Retro retreat
Photographing and researching my series on the UP campuses led me to UP Los Baños last week and a park that I had forgotten about. The university manages most of the Mt. Makiling Forest Reserve and Botanic Gardens, but some of the areas around the fabled mountain have been parceled out to the Boy Scouts, the
The Pook is actually one of six parks managed by the National Parks Development Committee. The committee itself is under the Department of Tourism, whose main claim to fame is that it is in charge of our number-one national park, the
I had not been to the park in over 20 years. Not much has changed. It felt like going back to the 1970s — when, in fact, most of the facilities in the park were constructed. The main amenity was, and still is, the Olympic-sized swimming pool tucked at the bottom of a ravine with cabanas on either side. No one builds pools in this size anymore. It looked worn at the edges but otherwise in good condition.
The cabanas themselves are down to eight or nine spread around the pool and in an adjacent area. A handful of original cottages on the slope up to the site’s view deck are now gone, with just the remnants of their footings and toilets being engulfed by forest vegetation — quaint and picturesque but nonetheless indicative of the NPDC’s meager budget for maintenance (the park officer said they were going to raise their very reasonable rates soon).
The larger cottages are popular for weekenders from around the region and Manila. The largest can accommodate up to 20. Company outings fuel much of the park’s revenues and the few-thousand-pesos charge per night is much less expensive compared to commercial resorts around Los Baños.
The other areas are similar walks down memory lane. There is the shell of the site’s pelota courts. For those born in the martial law years, pelota was a homegrown racquet sport that was quite popular in the ’70s. The court is now a storage area. (They should convert it into a badminton court.)
There is an aviary and a deer enclosure plus lots of picnic pavilions for day-trippers. A running brook is the main view, with ducks and geese wandering about. The décor is ’60s Luneta-esque galvanized iron pipes and roofing. Simple but well-maintained.
The toilets are fairly clean as public facilities go. There is running water and electricity. Karaoke is allowed until a certain hour (that it is allowed at all is a concern for me). The park’s personnel seem friendly and accommodating. (I did not tell them I wrote for the STAR.) All in all, for what it was and still is — a low-cost, recreational amenity for the public — the Pook is not half bad. If you bring some of your own luxuries like a Coleman cooler, your own sheets and water, the cottages are quite decent (for the price). It’s a good option for small companies to get the staff to do that bonding thing. Kids will love the contact with nature — the UP Campus and other sites nearby like Magnetic Hill and the
The Park staff should be complimented. I wish that the government would establish a real Parks Bureau so the old dream of president Manuel L. Quezon of a system of national parks a la
The Makiling Forest Reserve was one of the first national parks and was conserved first as a reserve in 1910. In the ’30s under the Philippine Commonwealth, Quezon hired an American landscape architect by the name of Louis P. Croft to survey the
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Feedback is welcome. Please e-mail the writer at Paulo.alcazaren@gmail.com.
The park is open daily. Just drive to the UP Los Baños Campus, turn right and drive two kilometers or so up the mountain — there are signs to point the way.
