National treasures

Churches used to be the focal points of life in this archipelago. Communities developed around churches, with the seat of local government, the public market, main public school and the homes of prominent citizens built around the church square.

Certain churches drew the faithful even from outside the community. These churches usually had icons believed to be miraculous, or were those that offered lovely views of the surrounding areas.

The Antipolo Cathedral is one such place. It was built in the 17th century at the site where the image of Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage was found on top of a tipolo tree after disappearing several times. The original structure was burned down by local Chinese rebels, damaged by several earthquakes, and then destroyed by Allied bombardment during World War II. The new structure offers indulgences to those who enter the church after the performance of certain rituals.

As pilgrimage sites, churches were among the earliest tourism draws, contributing to the local economy. Such is the Antipolo Cathedral. In my younger years our family visited the church regularly, with my father driving along the scenic Sumulong Highway dotted with roadside barbecue spots that offered a panoramic view of the valley all the way to what would become Metro Manila.

As we entered the town proper, the church on top of the hill could be seen from the highway. We went to the church not just for prayers and the view of Antipolo but also to buy roasted cashew, mangoes and suman sa ibus and suman sa lihiya, touted as the best in the country.

So I was disappointed when I visited Antipolo again with my mother over the weekend, and could no longer see the church from a distance. Multistory commercial buildings and a school block all views around the church.

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It’s like the Baguio Cathedral, which used to dominate the landscape in the city center. At 6 p.m. a hush would fall on the city as the church bells tolled the Angelus and the scent of dama de noche would start mingling with the aroma of pine in the cool mountain air.

The last time I visited Baguio about four years ago I had to navigate a warren of stalls selling ukay-ukay, cell phone load and phone cases to find the cathedral, whose facade was obstructed by a tricycle terminal and waiting shed. The city, whose slopes now resemble Brazil’s favelas, smelled not of pines but like EDSA on a day of horrid traffic.

At least the toxic fumes of Ortigas have not yet wafted to the Antipolo Cathedral. But it’s disappointing to look out from the church and be greeted by a building housing CD-R King and fast-food outlets.

Vendors of souvenirs and cashew and suman have been confined to side streets. The roasted cashew was wonderful but the suman was disappointing even when the taste was masked by gooey coconut jam, and the kalamay was the worst I’ve ever eaten.

We should follow the example of Thailand and preserve culinary traditions, not only to ensure quality but also to boost tourism and livelihoods. If I want suman that scrimps on coconut milk and sticky rice I can get that in any public market in Metro Manila.

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While I missed the panoramic view of Antipolo, a plus was that the drive from Metro Manila was surprisingly quick, particularly to our first stop, Angono, home of the petroglyphs and the Higantes Festival. Thanks to infrastructure, the Rizal town renowned as an artists’ haven is just a 45-minute drive from C-5 in Taguig through the East Bank Road that runs parallel to the Manggahan Floodway. The Sumulong Highway can now be bypassed all the way to Antipolo.

With political leadership, the unsightly banks of the floodway could be turned into a scenic enclave that can contribute to the local economy. I was told that the area didn’t get flooded even during Typhoon Ondoy.

In Angono, which has so far retained its unique appeal as the nation’s art capital, it was easy to find the late National Artist Carlos “Botong” Francisco’s gallery, which also houses the Balaw-Balaw Restaurant. We sampled some of the house specialties, fried duck or itik, balut soup and of course balaw-balaw (fermented rice and shrimp), but skipped the fried wood grubs (fat worms), crispy frogs and Soup No. 5.

Botong Francisco was the one who during a hike discovered the Angono-Binangonan Petroglyphs, confirmed to date back to 3,000 B.C. A viewing deck has been built in front of the rock shelter 63 meters wide, five meters high and eight meters deep, to protect the 127 drawings.

The rock carvings are more discernible than those on the petroglyphs that I visited at the Gobustan National Park in Azerbaijan. But Gobustan is a top tourism draw in that country, with the infrastructure and tour packages to support it. In Angono, there seemed to be low public awareness of the petroglyphs; we had to ask for the kuweba (cave). Only a small sign pointed to the winding road leading to the site.

The Angono-Binangonan Petroglyphs, classified as a National Cultural Treasure, is a site managed by the National Museum. From Angono there is a narrow road that passes through Antipolo and then to the cave. A shorter route is through a private road owned by the Thunderbird Resort. Guards allowed us to pass through when told that we planned to proceed to the Antipolo Cathedral through the entrance on the other side. Still, the government must invoke eminent domain and create public access to this national heritage through this shorter route.

We initially missed the turn to the site because the small sign faced the other side of the road. The private road is paved but the one leading to the site, a national treasure, is a narrow dirt road. From the site it is just a 20-minute drive to the Antipolo Cathedral.

You enter the site through a mountain tunnel where motor vehicles are supposedly not allowed. But leaving the site we were assaulted by dust and toxic fumes from a convoy of about six golf carts that drove through the tunnel. The guard told us the carts bore guests of the East Ridge Golf Club.

The park is on the tentative list of the UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. If it gets this recognition, it will be entitled to more support. Then perhaps the site can get the special care and environment that a national treasure deserves.