Sa libro ni Bob Ong na Bakit Baliktad Magbasa ng Libro ang mga Pilipino?, nabanggit niya na ang jeep nating mga Pilipino ang isa sa mga natitira nating tunay na simbolismo. Sabi pa niya, kapag sumakay ka daw ng jeep, hindi ka lang sumasakay sa isang sasakyang panlupa na naghahatid sa mga pasahero sa mga destinasyon nila, ngunit sumasakay din tayo sa isang kultura – ang kultura nating mga Pilipino.

Ngunit ang jeep ay hindi naman talaga nagmula sa Pilipinas. Ito ay unang ginawa noong World War II bilang military jeepneys ng mga Amerikano at dito nila iniwan ang mga ito sa Pilipinas. Simula noong 1945 hanggang ngayon, nakilala ang jeepney sa Pilipinas bilang isang pambansang simbolo – may makulay na palamuti at siksikang mga pasahero.

Ang salitang jeepney ay pinagsamang “jeep” at “Jitney” (isang uri ng taxi na pinagsasaluhandin ng maraming pasahero). Sa Pilipinas, Sarao ang pinakasumikat na jeep manufacturer hanggang sa nasundan na lamang ito ng ilan pang gumagawa sa iba’t ibang bahagi ng Pilipinas.

Kilalang-kilala ang jeep bilang isa sa mga pinakasikat na modes of transportation sa ating bansa. Kadalasan, dalawang tao ang nasa unahan ng jeep – ang driver at ang kundoktor. Ang kundoktor ang bahala sa pagkolekta ng bayad, ngunit kung wala ang kundoktor, ang mga pasahero mismo ang nagpapasa-pasahan ng mga bayad hanggang sa makarating ito ni Manong Driver. Sa tuwing hihinto naman ang isang jeep sa mga terminal, merong barker o dispatcher na tumutulong sa driver para mapuno ang kanyang sasakyan. Isisigaw ng barker ang destinasyon ng byahe, kung ilan na lang ang kulang at kung minsan, kahit siksikan na at wala nang magkakasya, sisigaw pa rin ang barker na pwede pa ang dalawa.

Para naman makababa, kailangang pumara ng mga pasahero. Yan ang kalimitang kultura. Sisigaw ka ng “Para!” para tumigil ang jeep at para makababa ka. Sabi nga ng mga barker, “Ang katok, sa pinto. Sa sutsot, sa aso. At ang para, sa tao.”

Tinatawag din ang jeep na fierra ngunit hindi ito masyadong ginagamit dito sa Pilipinas. Nakilala ang tawag ditong fierra sa isang lumang Pinoy na kantang Ang Fierra ni Juan ay may Butas sa Gulong. Ang jeep ay nakarating na rin sa ibang bahagi ng Africa bilang public mode of transportation.

Ilang linggo na ang nakakaraan, ang BBC TV show na Toughest Place to Be a Bus Driver ay nagpunta sa Pilipinas upang pasubukan sa isang London coach/bus driver ang pagmamaneho ng Pinoy jeep.

Ganyan ang Philippine jeepney, maraming naihahatid, malayo ang nararating, at tatak na sariling atin.

Photo Credit: freewebs.com

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I define San Juan, Batangas in three words: popular, luxurious and festive. Those we’re the words that people would be certain to say after they have toured this place. Not just a place but a paradise of
wondrous panoramas surrounded by this ironic term of Festive Barakos.

And if there is one thing that we Batangueños should be more proud of, that would be the beaches. The province of Batangas is known for long white-sand beaches engulfed with vast blue seas which are evidences of rich marine biodiversity. One of the most famous beaches here lies on the eastern part of the province, the municipality of San Juan. Which I assumed also to be one of the most recognized and competitive municipalities in the province for having magnificent beaches enough to provide the tourists the accommodation beyond their expectation.

For a Batangueño like me, the beaches here give more than enough experience. Usually, my family goes here during summer. That’s why summer days are one of my most awaited seasons every year. Vacation. Moments of fun. Indulgence. These are the things I found in San Juan beaches. That’s why whenever we have getaways, San Juan is our first choice. A 2 ½ hour travel would be not that time consuming for after you have arrived and witnessed the beauty of the beach, it will all be worth it.

