Jalandoni Ancestral House [My World]

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I have been mulling over these photos for months now.   I would like to tell you that this is just another ancestral house I visited in Silay City during my vacation in May.  But fact is, I purposely went to Silay to see this house. The Jalandoni ancestral house in Silay City was built by my maternal great-grandfather, Bernardino Jalandoni, in 1908. Although we don't have a relationship with this side of my mother's family, I was naturally curious.  Bernardino, according to my mother, used to visit them at my grandmother's house in Valladolid in the late 1940's up to the early 50's.  He would then take my mother and her siblings to Hda. Parnaso, a hacienda owned by the Jalandonis, to spend the weekend.  

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Aside from my mother's childhood memories of weekends spent in Hda. Parnaso, there was no kinship between the families.  It was probably because the connection between them, my grandfather, [Bernardino's nephew] had  passed away.

So I explored the house like the usual tourist.  I am glad that the heirs decided to preserve this house for future generations---to see how the elite families lived during the grand old days of Negros' sugar industry.  The guided tour gave insights as to how the house was built and how the family lived.  It's a huge house made of stone and wood but it's design, according to the guide, follows the typical Philippine nipa hut.  The existing wooden structures are the same hardwood that came from Mindoro, an island known for its forests and logging industry.  Most of the embossed tin ceiling trays were imported from Hamburg, Germany.  It's wooden transoms done in "calado" or cut out style, using elaborate French design are a study of combined visual aesthetics and function.

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the living room

The creative use of glass, capiz shells, steel grills, wooden louvers and panels for windows continues to maximize light, ventilation and security today as it has since it was designed a century ago.

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the master's bedroom

The carved antique furniture, a retablo with religious icons, the solihia (rattan weave) daybed and chairs---the ambiance of this house illustrates the lifestyle of the Negrense elite at the turn of the century.

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The heirs have entrusted the care of this house to the Silay Heritage Foundation, and it has been turned into a museum.  A doll collection, framed old photos and other memorabilia are displayed at the ground floor. 

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the daughter's bedroom

The Jalandoni Museum is at Rizal Street, Silay City.  It's 10 minutes from the airport, about 30 minutes to Bacolod City, the provincial capital.

More photos in next week's My World - Tuesday

At the countryside [MWT]

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When you visit the Philippine countryside, you are most likely to see a carabao (a subspecies of the water buffalo).  This animal is still a very important draught-animal in the rice fields and farming villages.  If  not working the fields, carabaos are usually found wallowing in a puddle of mud or a watering hole just like this one I met in a river in Manapla.

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The lush countryside made us linger.  Time drifted leisurely here, a refreshing escape from the hustle and bustle of everyday life.

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It was almost time for lunch when the gentle carabao emerged from the river, fresh and energized, to take the kids home.  Nearby, a family prepared to have their picnic lunch under a truck---food was eaten kamayan-style (with bare hands), while sitting on banana leaves.

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I smiled and waved at these kids, remembering a simpler time.

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Manapla is a coastal town in Negros island, about 45 kilometers north of Bacolod City, the provincial capital.  One of the earliest sugar mills in the country, North Negros Sugar Company, was built here in 1917. 

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Tropical depression

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My world is inundated by typhoons and monsoon rains---three typhoons this past week alone.  We were hit by six typhoons in July, the most recent, "Lando", is the 12th tropical depression this year.  Flash floods, landslides, missing fishermen were in the news as well as images of evacuees, flooded streets, damaged crops, bridges and homes.  An average of 20 typhoons hit the Philippines every year but it seems that we are always caught unprepared.

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Some observers say our weather forecasting has improved, alert systems are in place.  But I believe preventive measures remain a challenge.  Communities in high-risk areas continue to mushroom despite warnings from risk managers.  The bahala na (come what may) attitude of Filipinos somehow contributes to non-preparation for any disastrous event.  

There is a Japanese expression "shikata ga nai" which is roughly translated to "it couldn't be helped".  It may be the Filipino equivalent of "bahala na"---the difference is, the Japanese takes every possible precaution to confront the wrath of fate.  While we say "bahala na" and we totally surrender to God and the whims of destiny.  

