Of houses that sugar built

When I saw the title of the book, “Houses that Sugar Built: An Intimate Portrait of Philippine Ancestral Homes” by Gina Consing McAdam and Siobhán Doran (Oro Editions, 2023), I knew it was a book I had to buy. This is a coffee table book whose main attraction are photographs of the mansions built from the 1890s to the 1930s by the scions of the Philippine sugar industry during its economic and financial peak. According to its authors: “The 1890s to the 1930s were the apogee of the Philippine sugar industry. Towards the end of more than three centuries of Spanish rule – the Spanish colonial era in the Philippines lasted from 1565 to 1898 – sugar was the crop that minted fortunes.”

The Philippine sugar industry began in the province of Pampanga, which benefitted from the proximity of the province to the metropolitan center of Manila. However, it was a group of islands in the central part of the Philippine archipelago known as the Visayas where the sugar industry would really flourish. The sugar industry began in the province of Iloilo where the port of Iloilo was the gateway to the world market.

The soil in the nearby island of Negros was conducive to growing sugar cane. This caused a mass migration to Negros among many Iloilo’s well-to-do families who wanted to expand their fortunes by acquiring vast tracts of land cheaply. This was the birth of the sugar “haciendas.” These sugar planters became popularly known as “hacienderos.”

During the heyday of the sugar industry, the hacienderos began building mansions located in their haciendas. This was the origin of the phrase “the houses that sugar built.”

These houses were located in the three major sugar-producing provinces, namely Iloilo, Negros Occidental and Pampanga.

The authors have a short but highly informative and interesting write-up for each of these mansions.

For example, the first house mentioned is the Yusay-Consing ancestral house located in Molo, Iloilo City.

Here is a brief description of this great house: “The late great Philippine architect and conservation expert Augusto F. Villalon tagged the Yusay-Consing Mansion as hacienda-style, a type that was widespread in the country under the Americans – and, as we shall see, the house also harbors the important connections within the Philippine Commonwealth era. The imposing façade, its broad central entrance topped with a roofed balcony overlooking a neat garden, speaks of the plantation-based affluence of Ilonggos involved in the sugar trade.”

There are several colored photos of the interior and exterior of the house.

When the family sold the house to SM Prime, there was apprehension that this corporate owner would demolish one of Iloilo’s symbols of its golden age. However, the new corporate owner restored the house to its former grandeur. Today, the house continues to attract attention to Ilonggo people and culture.

The other homes featured from the province of Iloilo were Casa Mariquit in Jaro owned by the family of former vice president Fernando Lopez, which was constructed in 1803. The next house was the Arguelles-Jalandoni house also located in Jaro. There is the Hormillosa-Locsin house also in Jaro. Next is the Tison ancestral house in Molo; the Concepcion chalet in Jaro, one of the few not destroyed during the Second World War; Nelly Garden, a 100-year-old house; Balay Remedios located in Iloilo city; Lopez Boathouse, the Lopez ancestral home which looked like a ship; Jalandoni-Lopez-Vito house in Jaro and the Celso Ledesma house located in the heart of Iloilo’s old business district.

Negros Occidental has its own list of opulent mansions. Built in 1930, the Simplicio Lizares mansion was designed by Juan Nakpil, the father of Philippine architecture; the Balay ni Tana Dicang in Talisay city; Juan Anson Lacson house of Talisay; Gaston Ancestral House of Manapla which is now a museum, Balay Negrense; German Unson Heritage House; Casa Gamboa owned by the family of Doreen Besa Gamboa, now a bread and breakfast place; Jose Corteza Locsin Heritage House of Silay; Hofileña Ancestral House, considered a “must-see” on any visit to Silay; Bernardino Jalandoni Museum in Silay; Generoso M. Villanueva Mansion in Bacolod.

There are only two Pampanga homes mentioned, both in San Fernando. There is the Lazatin Heritage House and the Dayrit-Cuyugan Heritage House.

This book has personal significance for me because I was born in Sta. Rita, Pampanga but my family migrated to Negros where I began my grade school education. My father was a partner in an accounting firm, Miller Cruz & Co., whose clients were practically all sugar planters. My mother’s eldest brother Dr. Jose Sicangco had settled in La Carlota City. Growing up, I remember the boom years of the sugar industry. I also recall the ‘60s when the industry virtually collapsed.

Looking back at those years, I can remember the decades when the people of Negros and Iloilo refused to give up and started setting up other businesses. The Negros Trade Fair is an example of how the heirs of the sugar hacienderos learned to be entrepreneurs.

This book is a beautiful narration of one of the Philippines’ golden eras. It is more than just the story of ancestral homes but more important are the histories of the families that lived in these houses and have kept the memories alive.