Royal treatment in Naga City

My first time in Naga City was four years ago when I co-produced a Freestyle concert at the University of Nueva Caceres (UNC) gym together with my business partner Batch Hernandez. At that time, Naga for me was merely a venue for my concert – a risky business venture for a novice concert producer like me. Thereafter, all I could remember of Naga was a full-packed concert and the people behind its success – the warm and very kind staff at the UNC.

My next opportunity to be in Naga was almost two years ago, when I emceed the 85th birthday celebration of the charming president of UNC Dolly Sison (Tita Dolly to me) again at the UNC gym where classical-pop singer Jonathan Badon (with whom I did some well-applauded duets – with most of the applause coming from my UNC friends, for sure!) performed a well-received one-hour show before the crème-dela-crème of Naga City. It was a very short stay as I had to rush back to Manila for some pressing matters; another missed opportunity to explore this beautiful city.

In observance of this year’s Holy Week, I decided to go back to Naga, this time with my family and some friends, not for any entertainment concerns but to visit the famous Peñafrancia churches and to appreciate Naga not from an entrepreneur’s point of view but from that of a tourist, eager to learn more of its history and culture.

Knowing very well my inability to muster endurance for long land trips (aarrgghh!), I pressured, or should I say, intimidated my husband Paul with all my might for us to take the plane. As there was only one PAL flight available, at 6:30 in the morning, we struggled to rouse our bodies out of our cozy beds at 3:30 in the morning. Our companions – the Almeda-Roxas and Sayo families – had decided to take the grueling nine-hour trip by land instead, to enjoy the lovely views of the countryside (which was, according to our friends, a bit marred by unfinished or damaged roads here and there – wake up, concerned contractors!), and it was just the Gancaycos for the early part of our Bicol trip.

Upon the perfect landing of our PAL plane, our group of four was met at the airport by the UNC lovely ladies: Alice Palma and Gie Talagtag (yes, they didn’t forget!). Immediately, we were hauled off by the UNC van to have a hefty breakfast, care of UNC vice president Tito Jun Hernandez, at BIGGS – the Bicol food chain that could easily give both Jollibee and McDonald’s stiff competition, with its delicious breakfast offerings, famous cheeseburgers and wonderful drinks. A tour of the UNC was next in line which kicked off with a courtesy call to the still very beautiful, charming and elegant UNC president, Tita Dolly.

Through the kindness of the UNC administration, we were taken cared of by the UNC Museum curator Clodualdo Ceron who patiently explained to us on a hot Holy Wednesday so many things about the university, the UNC Museum and Naga as a whole.

As education is of primary importance to me, I was most interested to find out more about the University of Nueva Caceres as an institution of learning. I discovered that the University of Nueva Caceres was founded by accountant and Bar topnotcher, former Auditor-General/Minister of Finance, the Hon. Jaime Hernandez (after he retired as the country’s Auditor-General/Minister of Finance of four consecutive Philippine Presidents: Manuel Quezon, Sergio Osmeña, Manuel Roxas and Ramon Magsaysay), and started officially in 1948. If only I could turn back the hands of time, I would have loved taking a college summer course or two at the UNC, if only to experience, not a summer fling, of course, but education in a most respected university in the South of Luzon. (Parents, take note: You don’t have to spend precious dollars for a good education for your children by sending your children abroad especially during these hard times! We have the very best within the country!)

After a tour of the UNC Museum, we visited the monument of Bicol’s Quince Martires (15 Martyrs of Bicol), who were arrested by the Spanish friars on suspicion that they had a hand in the organization of a Bicolano counterpart of the Katipunan just five days after Dr. Jose Rizal was executed. Eleven of them were also shot at Bagumbayan in Manila while the others died for the country in exile or in prison.

Just like other dutiful Filipino Catholics, we went on to visit two important churches. First, we went to the Parish of Our Lady of Peñafrancia which became a church of stone and mortar way back in 1750 and enlarged in 1877, until another shrine became necessary for the growing number of people who flock there to show devotion to the Virgin Mary. A bigger church, the Basilica (or the Basilica Minore de Nuestra Senora de Peña Francia) was built, which was the second church we visited.

After the church visits, we finally had our lunch graciously tendered for my family, Ate Alice and Gie by Tita Dolly at the Coco Leaf Restaurant. She ordered such mouth-watering dishes as tangigue steak, inihaw na pusit, crispy pata, kare-kare, shrimp-charon, and the unforgettable laing, crispy kangkong, chicharong bulaklak and lumpiang sariwa – just for the seven of us! I totally enjoyed the sumptuous meal in the same way that I enjoyed getting to know Tita Dolly better. I could not help but admire her youthfulness in physical appearance and in spirit. In earnest, I asked her to share with us her secrets and they are as follows: enjoy life and be happy; stay away from negative people; and continue working. At nearly 87, this Philippine Women’s University high school valedictorian and college cum laude, president of her Student Council and Intercollegiate Girl of the College Editors’ Guild of the Philippines (being the epitome of beauty and brains), former assemblywoman for Region 5, awardee of the Outstanding Bicolana Award from the National Commission on the Role of Women, and so many other awards, continues to be the role model of the Bicolana today.

By evening, I began to believe that Naga City is truly the "Heart of Bicol" as it is often referred to, when our hosts, the Almeda-Roxas family served the whole gang with an equally superb meal that screamed, "Forget your diet!" in the luxurious Almeda ancestral home that reminded us of houses of the old rich depicted in the Filipino movies.

Paul, our kids Jon and Mika, and I all slept with smiles on our faces that night. It was just our first day in Bicol and we were pampered with royal treatment by all our friends in Naga. A beautiful place with a colorful and rich history, and such gracious and hospitable people, Naga City will forever be in our hearts.