A Journey Back in Time: The Taal Colonial Experience
27. Nov, 2010 
21 Comments Posted by Renz Marion Katigbak
by: Renz Marion D. Katigbak – WOWBatangas Tours
It is this fascination to history and quaint feel of the Spanish bygone era that keeps me coming back to Taal, the Heritage Town of Batangas. Its enchanting ambiance and appeal truly captivates my attention. The town features the traditional colonial pueblo setting: the splendid ancestral homes of the wealthy families surrounding the central plaza dominated by the church. Such scenery really makes it a town frozen in time. This enormous terrain has a lot of stories to tell as you set foot to it.
From Lipa, I took a jeepney ride going to Taal. Upon reaching the town, I first went to Casa Punzalan to meet Mr. Dindo Montenegro. He invited me to come to Taal when we met each other during the Southern Luzon Association of Museums meeting in Santa Rosa Laguna. He told me to wait for him at the Minor Basilica of St. Martin de Tours, where the tour activity would start and to meet Garneth “Manny” Landicho, who eventually became my personal tour guide.
Sir Dindo’s Taal Heritage Tour itinerary featured the walking tour and the craft demonstration.
THE MINOR BASILICA OF ST. MARTIN DE TOURS
Sir Dindo started to conduct his tour at the Taal Basilica. Taal boasts of this Church as the biggest in the Orient. While delivering his guidespeak, Sir Dindo clearly emphasized the history of the church. He told us not to be mistaken or be confused with the year the church was constructed which is stipulated on the National Historical Institute Marker placed on the church’s façade. The year 1575 as shown in the marker refers to the first church constructed in the old Taal (now San Nicolas). It was destroyed when the deadly Taal Volcano erupted. Fortunately, the ruins of the old church still remain and are now one of the attractions of the small town of San Nicolas.
The present church began its construction in 1858 during the term of the Augustinian Friar, Fray Marcos Anton. Its large Ionic-Corinthian style is attributed to the famed Architect, Don Luciano Olivér. The Holy See granted the Taal Church the title of Minor Basilica in 1948.
GASTRONOMIC MORNING
As a prelude, to ensure his participants were fully energetic for the walking tour, Sir Dindo prepared a mini-feast of merienda in their ancestral home adjacent to the Taal Basilica. The table was filled with Taal tasty delights: suman, nilupak, mainit na tsokolate and the famed empanadang gulay. I was very interested with the empanadang gulay that it prompted me to take home some of it. The empanada in Taal, as opposed to the traditional one filled with ground pork, is stuffed with vermicelli (upo) and sotanghon.
THE HISTORICAL WALK
The Colonial Experience would not be complete without the exciting walking tour to the Heritage Village Square, featuring the ancestral houses and the shrine of Our Lady of Caysasay.
THE VILLAVICENCIO ANCESTRAL HOUSE
This ancestral home was built in 1870 as a wedding gift of Don Eulalio Villavicencio, a ship captain, to his wife Doña Gliceria Marella de Villavicencio. These couple were astute negociantes. They were so wealthy that they had 18 storehouses filled with tobacco, rice, and sugar reaped from their vast haciendas. They even had their own steamship called the “Bulusan”, which delivered their crops to Manila and on its return brought sacks full of Silver Mexican coins.
Unknown to many, Doña Gliceria contributed so much to Philippine History. She was considered and merited as the “General Sponsor of the Philippine Revolution” for contributing moral and material support to the revolt against Spain and later on to the United States. The Villavicencio house served as a refuge of battle-weary soldiers and a secret meeting place of the revolutionary leaders. She even turned over their steamship Bulusan to the Republic which served as latter’s first warship.
The Villavicencio Mansion still remains a private residence.
THE SHRINE OF OUR LADY OF CAYSASAY
To get to the Shrine of Our Lady of Caysasay, we took the San Lorenzo Ruiz Granite stairway which was near the Goco and Villavicencio Mansions. The stairway is composed of 125 steps leading to the centuries old church of Caysasay.
