appear in the place where it was found and, in 1611, a church of light materials was built in the area. This was replaced in 1639 by a stone church that was damaged during the 1754 and 1852 eruptions of the Taal Volcano. The church was rebuilt in 1856 only to be damaged again during the 1867 earthquake. It was later repaired and improved under the supervisions of Fr. Marcos Anton, the Italian painter Cesar Alberoni, and Fr. Agapito Aparicio. It has undergone renovations since then. The image of the Caysasay Virgin is enshrined in the church except on Fridays when it is brought to the Basilica of St. Martin de Tours.



A short walk from the shrine is the ruins of an earlier church that was destroyed by the eruptions of Taal Volcano. The waters of a spring emanating from the ruins is said to be miraculous. But to have the miracle, one must ask permission from an image of the Virgin Mary who is said to be guarding the spring. This is what we did as our little boy guide instructed us.



From Taal and after the town of Lemery is Calaca whose centuries old church is mostly intact and unspoiled by “renovations, improvements, and restorations”. And then a national heritage site.

National Heritage Site: A Filipino House of God


A short ride from Calaca is Balayan (yes, of the famous lechon parade) where Fr. Francisco de Santa Maria (OFM) built the first church built of light materials in 1579. The mission was handed over to the Jesuits in 1591 who had a stone church built in 1749. It was again handed to the secular clergy in 1753 who built the present church, to the Augustinian Recollects in 1876, then finally to the Filipino clergy in 1908. The church --- dedicated to the La Imaculada Concepcion --- is one of the few whose construction was supervised by Filipino priests. It was declared as a national heritage site of the National Commission on Culture and Arts.

Nothing is more welcome after a grueling visita iglesia around the Taal Lake than a refreshing bowl of spaghetti from Sonia’s Garden in Alfonso, Cavite. The noodles are firm and served with a selection of panahog: fried salmon, creamy and chunky chicken sauce, sun dried tomatoes, something-that-looked-like-green-peppers and have seen only in Lifestyle Channel, sautéed mushrooms, and a generous supply of grated parmesan cheese. There’s even a bowl of langka fruit which I presume is for refreshing the palate. To date, it’s the best spaghetti I’ve ever had and the most expensive too. A fitting finale to the most expensive and French-sounding lunch I’ve had in my whole life at Antonio’s in Tagaytay City a night earlier.

PHOTOS EXPLAINED (top to bottom): (1) Taal municipal hall, (2) Tall Basilica, (3) Shrine of Our Lady of Caysasay, (4) Caysasay church ruins, (5) Calaca church, (6-8) Balayan church, (9) a spaghetti dinner at Sonia’s Garden, and (10) my Frenchy 2k+ dinner at Antonio’s.

OUR PANCIT

We are a pancit loving and eating family.

For us, pancit is not just a birthday thing. It’s an everyday fare.

Every breakfast is a bowl of instant mami or a plate of instant canton until Bulan got hospitalized for urinary tract infection. From there on, its pancit prepared the hard way for us.

Misua with ground pork or meat balls and garnished with thinly sliced patola is a regular breakfast fare (and sometimes dinner too).

Bihon and canton or a combination of both are weekend staples when we have time to cook. We like ours kumpletos recados with shelled shrimp, boiled and sliced pork liempo, boiled chicken pitso strips, and a rainbow mixture of vegetables (i.e. thin strips of red bell pepper and orange carrots, chopped dark green kinchay, diagonally sliced dark green Baguio beans, middle green strips of sayote, and shredded light green cabbage). And this should have a thick sauce left after the cooking because we prefer eating it with rice ala pancit kanin. Of course, a head of calamansi should spike each plateful.

And nobody cooks it better than my Bostsip. She has a simple but mean recipe for spaghetti too: aldente pasta and a thick sauce of ground beef or pork sautéed in Italian-style tomato sauce. Not too sweet for us and a generous topping of shredded cheese.

We also cook mami for merienda or when the kids are sick. And we have 2 different version of the batchoy: Bostsip’s recipe of almost dinuguan except for the soup, misua, dahon ng sili and ginger; and mine as passed to me by best man Toto of OPI (i.e. beef atay, pork and/or chicken strips, shredded cabbage, and ground crunchy chicharon).

Eating out, we go to Thelma’s Pancit Malabon and Pepita’s (i.e. spaghetti, sotanghon, bihon, palabok) at the Science City of Munoz, and Dacoco’s in San Jose City. Personally, I prefer the freshly cooked guisadong bihon in Guimba’s public market. But I never got to find that carinderia again.

PANSIT BATO

Camarines Sur to me is the sleepy town of Baao --- home to Sen. Joker Arroyo, Fr. Joaquin Bernas, and the first Filipino bishop of the Roman Catholic church --- and the quaint ancestral house of the Bismontes where we always stayed. Ever our gacious hosts are Pare Dante and his kumander who pampered us with sumptuous Bicolano fare: laing, pinangat, home prepared pili nuts, and various interpretations of the gata (i.e. santol, gulay, isda, etc.). He is of course a third of the Packard Boys triumvirate with me and Pare Eboy.



PHOTO EXPLAINED: That’s me (left) and Pare Dante in Jakarta with Pare Eboy taking the picture. We walked the streets of Bangkok a few months earlier.

On my last visit, Pare Dante obliged my pancit fetish by preparing the Rinconada District’s famed Pancit Bato. We bought the noodles and rekado (i.e. soy sauce, Knorr flavors, oil, onion and garlic) at a nearby store then went to a fish farm to catch a couple of bibes. Pare Dante said that Pancit Bato is perfect with dinuguan that the bibe will be done with. Ka Awi prepared the pancit and Elias the dinguan (from the innards, some of the pitso, and of course the blood). We had a feast and it was indeed a perfect combination.



Baao is an old town having been established when the first church was built in 1684 at the junction of Langoay and Bahay rivers. The church was later destroyed by a typhoon in 1706 and replaced by a second one in 1720. Another church was built when the town was transferred to its present site probably in 1731. This was damaged by the 1811 earthquake and has undergone repairs in 1848 and 1870. Several more renovations were done since then making the church is almost new. Erected in front of the church is a monument to Bishop Jorge Barlin, the first Filipino bishop, who was born in Baao in 23 April 1850. He was consecrated as a bishop in 29 June 1906 and gave the invocation during the opening of the first Philippine Assembly in Manila on 16 October 1907. He died in Rome in 4 September 1909.

Profiles: The Churches of Nabua and Buhi


CHURCH OF THE HOLY CROSS (NABUA, CAMARINES SUR). Nabua was established by the Franciscans in 1578 when the first church was also built. This was razed by fire in 1610 and replaced by another structure that was destroyed by a typhoon in 1611. A stronger church was built from 1630 until 1656. This was probably destroyed and another church --- the present one --- was built and completed in 1700. Repairs were made on the roof in 1878 and in the earthquake-damaged bell tower between 1890 and 1894.



CHURCH OF SAN FRANCISCO DE ASSIS (BUHI, CAMARINES SUR). The Franciscans established the mission of Buhi in 1605. What was probably the first church was built near the town’s lake and destroyed by a fire in 1730. A new church was built in 1735 and destroyed again after sustaining damages from various earthquakes. The present church was built under the supervision of Fr. Angel Malumbre (OFM) between 1870 and 1884. Repairs were made to the roof between 1889 and 1890. The church has been extensively renovated since then.