There’s always a smile in my face whenever I see the sea waves and hear the sound it makes. It’s relaxing. I could walk forever with my barefoot for as if I am walking on a foamy surface. I see the sunrise and the sunset with a perfect picturesque that everyone can have a perfect shot in every angles. What makes the trip even happier is the company you have. Sharing blissful moments with your family in harmony with nature is an experience that’s truly rewarding.

A luxurious haven. Beach resorts in San Juan gives satisfactory accommodation and recreation to every tourist. There are resorts and hotels in San Juan which provides world-class services such as Acuatico Beach Resort, Estrellas de Mendoza Aplaya Resort, La Luz Beach Resort. Yes, please do take note of that. But still, there are accommodations which are affordable for budget-conscious beach bums.

But there’s more to San Juan other than its white sand beach. San Juan, Batangas is also known for being festive when it comes to presenting the town’s culture, creativity, and hard work. The Lambayok Festival is the reflection of the rich cultural and economic background of San Juan, Batangas.

This is just one of the many Batangueño festivals that everyone should be proud of. The term Lambayok is a contraction of the word lambanog (coconut wine), palayok (clay pot), and karagatan (Filipino term for beach) being its prime sources of livelihood and income. This festival happens on the second week of the month of December.

Different events like street dance parade, court dancing competition, agricultural tourism fair, and the search for Mutya ng San Juan are the highlights of this festival.

I had been reading some facts about Lambayok Festival but it is far better if we could witness this festival personally. The events will surely entice people even from far places to come and visit San Juan
and see for themselves the wonders found in this town. Having this festival serves as a break-through for many opportunities for the promotion of the tourism of this town.

Along with other popular municipalities and cities in the province, or even in the entire country, I know that San Juan, Batangas has a lot of potentials that can be shown and shared to the world. And the world awaits the growth of this municipality.

Beaches and the Lambayok festival are more than true representations of how beautiful San Juan, Batangas is. These are manifestations of hard work and inventiveness which makes me more proud of who and where I do belong – the province of Batangas.

Photos of the Lambayok Festival in the second collage is from WOWBatangas.com.

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Music vs. lyrics. Loud music makes your grandma’s eardrum crack. Loud lyrics… is there such thing as loud lyrics? Continue reading below.

This is another contributed article from Erwin Badiola of Lipa City. Check out his first contribution about everything on earth becoming instant.

For Adults Only: the Real Noise amid Music

I’m not into loud, hardcore music. Really. But I enjoy occasionally listening to System of a Down, Cradle of Filth, Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, Silverstein and the likes when I’m in the mood for some heavy sound.

I was in this kind of mood when my mom saw me headbanging to the beat of Sum 41’s Still Waiting. It wasn’t that hardcore but my mom overreacted as if she caught me smoking crack. That may even be an understatement.

Of course I understood her when she related that kind of music to rebellion, drug addiction and the usual negative misconceptions towards it because people her age usually think that way – which was only natural. It did not even bother me when she stood that that was not music but destructive noise.

Actually, that remained the case until she heard my sister’s scandalously loud message alert tone and danced to the beat of Rihanna’s S and M. I nearly puked. Talk about real hardcore music, I thought.

Sticks and stones may break my bones but chains and whips excite me. That was a line from Rihanna’s hit which made my mother boogey, unmindful of its meaning. S and M. Sodomasochism. As if the title wasn’t obscene enough, Rihanna took the liberty of elaborating it further through its lyrics. Clearly explained, I must say.

Then, as if the words they sing of weren’t understandable enough, enter the artists who went pretty straightforward like Enrique Iglesias in his song Tonight (I’m F***ing You), Katy Perry in her debut hit, I Kissed a Girl and Kanye West in his rap part in a Katy Perry song, Extraterrestrial among a handful others. Sad but this is the kind of music you’ll hear more often over radio stations and music channels. You tell me. Aren’t these songs more alarming than those heavy metal songs your grandmother warned you about?

Despite our inherent ability to spot the negative sides of things, we seem to have this innate inability to hear the negative lines of some songs.