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The annual cost of loss of lives, property and crops is not cheap, the human suffering immeasurable.  We learn our lessons after every disaster, we become more resilient with every passing calamity.  But we need to do more---be more proactive rather than reactive.  Push our leaders to take definite actions, seriously implement zoning, upgrade the agencies in disaster risk management.

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A sugary tale [My World]

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Sugarcane is a delicate plant, and there was always a need for plenty of fertilizer, irrigation, and a workforce that would work long hard hours of backbreaking labor without complaint---or without choice, as in the case of slaves. Although there was never a slave trade in the Philippines, the sugar industry here has its own unique history of exploitation, excitement, and human drama.

Sugarcane is a massive, bamboo-like grass of genus "Saccharum", tribe "Andropogonaeae", and family "Poaceae". Scientists call it photosynthetically efficient, in that it creates sucrose from sunlight, air, and water better than just about any other plant on earth. The only ones that come close are sugar maple and sugar beet; not coincidentally, those are precisely the two plants that compete directly with cane in the world sugar market.

My mother's uncle acquired a few hectares of land in the southern part of Negros Occidental in the 1950's.  It is a remote area that was infested by communist rebels, and nobody in the family dared to farm the land.   It was only about a decade ago when one of my cousins was crazy enough to invest in sugarcane farming.

Driving to Locotan with my cousins one Saturday in April, I was surprised to see that farm-to-market roads have been developed.  There was electricity, health centers, and according to relatives who live in the area, the communist rebels are either in jail or have returned to mainstream society after the 2007 Amnesty proclamation.

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Sugarcane farming is never easy, according to my cousin.  In addition to dependency on unpredictable world markets, the sugar farmer is subject to the vagaries of Mother Nature. When it rains too much, trucks can't get out in the fields to get the cane.  To a naive observer like me, a field of blossoming snow-white sugarcane flowers is a sight to behold---the same scene brings a chill to the sugar farmer's spine.  Because those entrancing blossoms mean that the sugar content of the cane is being rapidly depleted, and along with it market value at the mill.  

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My cousins and I had the crazy idea to walk in the fields at 2 pm when the sun was unforgiving.  I needed the exercise but not heat stroke!  But the view...yes, the view of these rolling hills has a cooling effect even at a 33-degree C temperature.

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Taken in Locotan, Kabankalan City, Negros Occidental

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Anhawan Island: The other side

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We basked in the morning sun, swam in the warm water, and just loving our own private beach at the south side of the island.  Manong, the owner of the island, warmed up to the boys and invited us to the other side where his hut was located.  

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We can either ride in our outrigger and meet him on the other side, or climb the hill.  Naturally, we opted to climb the hill and walk to the north side of the island.  Manong warned us that the vegetation was dense, and we should be careful because there were traps along the hiking trails.  Some of the trails were also misleading to confuse unwanted visitors.  I was the weakest link, as always, and I was instructed to follow Manong's sidekick, Toto, a 9-year old boy, or one of his dogs.

Toto was fast I had to call him a few times to wait for me. I could barely take photos at his pace.

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It was a good 30-minute trek.  From one point, I could see Danjugan Island and Pulo Gamay at the distance.  It's where we came from before coming to this island.  

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This is the north side where, according to Manong, sea turtles lay their eggs.  It earned Anhawan a moniker as the turtle island of Sipalay.  Worldwide, marine turtle populations have critically declined and it was declared that all species of marine turtles are endangered.  This area is also a great diving site.

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Anhawan is an uninhabited island off the coast of Sipalay City in Negros Occidental.  There was no electricity, no fresh water in the island---Manong gets his water supply from the mainland.  I didn't see any crops, only coconut trees.  Manong lives here with his wife, his 9-year old sidekick, four dogs and a he-goat.  They have a house at the mainland but he preferred to stay on the island.  His way of life somehow reminded me of Robinson Crusoe.  

