'Fast, pray, love'

A large streamer fluttering from the roof of the Basilica Minore de Immaculada Concepcion, seat of the Malolos Diocese in Bulacan, enjoined people to “Fast, Pray, Love.”

The message – of course lifted from the popular novel and Hollywood hit “Eat, Pray, Love” – could make Holy Week travelers like me feel guilty for combining the best of the messages and indulging in fast eating instead. But tradition won over piety and the eating continued alongside my Visita Iglesia.

By the time I was ready to return to Manila along the old MacArthur Highway, the trunk of the car was piled high with Malolos ensaimada (guaranteed to raise your cholesterol level with the overload of egg yolks and butter) of different sizes plus packs of chiffon cake with custard filling called inipit, bought from the Barasoain Bakeshop in front of the Barasoain Church.

Competing with the aroma of the ensaimada was the redolence of garlic packed into the longganisa that I found at the public market in Calumpit, Bulacan – one of the most pleasant discoveries during my trip. I love longganisa from Lucban and Vigan, but Calumpit?

The air-dried longganisa – grayish for garlicky, reddish for sweet – were hanging at the meat stalls in the market, across a roadside eatery called Chucoy’s. The floor of the eatery consists of gravel, there’s no air conditioning, and the tables and chairs are red monobloc provided free by Coca-Cola. But the place was packed.

I spotted the longganisa after consuming a bowl of one of the best goto in the country at the eatery, at P30 per bowl including a side dish of tokwa’t baboy. Chucoy’s special “gawlu” costs P60, with everything in it: tripe, chicken, chicken liver and gizzard, tokwa-baboy. There were also delectable dinuguan and binagoongan, both cooked differently from what I’m familiar with.

Reviewing my cookbooks and history books at home, I realized I had just enjoyed Sulipan cuisine – named after a place that no longer exists. Sulipan has been swallowed up by Calumpit and, across the river, Apalit in Pampanga. Sulipan cuisine is remarkable for the richness of its offerings – artery-busting Pampango-Bulakeño versions of Spanish, Chinese, Malay and French cooking.

And what I sampled was just ordinary fare. There’s special Sulipan cooking for fiestas and grand weddings, and for the first Congress of the Philippines in Malolos.

Traveling across Bulacan during Holy Week, what struck me was how much we take for granted the richness of our history and culture. Or at least how much we need to work on marketing our country’s attractions.

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It was my first visit to Barasoain Church, where the Malolos Congress convened on Sept. 15, 1898, where the first constitutional convention (in the country and in Asia) was held from 1898 to 1899, and where the first Philippine Republic was inaugurated on Jan. 23, 1899. The carriage of the first president, Emilio Aguinaldo, is on display at the entrance to the adjacent convent, which served briefly as the presidential residence.

In other countries, there would be competent guides to brief visitors about the history of the church and the birth of a nation. In certain other countries, there would even be interactive presentations of those events.

Instead the events in Malolos are engraved in a marker at the church entrance, which also bears the names and photos of the participants. The marker is faded and difficult to read. Once you make out the names, you realize that many of those ilustrado participants have handed down their wealth and influence to their descendants.

Near the church is the traditional Spanish-style mansion of Jose Chichioco Cojuangco, native of Malolos, son of a Chinese immigrant, and better known as the father of Corazon Cojuangco Aquino.

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Many other events that led to the birth of the nation took place south of Metro Manila. Cavite has websites and tour packages dedicated to those historical events. Prominent Cavite natives have contributed their share; billionaire Geronimo Berenguer de los Reyes Jr. has set up a museum in his industrial park in General Trias that features maps and photographs depicting Philippine life and history. The museum, which I visited three months ago, is well maintained.

But Cavite can use more marketing and development. From the museum I was taken by a friend to Puerto Azul for a late lunch. The road to what was once a popular tourist destination during the Marcos years is well paved and overlooks the bay. That scenery would be precious in any country except, I guess, in one where almost everywhere there’s an ocean view just a short drive or even a walk away.

The view from Puerto Azul itself was just as spectacular, but the facility itself is in disrepair and there were only a handful of visitors. It reminded of Imelda Marcos’ unfinished “Palace in the Sky,” which offers a panoramic view of Taal Lake and Volcano Island from Tagaytay. It’s a waste to let these assets, easily accessible from Metro Manila, rot away.

In my other Holy Week destination, Laguna, I also thought a little more marketing could boost tourism.

To avoid the Holy Week traffic in Los Baños, we drove to Nagcarlan, at the foot of Mounts Banahaw and Cristobal, from the west, through the highway going to Bicol, and then through a well paved, two-lane road through Calauan. The geothermal pipes of Chevron run through this road, which has no streetlights so we didn’t take it for our return drive. The town is clean and lovely with tropical gardens, as are most of the places in Laguna.

In Nagcarlan I visited the twin falls in Bunga for the first time. Perhaps locals want to keep tourists out. There’s no big sign going to Bunga Falls and the one-lane pavement ends in a dirt road. You pay P35 for parking and P5 to climb down a steep path with stone steps cut into the hillside with sporadic stretches of bamboo railing to reach the falls. It’s beautiful, but people with weak knees cannot make it down those slippery, muddy steps. There’s no toilet.

It was easier to find the Underground Cemetery and church in the town proper. The pact of Biak-na-Bato was first planned by Philippine revolutionaries in 1897 at the cemetery that was originally built in 1845 for Spanish friars. The marker at the entrance to the church and aboveground niches (120 on each side) is well maintained, but the underground cemetery itself, with 36 niches, is deteriorating from the elements.

As in previous years, my Holy Week break reaffirmed my admiration for the beauty of our country. What we need is to tell more people about it.