If you think this kind of songs only exist in the international music scene, you probably don’t listen to local FM stations. I could still recall this OPM song entitled Banana which was a parody of Akon’s year-old hit, Right Now (Na Na Na). Upon hearing its lines, you’d perfectly know that this didn’t really pertain to a long, yellow, tropical fruit but to something which Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) thought was malicious, enough reason for them to condemn it from hitting the airwaves for months. Long live CBCP.

I stand neither for the heavy metal rockstars, nor its sound. I stand for morality. I stand for awareness amongst listeners. I stand for the good of the younger audience.

With this kind of songs topping the charts these days, I worry morality will no longer hit the notes in the music scene. I hope not.

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This is an article from our newest contributor, Erwin Badiola of Lipa City. Dig in into the topic and let us know if you share the same sentiments on how the existence of anything that’s instant changed our world.

All of us share a common love – love for anything instant.

Who could contest? As if canned goods weren’t instant enough, we developed easy-to-open tin containers. As if snail-mailing wasn’t fast enough, we were introduced to texting. As if we couldn’t cook quickly enough with good ol’ pots and pans, we invented pressure cooker. As if bodybuilding gyms weren’t good enough, some WWE wrestlers resorted to steroid-injection.

Everything, except GSIS transactions, is slowly becoming instant. Instant oxymoron.

Every day is literally another instant day. We’d start off the day with instant noodles, if not instant coffee, for breakfast. We’d reach out for the remote control to instantly click on the television. We would watch stories of those people who got instantly rich through that crappy Ang Pangarap Kong Jackpot show. Then, we’d order from fast food stores for instant lunch. At night, we’d heat up either canned or microwavable goods for instant dinner. Admit it or not, we do this on a daily basis.

Sadly, we seem to live in a world where anything that does not come in an instant is excruciatingly slow.

This love for anything instant roots back to humanity’s never-ending struggle towards comfort and convenience. Us Batanguenos are no exception.

It was once told that prosperous coffee bean farms flourished all over Batangas as this industry basically started in Lipa. But then we were introduced to instant coffee and embraced industrialization. Philippines could have remained the top coffee producer all over Asia as it was before. Or it could have been something better.

No. I am not hypocritically saying that this development and evolution of things does not benefit us because, in many ways, it really does. I am saying that we should not let this selfish love for everything instant make us do terrible sort of things – the kind which resulted to the unforgettable Quirino Grandstand hostage-taking crisis due to Mendoza’s poorly made decision to instantly claim what he believed was his. That is ancient history, yes, but I don’t think it tells something that’s untimely.

Should we not learn to stop and take some, if not most, things slowly, we would find ourselves inconveniently staring at the end of our pursuit for convenience.

Instant ending.

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Si Toto ay isang mabait at masunuring bata. Mula sya sa isang karaniwan at di gaanong mayamang pamilya. Ang Tatay nya ay isang magsasaka at nagtitinda sa palengke ang kanyang ina. Tulad ng mga tauhan sa ibang mga kwento, madami syang kaibigan. Pero di sila kasali sa maikling kwentong ito, kundi si Toto at ang kanyang mga maikling kwento. Kwentong nakukuha nya sa panaginip. Mga kwentong kapupulutan ga ng aral.

Ang Kambing at si Mang Tomas

Isang gabing makulimlim ang kalangitan. Pero mainit kaya’t nanliligo na sa pawis ang natutulogna si Toto. Bigla syang tumagilid nang higa sa kanilang matigas na papag. Kasabay ng paggalaw ng katawan nya ay ang isang panaginip.
……………………
Kakatapos lang ni Mang Tomas na magpost sa facebook. “Magandang umaga sa mga taga-ilaya at ibaba.”, ang bungad nya. Lumabas sya ng kamalig para gatasan ang paborito nyang kambing. “Kainaman kang kambing ka ah!. Dapat madami ka ng gatas ah. kapiranggot laang ang binibigay mo! tsk.”, wika ni MangTomas sa kambing na nanlalambot na.

Nasabi ng kambing sa sarili, “Hindi naman ho ninyo ako pinapakain nang ayos. Nanghihina na po ako. Pinipilit ko naming gawin ang nais nyo kaya lang di nyo naman ginagawa ang dapat nyong gawin. Hingi kayo nang hingi di naman kayo marunong magbigay. Nagrereklamo pa kayo kapag konti ang nakukuha nyong gatas.”