He told us that an American visited the island not too long ago, proposed to buy the island and convert it into a world-class resort.  I asked Manong if he's open to the idea...he said, he's quite sentimental about this island that his family owns for three generations.  

I hope he doesn't sell.

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This was the view from the beach.  The fisherman's hut across the bay was Manong's next-door neighbor.

The threesome---my cousin, Mark, Toto, the sidekick and the he-goat who had a big crush on Mark.

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Public art @ BGC [MWT]

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Spotted this sculptural installation during my afternoon walk at Bonifacio High Street in Bonifacio Global City (BGC).  BGC has been showcasing big art pieces around strategic locations in this fast-rising, highly-urbanized residential and commercial district.  One weekend, I'll drive around BCG for an art tour to share with you a number of exciting public art pieces that create a vibrant environment for people who work, live and play here.
I couldn't find any info on this sculpture...it reminds me of ET and Paul, the alien.:p

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Bonifacio Global City is located at the former military base (Fort Bonifacio) in Taguig City, and between the business hubs of Makati and Ortigas Center.  It is linked to Manila's major thoroughfares and seven access points, and a few minutes to both domestic and international airports.

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Silay City: San Diego de Alcala Pro-Cathedral [MWT]

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One of Silay City's landmarks is a 20th century church formerly known as St. Didacus Parish in honor of its patron saint, Didacus of Alcala, a Franciscan saint more commonly known in the Philippines as San Diego de Alcala.  This church is right across the plaza and beside the city hall.

This church was declared as pro-cathedral in 1994, the only pro-cathedral outside Metro Manila.  It was renamed San Diego de Alcala Pro-Cathedral.

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The Silay parish was established in 1776.  The first church was built with light materials of bamboo and nipa.  With natural calamities such as typhoons, and insurrection against the Spanish, I'm sure the first church was destroyed and reconstructed a number of times.  By 1841, the parish priest initiated construction of a more permanent structure made of stone and wood but it was never completed.  During the Spanish-American war, parts of the stone church were destroyed and was left in a state of disrepair.  The remnants of the old church are well-preserved behind this church.  I remember spending summer afternoons in the courtyard of the old church when I was kid.  My aunt was then living about half a block away.

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In 1925, construction of a bigger church started after one of Silay's wealthy sugar barons, Don Jose Ledesma, donated a substantial amount to build it.  He even commissioned an Italian architect, Lucio Bernasconi, to design the church.  Bernasconi lifted inspirations from his native Italy and designed the church in the shape of a Latin cross like most ecclesiastical Romanesque architecture in Europe.  It has simple columns and a cupola rising 40 meters above the nave.  Being the only church in the province with a cupola makes San Diego de Alcala Pro-Cathedral unique.

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I could still hear the echo of bells ringing at Angelus.  We were usually by the fountain at the plaza across the church, and every 6 pm, the bells rang as a call to prayer.  Then as dictated by tradition, children would then kiss the right hand of their elders.

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The feast of San Diego de Alcala is celebrated every November 13th.

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Silay City: Ancestral homes [MWT]

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When I was in Negros in April, I took an afternoon trip to Silay City to visit my great-grandfather's ancestral home.  But that would be in another post.:p  For now, let me share these snapshots I took while walking the streets of Silay City that rainy afternoon.

Dubbed as the "Paris of Negros", this is where the island's sugar industry started in the 18th century.  The first sugar mill (Horno Economico) was built here in 1846 by a Frenchman who was married to a Filipina.  Haciendas were later established in Silay, and families from the nearby island of Panay also settled here because of the promising sugar industry.

The hacienderos (land owners/sugar planters) grew rich in the sugar boom---the ancestral houses built during the golden age of the sugar industry speak eloquently of the lavish lifestyles.  When the 1980's sugar crisis hit the sugar industry, planters were faced with economic hardships forcing many of the sugar barons to abandon their farms and curtail their spending.  People who worked in the haciendas went through a more difficult life--the province became so impoverished that many people went hungry.   

This is the Maria Ledesma Golez House---bought and restored by a bank (RCBC) in the 1990's.  The house at the background (with red roof) is my great-grandfather's ancestral home.