The devotion to Our Lady of Caysasay started when Juan Maningcad, a fisherman, found the statuette of the Virgin Mary in the banks of the Pansipit River sometime in 1603. The image is only six inches high. Originally it was enshrined inside the Taal Basilica but legend has it that the image would often disappear and would then be found on a Sampaga tree guarded by kingfisher birds or locally known as Casay-casay. From then on a church was built on the site and later the miraculous disappearing Lady was called Caysasay.
Manny told me that the Villavicencios of Taal donated the golden crown of the Blessed Mother. And during her feast day, she would be dressed in her full regalia and would be venerated through a fluvial procession in the Pansipit River.
Our Lady of Caysasay is one of the canonically crowned images of the Blessed Virgin Mary and named Patroness of the whole Batangas Province.
THE MARCELA AGONCILLO ANCESTRAL HOUSE
This house was built in the 1700s and was formerly owned by Don Andres Mariño. His granddaughter, Marcela Mariño de Agoncillo inherited the house. Doña Marcela was the official seamstress of the flag of the Republic of the Philippines which was unfurled and waved during the Independence of 1898. The last descendant of the Mariño de Agoncillo clan, Ma. Marcela Agoncillo (Marcela Agoncillo Jr.) bequeathed the house to the National Historical Institute.
The house features heirlooms of the Agoncillo Family and a tableau of the historical sewing of the Philippine Flag. Also on display are the different flags of the Philippine Revolution.
GALERIA TAAL (ILAGAN – BARRION ANCESTRAL HOUSE)
A new addition to the publicly opened ancestral houses is the Ilagan – Barrion Mansion. This house was built sometime in 1870 by Domingo Ilagan and Maria Martinez. Candida Martinez Ilagan, who married Antonino Barrion, paid her siblings just to gain sole ownership of their family house. Candida lived in this house until she died in 1975. After her death, the house was neglected for several years and in 2004 her grand children, Manny and Bobby Barrion, spearheaded the restoration of their ancestral home.
In December 2009, it was opened to the public and became a venue for photography. On display are antique family mementos, vintage cameras and various photographs hanged on the walls.
APACIBLE ANCESTRAL HOUSE
Don Leon Apacible was a lawyer, a public servant and a revolutionist. He was President Emilio Aguinaldo’s finance officer and one of the delegates to the Malolos Congress.
The Ancestral home of Don Leon Apacible and his wife Doña Matilde Martinez was built in the 18th century and was renovated twice: first in 1870 and again in 1940. In the 1890s, the house served as a secret meeting place of revolutionary leaders.
The architecture of the sala mayor is a mixture of Filipino design and art deco. On display are: the picture frames, wall sconces and chandeliers. Outside the sala, on the way to the dining room, is an altar of the antique Virgin of the Rosary. The hands and head of the image are made of ivory; the floral rococo case is elaborately carved and painted in gold. The dining room features chinaware and silverware imported from England, Italy and China. Also on exhibit are 19th century farm implements, household artifacts, home and kitchen equipment belonging to the original owners of the house.
This was the best preserved house I’ve seen.
On our way back to the town proper to take our lunch, Manny told me how sad he is to see that some of the ancestral houses were totally abandoned and little by little being decayed.
We took our lunch at Casa Punzalan. The main courses were the famed Tapang Taal and adobo sa dilaw then Minatamis na Saging for dessert.
After the scrumptious meal we went to the craft demonstration area which was the last activity in the itinerary.
CRAFTS DEMONSTRATION
The three crafts demonstrated were the Balisong, Panucha and the Burdang Taal.
BALISONG
Balisong got its name from two Filipino words: Bali, which means to bend or to break, and song that comes from the word sungay. The balisong was once entirely made from buffalo horn, which has a plastic-like quality and is easily carved.
A panday or blacksmith will produce the blade, another artisan will sharpen it. Someone else will produce the handles, and others will polish the final product.
PANUTSA MAKING
It’s Batangas’ version of peanut brittle – made of caramelized brown sugar and whole peanuts. Taal is known for making this simple yet very pleasing snack. This flat disc-shaped snack has been a long time sweet treat favorite among Filipinos. And this bond between the nuts and the sugar even reached the farthest places in the country.