“Haay… dalawang balde lang ang nakuha ko. Ano ba naman yan. Wala kang pinagkaiba sakambing ni Pareng Tasyo. Ang damot magbigay ng gatas.” ika ni Mang Tomas.

“E yan lng ho ang kaya kong ibigay eh. Tsaka, hindi po ba marami na din yan. Sobra na po binigayko at gusto nyo dagdagan ko pa kahit wala naman akong nakukuha sa inyo. Pakainin nyo naman ako.Hingi kayo nang hingi, di naman kayo marunong magbigay.”, Isip-isip na laang ng kambing. Isipan na paikot-ikot na sa sobrang kagutuman.

Lumipas ang mga araw at buwan. Di ko na alam kung ilang buwan. (nawiwindang kasi minsan si Pareng Toto eh) . Narrator ang nagsalita ah. Hindi yung kambing. Kawawa naman kung pati si Toto magagalit pa sa kanya.
Isang umaga, pagkagising ni Mang Tomas, agad syang lumabas ng kamalig. Tuwang-tuwa na naman sya at makakakuha na naman sya ng gatas sa kanyang PABORITONG kambing. Ngunit nadatnan nya ang kambing na matigas na ang katawan, dilat ang mata, at maputla ang mga labi. Namatay ang kambing na di man laang nakain ang almusal nyang kulape.

Laking panghihinayang ni Mang Tomas na nawala ang kambing na nakukunan nya ng gatas.Gatas na dahilan para bumangon sya sa umaga. Gatas na lagi nyang iniinom. Gatas na nagbibigay sakanya ng lakas. Gatas na hindi na nya matitikman ngayong wala na ang kanyang kambing.

“Sana inalagaan ko sya nang ayos at hindi ko hinayaang mawala.”

Nagising si Toto sa ingay ng kanilang kambing. Umaga na pala.

Moral Lesson: Wag nating pabayaan ang mga tao, hayop o bagay man na nagpapasaya sa ‘tin. Atin silang alagaan para kung mawala man sila sa huli ay wala tayong pagsisihan.

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There will be no more sunrises, no minutes, hours or days.

All the things you collected, whether treasured or forgotten, will pass to someone else.

Your wealth, fame and temporal power will shrivel to irrelevance.

It will not matter what you owned or what you were owed.

Your grudges, resentments, frustrations, and jealousies will finally disappear.

So, too, your hopes, ambitions, plans, and to-do lists will expire.

The wins and losses that once seemed so important will fade away.

It won’t matter where you came from, or on what side of the tracks you lived, at the end.

It won’t matter whether you were beautiful or brilliant.

Even your gender and skin color will be irrelevant.

So what will matter? How will the value of your days be measured? What will matter is not what you bought, but what you built; not what you got, but what you gave?

What will matter is not your success, but your significance.

What will matter is not what you learned, but what you taught.

What will matter is every act of integrity, compassion, courage or sacrifice that enriched, empowered or encouraged others to emulate your example.

What will matter is not your competence, but your character.

What will matter is not how many people you knew, but how many will feel a lasting loss when you’re gone.

What will matter is not your memories, but the memories that live in those who loved you.

What will matter is how long you will be remembered, by whom and for what.

Living a life that matters doesn’t happen by accident. It’s not a matter of circumstance but of choice.

Choose to live a life that matters.” ~ Michael Josephson

This is the theme of todays photo manipulation with our
model Christine Mayor, and some stock photo from fezzonfffire.

Live the life you choose . . . What kind of life are you living right now???? Ready or not, someday it will all come to an end.

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This serves as my theme for the days photo manipulation. Most of the images used in this photo is from the Miss Universe Pageant 2010. This includes the crown, the background and the bouquet of flowers including the hand. The main subject here is the little girl from Lipa (coming from one of our stock photos from the UN Parade of Nations held at SM City Lipa).

The editing was rendered using Adobe Photoshop CS3.
It is just a simple crop and mask style and not much of a hardcore editing. A few layer adjustments and lighting and that’s it. Anyway, my goal here is not to present the best photo manipulation on the net, but to tell a story.

