A tour of Pampanga’s heritage homes

MANILA, Philippines - The city of San Fernando in Pampanga boasts a rich history that has enthralled the culturati for centuries. Blessed with fertile agricultural land, excellent location, and creatively prolific citizenry, San Fernando has continued to attract traders and travelers for more than 200 years now. Despite currently being in the throes of fast-paced modernization, the place remains a haven for old souls with its well-preserved residential edifices — mostly American colonial-inspired mansions with winding staircases, high ceilings and secret hiding places. These mansions, with their Amorsolo paintings, grandiose chandeliers, antique furniture and unique collections of memorabilia, are vestiges of a succession of colonial rule — Spanish, American and even Japanese.

Here are three mansions worth visiting.

• Baron-Cuyugan house. The Baron-Cuyugan house had been, for the most part, the residence of Vivencio Baron Cuyugan, the first socialist mayor of the Philippines.  According to Vince Cuyugan, Vivencio’s son who still lives in the property, his father inherited the house from his aunt. The two-story mansion was initially built in the 1870s but underwent renovation in 1935.  The overhaul included a front porch, an architectural design, which Cuyugan fancied when he spent time in the United States.  Cuyugan further drew inspiration from American colonial design with four pillars standing as sentinels on either side of the front door.  However, Cuyugan could not part with the 1870s wood panels, insisting on using it as scaffolding for the renovated house.

The house’s capiz windows also hark back to 1870, as well as the hand-carved “S” wall molding, which stood for Silvestre Baron, Vivencio Cuyugan’s aunt. As with most old houses, the Baron-Cuyugan mansion has high ceilings. Vince explains that most pre-war houses had high ceilings simply because there was no air-conditioning system back then. When the weather was hot, all they had to do was open the windows so the heat would rise.  Another prominent feature of the Baron-Cuyugan house is its non-welded wrought windows, a style popularly known in those times.

Outside the house rests a monument bearing the bust of the late Cuyugan. It is also here where Cuyugan’s remains, as well as his wife’s, are interred.

Eerily enough, what makes the Baron-Cuyugan house even more fabled is its role during the Japanese invasion. Vivencio was one of the founders of the anti-Japanese guerilla movement, Hukbalahap.

To escape the arrest and torture of Japanese soldiers, Vivencio created a dungeon within his house, where family members and Hukbalahap associates would crawl into upon news of Japanese arrivals. Alas, the Baron-Cuyugan house was eventually seized by the Japanese who temporarily turned it into the Municipal Hall of San Fernando.

•Augusto Hizon house (Santos-Hizon house). A few streets away from the Baron-Cuyugan house is the Santos-Hizon house, now known as the Augusto Hizon house.  Built at the turn of the century by Teodoro and Africa Ventura, the Victorian-style mansion was bought by Maria Salome Hizon, a philanthropist and Red Cross volunteer during the Philippine Revolution. It was then inherited by her brother Augusto Hizon.

Like the Baron-Cuyugan residence, the Augusto-Hizon house exemplifies the American colonial-style architecture. Visitors are immediately impressed by the winding staircase leading to the house’s portico, made more elegant with Machuca tiles. The multi-colored tiles, whose history goes back to 1900s, feature a Mediterranean motif.  San Sebastian College and San Beda Church are among the more familiar historical structures that feature such Machuca tiles. 

Inside, the Augusto-Hizon house showcases antique furniture, period portraits of its ancestors, as well as an interesting collection of hand bells, brass and crystals alike.

A 14-seater dining table is the centerpiece of the mansion, perfect for formal gatherings of the privileged and elite. 

The Augusto-Hizon house currently serves as the residence of a Hizon heir.

•Lazatin house. The Lazatin residence is another house appropriated by the Japanese government to serve as residence of the 14th Army commander of the Japanese Imperial Army. It is imposing in design, starting even from its façade alone. Built in 1925 by sugar farmer and former president of SFELAPCO (San Fernando Electric Light and Company), the Lazatin house is another San Fernando mansion with an American colonial motif. 

A staircase leads to a centered front door, flanked by windows on either side.  According to Marco Lazatin, an heir, the house was the last one to be built in the town’s border, where the first Filipino-financed sugar center in Pampanga called Pasudeco was also located. The Lazatin patriarch was one of its founders and every day he used to walk from his house to the sugar center until he decided to construct a house near the office.

The Lazatin house is perhaps one of the most well-preserved mansions in San Fernando’s Heritage District.  The Lazatin family even started a foundation for the mansion’s upkeep. A tour inside the Lazatin house verifies this commitment to heritage preservation — inside, the house boasts a formal dining room filled with various knick-knacks accumulated by Marco’s aunts from their trips around the world. Chinaware, porcelain and ceramic figurines, and plates are arranged side-by-side with an antique piano, modern furniture, a Grandfather clock and family portraits. 

Marco says his grandparents’ portraits were done by National Artist Fernando Amorsolo himself.  Going up the winding stairs unfolds more drama, as the Lazatin house’s second level features the same ornate decor downstairs as well as more unique finds.

In one room, there is an old barometer that is said to be a miniature version of the one found in the old Ateneo de Manila campus in Padre Faura, Manila. The barometer, with markings in Spanish, is still fully functional, so anyone can figure out if a destructive typhoon is coming.  In another room lies a traditional parturition chair, which is a piece of furniture designed especially for women giving birth. The contraption, similar to a rocking chair, is low in height and has longer armrests upon which the birthing mother actually places her legs akimbo.

Other interesting finds at the Lazatin house are the family’s doll and matchbook collection. Six large frames contain hundreds of matchbooks, including interesting ones like a 1964 US presidential campaign token of Sen. Barry Goldwater and incumbent president Lyndon B. Johnson.  There are even matchbooks that similarly served as campaign materials of past Filipino presidents Elpidio Quirino and Carlos P. Garcia.

Just before summer ends, travel back in time and explore San Fernando’s Heritage District for a genuine experience of the Philippines’ glorious past. To make the most of one’s tour, it is best to coordinate with the local city tourism office of San Fernando, Pampanga ahead of time. You can arrange personal visits to these houses.

Getting to Pampanga is easy with Victory Liner, the Filipino traveler’s most trusted and preferred bus network in North Luzon. With comfortable seats and value-added services such as free Wi-Fi onboard, visitors can definitely enjoy the trip to San Fernando’s splendid heritage houses.

To experience San Fernando’s heritage houses, simply ride a Victory Liner bus bound for Zambales at P207 only, and alight in front of Robinsons Starmills San Fernando.  Ride a tricycle (fee is P100) and ask to be dropped off at San Fernando Municipal Hall.  Tricycles though are not allowed to cross the bridge leading to the Municipal Hall, but the hall is just a short walk from the bridge. San Fernando’s Municipal Hall could be the starting point of one’s tour. It lies in a block encompassing San Fernando’s Heritage District.

For information, visit www.victoryliner.com and follow Victory Liner on Twitter at www.twitter.com/VictoryLinerInc.