'On the road again'

We were stopped by the Guardia Civil twice.

Who would have imagined that in the year 2012, we would ever go through the same experiences that Jose Rizal, Andres Bonifacio and Juan Luna went through. At the first gate, the uniformed Guardia Civil asked as the purpose for our visit, counted how many we were and then sent us to the next sentry. Fortunately they did not ask us to present our “Cedulas”.

A few hundred meters down the road I caught a glimpse of the gate to our destination. Like many old gates or “Puertas” it was built out of adobe, a massive archway that seemed old and dry. My excitement increased as I caught a glimpse of one “old house”, but just then another sentry told us to leave our modern carriage outside of town.

As we casually walked towards the archway we were stopped and told that only two may enter the town to register the group. They were certainly all business, somehow I remembered all my High School history lessons about how the Spanish colonizers would build walls and garrisons around their towns to keep out the indios and the “Sangleys” (Chinese merchants). The experience was so real that my friend Timmy went away planning a revolution!

Before going any further, just a little background.

With “summer” making its presence known, it seemed the right time to start taking road trips outside Manila and discover places we’ve never been to. So when our friends Malu and Timmy Alvendia invited us to try out Montemar Beach Club, we grabbed the chance not just to hit the beach but to visit another place that has long been “urban legend” among friends.

In the process of making plans, I had the good fortune of being offered the chance to test drive the latest vehicle offering from Chevrolet namely the Chevy Orlando courtesy of the nice people at Covenant Cars — Lynn Buena and Mark Parulan. With that kind of opportunity, I knew we were on a mission so last Saturday we drove the spanking brand new Chevy Orlando to Montemar in Bagac, Bataan and we absolutely enjoyed the ride while my wife and daughter watched the live concert of “Adele” on the on-board DVD player.

For the last six months we’ve been planning to visit a place in Bataan province where some “history buff” reportedly transplanted five ancestral homes from Ilocos province. Rumor had it that they now had a pool and you could actually stay overnight. As we discovered, there has been a mix-up on the talk about ancestral homes being turned into a resort.

There are actually two locations where ancestral homes are being relocated and reconstructed; one in Ilocos province and one in Bataan province. The Ilocos project which I have not had a chance to check out is reportedly a much smaller but more personal undertaking consisting of five ancestral homes.

The Bataan project called Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar is a “professional-commercial” project labeled as a “Genesis Heritage Resort” built by San Jose Builders more known for their numerous residential and mass housing projects.

Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar is a very serious effort at recreating a legitimate and accurate historical-cultural tourism destination. From archway, to cobblestone street, horse drawn carriages, period correct clothing and 27 huge magnificent ancestral homes one can rightly claim that we now have a Heritage Resort that is up to par with those in Europe and America.

Located in the town of Bagac, Bataan, the “town within a town” sits inside a 400 hectare property between the Luzon sea and a sea of rice fields and the hills of Bataan. What makes its location ideal is that the route out of Manila brings you through parts and places where the infamous “Death March” of World War II passed through. Along the way, you catch sight of the Cross on Mt. Samat where the “Dambana ng Kagitingan” or shrine of valor is located.

If you love “old world” things, then Las Casas Filipinas will be paradise in the Philippines. Although the concept is totally a recreation, I would dare say that it would give the Intramuros site or even Vigan a run for their money. Of course this is not a case of upmanship or the recreation being better than the original but, the project does sets a standard or a business model that others can copy, particularly the government.

However, when I started the article, I mentioned how strict the Guardia Civil were. That was not mere literary license. I realize that Las Casas de Filipinas is still undergoing growing pains, but it would help if the management spent more time training their local staff, gave them more discretion, and acted on suggestions of visitors.

If you’ve just driven over a 100 kilometers to get there, the last thing you want to hear is that you have to coordinate with their Manila office to arrange an ocular visit to decide if their pool was safe for kids or if the beach was nice. Since the project is very new, first time visitors would want to be sure about the accommodations etc. Sadly, the staff would not even let us visit or spend our money at the souvenir shop. Right there and then I so wanted to give them one of my seminars on leadership and customer service! While I left Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar impressed with the magnificence of the reconstruction, they clearly need to learn more and do more about on the spot decisions and making a good impression on visitors and customers.

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