I saw this girl at the back stage patiently waiting for her name to be called and I’ve noticed that she is always wearing that wonderful smile. There were more than 400 participants in the event and in spite of the boredom and the “banas“, she still managed to give me some of her model poses (that her Mama thought her, perhaps) and the celebrity smile as i took some pictures of her. I thought maybe, somehow, this girl wants to be a beauty queen someday. Who knows? Maybe She’ll be the Miss Universe of her generation. A little girl with major major dreams.

Ask yourself and reflect; Are we really living the dream we set out to dream? Was our dream big enough? Did we even have a dream?

We need a dream, and we need to dream big!

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Today’s contributor, Alexis G. Paulino, hails from Balintawak, Lipa City. Let’s get to know him first and afterwards, indulge our eyes on his photos of San Sebastian Cathedral and Mt. Carmel Church.

My name is Alexis G. Paulino, my mother is from San Jose, Batangas while my father is from Muñoz, Nueva Ecija. I’m married with 3 sons (studying at De La Salle Lipa). My wife, Jennifer Ramos Paulino, is currently a 3rd year law student at the University of Batangas; she’s from San Juan, Batangas. Our family is presently staying in Balintawak, Lipa City.

I’m currently here abroad working for Saudi Aramco in Saudi Arabia as an Industrial Skills Trainer in the field of computers. I go home every year and photography has been my hobby since the time of film cameras. I enjoy walking around Lipa and other towns of Batangas during my vacation, capturing photos everywhere, and then posting these pictures in Flickr. We have photography groups here in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain which are mostly composed and organized by Filipinos.

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Thanks to our most recent contributor, Mutya ng Batangan 2009, Disayrey Sayat. Applause for this article of yours and your dazzling beauty.

Discover Your Personality Through Your Favorite Destination

We have our own choice of destinations to behold and to visit. When I seek a spot, I take passion into consideration. I believe the choice of attraction or destination doesn’t only speak of the fleeting haste to quench our boredom, to wipe out monotony and disrupt the ordinary, but it also signifies who and what we are.

Mountains symbolize leadership, independence and an outrageous personality as the climbers surmount the frequent hurdles before reaching its breathtaking peak.

The golden waves of the ocean denote aloofness, affection for the needy and spontaneity as water ebbs to the toes of beach bums who hunt for inward refreshment.

Island highlights being a people person, cheerful, optimistic and possesses relentless drive as he is tattooed by a saying “no man is an island.”

Batangas province is nestled with wonders of nature that are incomparably magnetizing. Nature enthusiasts couldn’t help but step on, step out and step back on the land where warm welcome is simply a habit. One can say that a place is healthily attractive if even its dwellers consistently cater the source of awe of a destination that becomes part of blogs, conversations and fantasy of satisfied tourists.
We have Lobo and Tingloy, Batangas where we can find a stretch or verdant and azure beaches that hold a mat of ivory satin-soft sand that brushes off weariness once it cuddles a tired back of somebody who misses the touch of the sun as it satiates his thirst for infrequent furlough.

We have Mt. Makulot in Cuenca which caresses the feet of mountaineers, bruised by daily walks for work. The lofty creation turns each weighty step into a pious stride towards meditation and soulful musing. Whew! One can scream his heart out, once he reaches Mt. Makulot’s pinnacle. It’s merely like conquering the Province at a stare, at a blink and at a breath that you would always like to take, while Mabini, Batangas gives way for island hoppers to witness a startling vista of a hat-like atoll standing like a guard that clenches corals of different varieties. Why not take a peek at the center of the center of the center of marine biodiversity- Verde island passage and experience a journey of a lifetime?

These creations make the province a paradise where memories abound. These are just few of the destinations where one can find serenity and calmness of his heart, burnt out by the fast-paced life that breathes but has never truly being lived to the fullest.

Here we can see individuals with different personalities – people who, like us, search for something inexplicable, be it peace of mind, escape from habitual scenarios or simply taking advantage of our ephemeral stay in this world that may be too small yet clutches unthinkable splendor.

When you close your eyes and dream of your desired destination or attraction, where does your travelling rumination bring you? How much does the place speak of you?

