AHP GOES TO SAN JUAN, BATANGAS

San Juan Nepomuceno, Patron Saint

San Juan relic

San Juan church

The Advocates for Heritage Preservation does at least one heritage walk per month. This isn't extra-ordinary. What makes the AHP tours worth joining is the fact that all the participants clad in golden yellow tees swoop down into a town as if it were an invvasion of some sort. The fun loving members have become friends on Facebook if not in person. So it isn't surprising that each heritage tour starts off with people doing the customary "beso- beso" everytime we meet at the venue. 

For February, Tito Encarnacion (our erstwhile Uncle Tito) organized the tour of San Juan, Batangas. Vans were organized by our bossing Johnson Bernardo for those who wanted to avail of car pools and the rest... well... they brought their own cars.

The registration venue was held at the ruins of the Marasigan mansion. Orientation was handled by the heritage group of Bolboc, San Juan, Batangas. As usual, the AHP participants were grouped into color codes. Each group  was led by a local guide and an assistant. I was in the green group along with Johnson's angels: Vica Tigno, Alice Devera Vasquez, Maricar Anatalio. There were six passengers in Van 4 together with our driver and Johnson so we pretty much had enough room to get some shut eye en route to the site.

Mercado Mansion

Unfortunately, much of the Spanish colonial history of San Juan remains covered in mystery. It starts at the turn of the century as records from 1638 until 1863 refer to San Juan as a territory of Rosario. Only when it was recognized as a municipality was it given the name of San Juan.. The area is largely agricultural as it is insulated from strong storms. It has two rivers (Malaking Ilog and Lawaye)and one of the longest coastlines in Luzon, now dotted with resorts for the enjoyment of local tourists. After all, it's a mere 171 kms south of Manila.

Capeno Sala

Don Camilo Perez is recognized as the founder of the town and is credited with its independence from Rosario. However, the abundant produce, prone to dry rot (Bocboc) in the hot summers gave it its monicker San Juan de Bocboc. Concerned scions of the prominent families (Marasigan, Perez, Mercado, et.al) have remained protective of the town's historical significance. We visited the heritage homes in the area and took a gazillion photos of its quaint charm. The church itself, a fine example of baroque architecture was far removed from the usual Spanish colonial set up of town plaza crossed by government building church and market. The original church was moved from its original location now called "Pinagbayanan". 

After the walking tour, we convoyed towards a traditional well preserved home and then the old churchyard prior to a late lunch at La Luz Resort. The rest of the afternoon was spent either on windy cabanas or exploring a rock promontory at the end of the shoreline. This AHP trip was so cool, I just kept taking snapshot after snapshot.

*the photos in this post may be viewed in my album on Facebook