BURDANG TAAL
The burdang Taal has 5 steps and what makes it unique is the chunky texture of the embroidery or in Filipino “matambok” compared to its counterpart in Lumban, Laguna. It starts with pagpinta (painting) which is the design drawn in its actual size on the fabric, then the pagburda (“embroidering”) which is usually combined with the calado and suk-sok work which highlights the embroidery. After this, the fabric is washed (paglaba), and then stretched (pagbanat) and dried under the hot sun.
Whe si Manny pala yun kala ko kung sino
yes he is! He’s my personal tour guide in Taal hehe!
same thing here
I was born In Taal and went to OLCA,until 3rd grade only. I love Taal especially the Basilica and the old spanish houses. I went to visit Taal in 2008 and reminisced of my happy childhood in Taal. Everytime I see photos and articles about Taal, it brings back those happy childhood memories. I thank you for posting the beautiful pictures. I miss the delicious meriendas and everything about Taal.
Thanks Sir!
Hi. Can you please share with me Mr. Dindo Montenegro’s contact number. Our families are old friends and I remember staying with them when I was younger. We are planning to do the heritage tour soon and it will certainly be a wonderful experience hearing from places of interest in Taal. Would appreciate it very much if you can share his number. Thank you so much !
Thank you sir for visiting this website. I’ll ema
il you his contact details.
Hi, i’m glad to discover your site…we’re planning to go to Taal this Holy week, I would just like to ask the fees for the tours, if any. And if we would like to conduct our own tour, do they charge entrance fees for the ancestral houses? ty
There are donation boxes for the Don Leon Apacible and Marcella Agoncillo Ancestral Houses. For Galleria Taal (Barion – Ilagan Ancestral House )- its P 15.00.
Can I please have Mr. Montenegro’s contact number. A group of us (a total of 15 – 3 kids the rest are adults) will be in Taal on April 16-17. We have already booked our accomodation but we need a guide for the heritage tour. We also want to know the fees, and tour arrangements so we can properly plan our departure from Manila. I hope to hear from you soon. Thank you very much.
I still do remember when i was a young boy, our family used to stay @Apacible Ancestral house, 2 of my sisters used to live there under the care of Corazon Apacible, former mayor of Taal sometime in the late 70′s and early 80′s? Such a nice place to visit, with its steep streets and roads leading to the basilica.
The Montenegros are very close to us when we were younger. Please help us get in touch with Kuya Dindo, Mayet or Emma. We would love to go back o Taal one of these days.
Hi Ms.Ochie
I will send you an email with Mr. Dindo Montenegro’s number.
Hi Renz,
Thank you for your reply. However, I have not received an email from you. I might be going to Taal this weekend. Will appreciate if you can give me Dindo’s contact no.
Godbless
Do you know where I could find a walking tour map of Taal? I lived there until I was 15 yrs old but have not been back for almost 30 yrs. I have forgotten how to get to the San Lorenzo Ruiz steps from Taal Basilica. Thanks. By the way, do we still have to go to Seiran to watch panutsa making? Is there any shop in Taal market where we could watch them?
Hi Ms. Brenda
Mr. Dindo Montengro’s Heritage Tour has a complete package of the Taal Colonial experience. For demos of the Taal products, he would already have the demonstrators gathered in one place.
Hi Renz,
Thank you for your reply. However, I have not received an email from you. I might be going to Taal this weekend. Will appreciate if you can give me Mr. Dindo’s contact no.
Godbless
Greetings. I represent a family group composed of descendants of Don Perpetuo Agoncillo and Fidela Marasigan de Agoncillo from Taal, Batangas (mid 1800s). May I ask for Mr. Dindo Montenegro’s email please? We have a 1000plus strong family tree and we would like to establish our links with the other Agoncillos who are descended from the other branches. Thank you very much.
Nice to see pictures of Taal, We actually share common advocate, to share information about our Town Taal Batangas.
I am doing the same by featuring different things that could be seen in Taal
Hi! Is it possible to conduct a prenuptial photo shoot at Galeria Taal?
It sure brings back childhood memories of Taal. Love to see more articles and pictures of my beloved hometown.