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There are about 31 well-preserved ancestral homes in Silay today--some of them have been turned into museums, most of them are still privately-owned.  

Below is the main street in front of the plaza and cathedral.  My aunt used to live behind the light blue building--and if my memory is correct, it's also where El Ideal Bakery was located.  El Ideal is an institution in Silay, baking traditional cakes and pastries in a huge wood-fired oven.  We used to buy snacks in the bakery almost every afternoon when I was about 6 or 7.

If not for the rain, I could have visited more ancestral houses.  Well, maybe next time.

These days, Negros is slowly regaining the vitality it had during the sugar boom in the last century.  But with the 2015 ASEAN Free Trade Agreement hanging over its head, the sugar industry is again facing new challenges on how to compete with cheap imported sugar in the market.

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Silay City is where the new domestic airport is located.  It is an hour flight from Manila, and about 15 kilometers north of Bacolod City, the provincial capital.

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The Ruins [MWT]

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A few years ago, a couple of friends from Manila spent a weekend in Negros Occidental, my home province, and they were brought to a place called The Ruins in Talisay City.  The place definitely made an impression that they kept asking me about The Ruins.  I drew a blank--it was the first time I've heard of the place.  I made a note to myself to check it out the next time I'm in Bacolod. 

The opportunity presented itself in late April when we were driving to Bacolod from Manapla.  We were caught in a rainstorm and had an extended lunch in Victorias.  I asked my cousins about The Ruins---they have heard of the place but never been there.  And as luck would have it, the sky started to clear as we approached Talisay City. I would have wanted to see The Ruins at dusk, but we were thankful for the blue skies.

The Ruins is what's left of a magnificent mansion built by Don Mariano Ledesma Lacson, a sugar baron, for his Portuguese wife, Maria Braga, at the turn of the century.  The story goes that after the death of Maria Braga, the widower became despondent and he decided to build a mansion in memory of his dead wife.  It's unfortunate that the woman who inspired a man to erect this mansion was no longer around to see its grandeur.

In 1942, as the Japanese occupation swept through the islands during World War II, American soldiers and Filipino guerrillas burned down the mansion to deflect the Japanese forces from taking shelter and establishing a headquarters here. It's been told that the mansion burned for three days, destroying the woodwork, the floors, roof and everything combustible.  Only the concrete structure survived the fire, and withstood the test of time. 

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The Ruins is like a mirage in an otherwise unremarkable landscape.  Built in the middle of what used to be vast tracks of sugarcane fields, it is an unexpected and delightful sight at the end of a dirt road.  I love the elegance of its Italianate architecture.  From the original tiles to the graceful balusters---I can only imagine how this mansion looked in its heyday.  There was a belvedere on the second floor, facing west, that commanded an unobstructed view of the Guimaras Strait and sunset.  


My cousins, both engineers, were discussing the structural design...I was admiring  its symmetry, proportion, arches, moldings and columns.


This mansion was said to be the largest residential structure at the time when huge ancestral homes were built in Talisay and Silay.  And with the finest furnishings sugar money could buy.

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A four-tiered fountain graces the garden. There was once a lily garden here maintained by one of the daughters, and a Japanese gardener took care of the whole garden until the burning of the mansion.  Looming over the property is a concrete tower with a tree growing on top.  I thought it was a watch-tower or a prison tower but my dark [and romantic] imaginings were incorrect.  I didn't catch the details but the tower has something to do with sugar-making.

The current owner, a great grandson of Don Mariano, had the place cleaned up and opened to the public in 2008.  A cafe was later added inside and there was an ongoing construction in the property when we visited.  


The Ruins has become a tourist attraction and venue for weddings and parties.  And it's probably a good thing---music, laughter, good conversation and clinks of wine glasses would give the dark corners of this still and lonely place some positive vibe. 

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The Ruins at different angles.

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The Ruins is located in Talisay City, Negros Occidental.  It can be reached by car through Octagon Village in Brgy. Bata, about 20 minutes from either Silay Airport or Bacolod City, the provincial capital.

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