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Everytime I read about other people’s work, I try to imagine the things that ran in his/her mind as he/she strive to weave the facts, with an ample injection of emotional value. When I read this contributed article from Renz Marion Katigbak, I realized there are still a lot to learn about Lipa City.

If you’re good in memorizing dates and names in your History subject back when you were still in school, then maybe you would dig this article. Plus, if you want to be reminded of other notable sites in Lipa City, this could be a refresher for you, our dear readers.

Lipa City, a Religious Haven and a Heritage Destination
By: Renz Marion Katigbak

Despite Lipa’s state of progress and commercialization, the city still preserves its religious and cultural traditions.

A heavenly rapture

Lipa City is the renowned “Little Rome of the Philippines” and the seat of the Archdiocese. What’s more, it is a pilgrim’s paradise – home to a plentiful number of religious congregations and an abundance of beautiful Catholic chapels and churches. Notable churches are:

Metropolitan Cathedral of San Sebastian

This turn of the century consecrated edifice began its construction through the concerted efforts of Augustinians who administered the Parish of San Sebastian: in 1779, Fray Ignacio Pallares, later on continued by Fray Manuel Galiana in 1787, and its spacious transept completed in 1865 by Fray Manuel Diez Gonzalez.

The church was totally completed from 1865 to 1894 during the administration of Fray Benito Varas to whom Lipeños attribute their religiosity. He was also responsible for the erection of the Catholic Cemetery in Antipolo and, without any aid from the state, the bridge at Sabang and the road that served as a national highway to Manila and Laguna.

To protect the big and attractive church from earthquakes, it was made of hewn stone and tiled roof. Before, it had plain and simple altar ornaments without the extravagant carvings characteristic of the past. During the 19th century, intense competition among the towns of Batangas, Bauan, Lipa, Taal and Tanauan, for the selection of the seat of the new diocese in the Southern Tagalog Region, motivated the people to build extraordinary big churches. However on April 10, 1910, when the historic foundation of the new diocese took place, its first bishop, Most Rev. Joseph Petrelli, D.D, chose LIPA as the SEE because of its cool climate. For this reason, the San Sebastian church automatically became the Cathedral of the Diocese of LIPA.

The church suffered massive damages during the Second World War. Msgr. Alejandro Olalia had it repaired – the interior painting retouched and two-sided aisles were added. In the year 2000, to prevent the Cathedral’s complete deterioration, immense refurbishments and adornment were lead by then parish priest, Msgr. Alfredo Madlangbayan. The church also features an attracting grand baroque designed pipe organ which is the only one in Batangas Province and one of only 59 units in the Philippines.

Carmel of Our Lady Mary Mediatrix of All Grace

Remembering, those glorious moments in 1948, the Blessed Virgin appeared to Teresita Castillo, a former Carmelite postulant. Inexplicable phenomena of conversion, physical cures, and showers of rose petals bearing holy images (when these petals were examined by experts, they were found to be of Russian cultivation) had authenticated the heavenly apparition.

Yet, during the 1950s, the local Catholic Church declared the alleged apparition as a hoax and ordered the Carmelite nuns to destroy everything that was connected with it. In the 1990s, after 40 years of public silence, the late Archbishop Mariano Gaviola re-opened the case and ordered that the statue of Mary Mediatrix of All Grace be again exposed for public veneration.

In 1991, rose petals from the sky began to fall again in the grounds of the Carmelite convent and it was said that the statue of Our Lady came to life. With all these, on September 12, 2005, present Archbishop Ramon Arguelles restored the devotion to Our Lady and declared the date as a yearly National Pilgrimage.

Thousands of faithful all over the country are participating in this momentous event. September 12 is a special holiday privilege given only to Lipa. Last November 12, 2009, Archbishop Arguelles totally lifted the ban and formed a new commission to reinvestigate the apparition and the miracles in Lipa.

