After “discovering” the magnificent heritage village of Pila, Laguna, I decided to go further south of Laguna, exactly a week after the Pila experience, to the towns of Nagcarlan and Liliw.
Nagcarlan is known to be the recipient of the first seeds of wheat ever on Philippine soil way back 1583 under Fr. Tomas de Miranda. It was in this town also that Fr. Plasencia wrote the first “Diccionario Hispano-Tagalog” in 1579. Ten years later, he wrote the manuscript of “Costumbrez de los Tagalog”, which according to Franciscan documents, served as a guide for the Alcaldes Mayores for effective and righteous governance.
From the vestiges of the battle between the Spanish colonizers rose a new community through the help of a highly placed native called Kalang Panalangin. She was converted into Christianity by the Spanish missionaries and baptized as Ana Panalangin, but was lovingly called Ana Kalang by the villagers who respected her. She was famous for her gold-tipped “salakot”(a native hat) and cane said to have elaborate patterns made of solid gold. To honor Ana Kalang, who helped rebuild the village though her wealth and acts of charity, the parish priest assigned to the village, Padre Cristobal Torres named the place after her. As the name Ana Kalang was passed on from one Spanish to another, then to a local to another and so on, for years the name later became "Nagkarlang", and much later, "Nagcarlan".
The town’s main industries are making candy and fine delicacies such as UBE, ESPASOL and preserved MACAPUNO, the traditional COCONUT industry, mineral water processing, and vegetable farming.
On May 12, 2013 (a payday in my company…yippee!), I rode the LRT from the Monumento station and alighted at the Gil Puyat station, then walked towards the JAC Liner bus terminal, which was just a few steps from the intersection of Gil Puyat and Taft Avenue. Unfortunately, since there were no buses which go straight to Nagcarlan, I rode the bus which had a placard that says “Lucena”, which passes by San Pablo, Laguna.
After a two-hour ride, I alighted at the town of San Pablo, and even though this place was not a part of my itinerary, I quickly visited two structures nearby: (1) the San Pablo Cathedral, which was first established by the Augustinian friars in 1586, second church in 1629 and the present stucture was built in 1714, and the (2) Seminario Menor de San Francisco de Sales (Liceo de San Pablo), built in 1912, which is now being utilized as an exclusive catholic learning institution for young boys since 1978.
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| San Pablo Cathedral |
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| Liceo de San Pablo |
I rode a jeepney, parked near the San Pablo City Library Hub, and after 30 minutes, I alighted in front of the historical Nagcarlan Underground Cemetery, which was just along the highway, across a Petron gas station.
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| Main entrance to the Cemetery |
It is the only one of its kind in the Philippines - a burial site located inside, or more accurately, beneath a church. This church is rich in history - it was built and designed for funeral masses in 1845 by the Franciscan priest Fr. Vicente Velloc. He also directed the construction of an underground graveyard 15 feet below the church in 1851.
During those times, only the rich and influential people were allowed to be buried inside, but after the Spanish regime, the government opened the cemetery to the locals and nearby towns.
After taking several shots along the brick pathway as I marveled the encircled structure, I entered the main chapel and registered in the visitor registration book owned by the National Historical Commission of the Philippines.
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| The Cemetery grounds |
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| Facade of the main chapel |
After a brief overview of the place courtesy of the caretaker, he emphasized that flash photography is not allowed inside the chapel as well as the underground crypt, since the light would add to the deterioration of the various historical items seen inside (What? Even stones?).
By the way, the chapel served as the last station of the funeral rites before entombment. The priest gave his last blessing in this area.
Turning right, I went down the granite steps and saw the crypt, which I thought was huge.
The crypt also played an important role in our history. Throughout the Revolution of 1896 and the Filipino-American War, our fighting patriots used the crypt as a secret hideout, gathering here to plan their moves or to seek shelter. Similarly, it became a safehouse for guerillas during the World War II.
Anyway, due to the poor lighting below, coming from small yellow light bulbs and small amount of sunlight emanating from a closed wooden window, it was really hard to read what was written in the epitaphs. Well, just like any other historical structure as a source of pride, vandalism remained present…geeeeez!
Returning back to the chapel to take shots at the altar, I saw a small hole near the caretaker’s chair. Hmmmmm…no wonder he does not follow the visitors below to guard against flash photography usage. Nice ploy sir.
At the Petron station, I rode a tricycle towards the Nagcarlan town proper in order to visit the St. Bartholomew Parish Church. This was first built in 1583 of light materials. In 1752, the second church was built using bricks and stones but the church was partly destroyed by a fire in 1781. In 1845, the church was reconstructed and a choir loft was added by Fr. Velloc, who also built the Cemetery. This was where the film and Filipino TV series, “Kampanerang Kuba” was shot.
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| St. Bartholomew Parish Church |
Next stop in my itinerary was Liliw as I rode a jeepney near the Nagcarlan Market towards my next destination.
Laguna: Nagcarlan & Liliw (Part 2 of 2)
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