The Candaba House has massive dimensions. Its stone first floor can no doubt instill fear and anxiety to Filipinos during the Spanish era, as well as weather the annual inundations that the aforementioned Pampanga town is prone to. (Photo by CYRIL DE LEON

It’s perhaps the closest to Colonial Williamsburg that the Philippines will probably have—sans the historical significance of course.  Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar in Bagac, Bataan is a self-styled “cultural heritage village” and judging from the structures that are now like jewels in the property is something that every Filipino should be proud of.

Let’s just say that despite general apathy regarding our heritage structures, the people behind this noble undertaking were at least able to save some of the more notable examples that would have languished unappreciated in some of our provincial towns.  Or as in the case with one of the houses standing proudly in its plaza today, saved from the junk heap from which we consign most of our tangible history.

Credit for this of course goes to Architect Jose “Jerry” Acuzar, whose hobby of buying old structures and recreating it afterwards brick by brick and tile by tile, is comparable in vision and scope with the philanthropist who resurrected Colonial Williamsburg in Virginia.  Of course, the size of our very own “heritage village” is much smaller—but then who is complaining?

Actually, the properhuge as it encompasses 400 hectares or so of still relatively undeveloped land.  Nonetheless, the centerpiece of the property is the small town in which most of the heritage structures can be found.  Designed like a typical Spanish-era colonial town, the plaza remains as the central area from which visitors and staff are expected to congregate at—with only one minor detail missing as the Church building has yet to be built.  Churches to this day remain the spiritual center of most Philippine towns and not having one is a glaring omission.  However, we were told that reconstructing a Church building is planned in the near future, so visitors opting for authenticity need not worry.

And authenticity is one aspect of this heritage village that visitors and guests need not worry about. At present, there are at least 30 structures that are currently being reconstructed and restored, with at least 22 of them in partial operation.  To undertake this massive project an on-site team of craftsmen, carpenters, engineers and the like are constantly creating replacements for old worn-out capiz windows and decorative carvings to name a few of their work.  Suffice it to say, most of the houses that are currently seen are still shells of their former glory as workers are still in the process of bringing them back to life.

Not surprisingly, they’ve encountered problems as well—especially with the materials involved in restoring these heritage structures.  They admit that wood, especially hardwood is difficult to source nowadays, and yet they try not to substitute wood that would be incompatible with the ones used for a given structure.  The work is likewise laborious—which probably explains why the construction is tedious and time consuming.  The capiz shells for the windows for instance need to be sourced, cut, placed in an acid bath for cleaning and afterwards fitted in intricate wooden squares to create these unique and almost opalescent creations. 

The result of all these work of course are the heritage structures that create an unrivaled streetscape of what we consider as “bahay na bato” residences.  Actually, if for nothing else, the houses at Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar show just how varied our traditional architecture is.  Indeed, even if given the fact that most of the houses were built in different periods, they are truly distinctive nonetheless and looked different from one another from the shape of their roofs down to the non-load bearing walls of their first floors.

An example would be the Unisan House from Quezon province.  It is reputedly the oldest house in the said town and the first “bahay na bato” that was built in the area.  Although at first glance it looked Hispanic enough, the shape and contour of its roof may actually remind one of the roofs of a Chinese temple with its noticeably up-curved and even layered appearance.  Regional variations may also be taken into consideration when considering how unique our traditional houses are.  The Mexico (Pampanga) house for instance is truly colorful with its use of colored glass panes.  Could it be that its colorful appearance can be attributed to the supposedly Mexican provenance of the town?  After all, Mexicans love bold colors, right?  Or how about the Candaba (Pampanga) house, a forbidding structure that one visitor described as “parang Intramuros” (like Intramuros) with its truly massive first floor of hewn stone and overall cyclopean dimensions.  Could it be that its original builders built it to weather the annual inundations that Candaba is usually prone to?

Well, we’ll never know.  One thing is sure though—these houses and the whole property in general can evoke emotion.  One story told by the Las Casas’ staff is that of a visitor who was transfixed by the sight of the Lubao (Pampanga) house.  The old lady noted that it reminded her so much of her own grandmother’s house where she spent much of her childhood.  As it turned out, the house was indeed where she grew up in and amidst choked emotions and tears, the old lady even showed the staff the areas of the house where she slept with her family, where she played and where most of her memories were first formed.  It’s unadulterated nostalgia on her part to be sure—but one that is real.  What is good to note though is that there’s a place in the Philippines where one can still indulge in it with honesty.

(Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar is a Genesis Resort and will soon be fully operational in the next few months or so.  It is located in Bgy. Pag-Asa, Bagac, Bataan.  The trip that enabled the writer to write this piece was part of a recent Mama Sita’s food trip—an annual event of the said company that seeks to promote traditional cuisine and heritage issues.)