Other well-known churches are the following: the Monastery of Saint Benedict, the Archdiocesan Shrine of San Vicente Ferrer, and the Redemptorist Chapel of Divino Amor (home to Our Lady of Perpetual Help). A couple of different religious congregations are also living and doing their missionary works in Lipa: the Missionary Catechists of the Sacred Heart (founded by Bishop Alfredo Versoza and Madre Laura Mendoza, a holy Lipeña), the Missionary Catechists of St. Therese (founded by the servant of God Alfredo Aranda Obviar, a Lipeño priest, first bishop of Lucena, he is now being petitioned for sainthood), the Brothers of the Christian Schools (well known as the LaSalle brothers), the Oblates of St. Joseph (OSJ), the Clarissas Capuchinas Sacramentarias (Capuchin Sisters), the Capuchin Friars, the Missionary Sisters of Catechism, Benedictine Sisters, Carmelite nuns, and the Redemptorist Fathers.

An amiable and a tragic history

Lipa is a place very proud of its history of prosperity and magnificence. The city’s beautiful past is an enchantingly captivating saga one might ever hear.

Approaching the end of the 19th century, Lipa became known as the world’s center of coffee trade. Just because of the said industry, it happened to be the richest town in the country with an annual income of P4,000,000.00. This occurrence brought wealth to Lipeños and later on they built stone mansions and lived in aristocratic hispanized lifestyles. Lipa’s social atmosphere then was an importation from Spain. Women were said to be wearing “zapatillas” – footwear encrusted with real shimmering diamonds.

It was this splendored affluence which elated the Queen Maria Cristina of Spain (acting regent for the young King Alfonso XIII) to pass a royal decree converting the tiny municipality into “Villa de Lipa” in October 21, 1888. The city was given the privilege using a “coat of arms”. However, these fabulous days abruptly ended when the Lipa coffee industry collapsed due to the “bagombong” pest.

The complete demise of the lucrative town came during the Second World War. Lipa crumbled down and was considered as one of the most devastated cities, in the Southeast, that were affected by the rage of war. The splendid homes of landowners, furnished with the best from Europe were reduced to ashes. Still, faint traces of the extravagance can be gazed in the few old stone houses that survived. Famous among them are:

The Luz-Katigbak Ancestral House (Casa de Segunda)

A National Historical Institute declared Heritage House, Casa de Segunda was named after Segunda Solis Catigbac, the grand matriarch of the prominent and prolific Katigbak clan of Lipa. She had been linked to Dr. Jose Rizal as his young lady of interest. The ancestral house is one of the surviving stone mansions of the glorious Lipa. Built in the 1880’s, the dramatic arrangements of space, use of masonry and sense of grandeur and solidity are practical response to environment and charming record of history.

Partly damaged by the Second World War in 1942, the house was remodeled in 1956 by Segunda Katigbak’s daughter, Paz Luz Dimayuga. The grandchildren of Paz, who were born and raised here, restored the house in 1996 to its original form and grandeur, its fountain, fishponds, and orchards. In that same year also, it was opened to the public and today it is a repository, a hint to the fine and rich lifestyle of the Lipeños during its bygone era.

The Luz-Bautista Ancestral Home

Built by the patriarch of the Luz Family, Jose Luz, the stone mansion was completed in 1881 after ten years of construction. It is of Babylonian architecture with furnishings from Europe, curtains from Paris, mirrors from Austria, pieces of furniture from Vienna, chandeliers, plates from Germany and fine porcelain from China.

This is one of the very few “Bahay na Bato” (stone house) spared from devastation when Lipa was razed to the ground by World War II. Though it is not open to the public, it still stands as a reminder, a testimony to Lipa’s grandeur and one of city’s cultural treasures.

Other structures, like the Museo de Lipa and Museo ng Katipunan of Bulakalan, possess old relics and memorabilia of history.

A diverse haven

Aside from being a religious and heritage destination, Lipa is blessed with breathtaking places to see. It is home to different lush eco-tourism delights such as: the Farm at San Benito, Mt. Malarayat, a good place for a hiking adventure, Bluroze Farms Parks and Wildlife, and the Anihan Botanical Garden. Relaxation and leisure can be obtained with the resorts, spas, parks, and malls that sprung in the city.

Educational institutions and commercial areas are almost everywhere. Indeed, it is a good place to live, to invest, to work, to study, and to raise a family. Triumphs and turmoil might have landed Lipa but the continuous struggle and resiliency had formed it to be the city that we recognize today.

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