Lusungin ang Malabon!

At last.  I finally got to join the Malabon Heritage Tour, aptly called "LUSUNGIN ANG MALABON!"   Loosely translated, the title says: Wade, Plunge, Dip or Immerse into Malabon -- an allusion to its perennial flooding problem -- and such was the participants' experience figuratively on that sunny Saturday of October 15, 2011.

Now on its eighth year, the tour was an appealing sampler of our hometown's food, art and heritage that took us around the old District of Malabon where the old churches and some ancestral houses are clustered.  We met up at Pescadores Restaurant.  There, Leona Nepomuceno, Atty. Monchet Lucas and Archt. Richard Bautista of the Malabon heritage group gave us an overview of the tour.  Mr. Ivan Henares, Vice President of the Heritage Conservation Society who had joined the tour before, gave a few remarks.

Ms. Gemma Cruz-Araneta, Chairperson of the Heritage Conservation Society, led a group of its members in doing the tour. Art historian Jack Pilar was also with the group. They were joined by a few locals led by Councilor Maricar Torres and art & antique collector Tony Gutierrez. Ivan Man Dy of Old Manila Walks joined us midway through the tour.

Our tour stops included:

• SAN BARTOLOME CHURCH and CEMETERY - the oldest church in Malabon dating back to the Spanish era with its portico of Ionic columns that remind us of a Greek temple
• The old MUNICIPALES - its adobe remnants are found at the entrance of the Tanong Integrated  School
• The roof deck of City Hall for an unrivalled BIRD'S EYE-VIEW OF MALABON
• BETSY'S CAKE CENTER - known for its delicious broas, a take-home must
• PAEZ HOUSE - a Spanish era house with its simple facade but very cozy interior
• BORJA HOUSE- one of the most beautiful and well-preserved heritage houses in Malabon
• Immaculate Conception Parish Church - another church built during the colonial period
• The original site of DOLOR'S KAKANIN - since this is where all the luscious kakanin is cooked, you can sometimes request what particular kinds of kakanin you want on your bilao
• CONCEPCION BAKERY - known for its pianono roll
• The gallery of MR. ANGEL CACNIO, multi-awarded artist of Malabon
• Remnant of the Spanish-era TABACALERA at the Malabon Elementary School
• RIVERA HOUSE - unique for its villa setting and its owners' efforts to preserve their heritage by jacking up the house
• RUFINA PATIS -  a proudly Malabon product adding rich flavour to our favorite dishes in its more than one hundred years' existence
• MARTINEZ HOUSE - another one of Malabon's beautiful, well-preserved heritage houses
• RAYMUNDO HOUSE  - said to be the oldest house in Malabon with its original stone gateway reminiscent of the portals of Intramuros

 

 

SOME THOUGHTS AT A TIRING DAY'S END

Up to just a year ago, the only heritage houses I knew about in Malabon were the ones in my old neighborhood of Barangay Concepcion and the ones that were along the way going to and from Bayan.  So that when I first found Richard Bautista's site (see link posted at the sidebar of this blog), I was amazed at how many heritage houses we have!  I didn't even realize that the Immaculate Conception Parish Church of which I was a parishioner for more than 20 years was built during Spanish times.  And I certainly didn't know until only late last year, that right on Rizal Avenue where my school was located, there used to be railroad tracks where the historic tranvia used to pass.

Well, I certainly managed to live much of my life blissfully ignorant about such things. After all, I didn't need that kind of information in my day-to-day life as student, then career woman, wife and mother.  But having gone around Malabon this past year and in the process discovering/rediscovering her rich history and heritage, food, art and culture -- I now know what I've missed.

I am only now discovering her soul:  the different people, places, traditions and events; the objects and structures past and present, that shaped her and gave her character, a unique identity. For me, this is an important endeavor.  Why?  Because Malabon has changed so much that I often don't recognize her anymore.  Whenever I walk her streets I wish I could always say I like how she's changed.  But finding these heritage structures, learning Malabon's history, rediscovering her food, immersing in her art and culture -- I am consoled that despite what has become her dowdy exterior, much of her inner beauty remains. An inner beauty trapped within her core by years of apathy and neglect.

Thankfully, all that now appears to be changing.  The move to peel away those layers of apathy has begun and Malabon's inner beauty has a chance to shine through.  Those tours and the art exhibits organized over the last few years by the Malabon heritage group of Monchet Lucas, Richard Bautista, Leona Nepomuceno and Terry de Jesus started it all, and continue to be an inspiration and a catalyst.

We are seeing a renewed interest in Malabon, not only on the part of those who still live in the city, but also those living elsewhere who call Malabon their hometown and are looking at her with nostalgic hearts.  Ancestral house-owners now seem to realize the heritage treasure under their wings, and some have undertaken repair & repainting.  Photo hobbyists, food enthusiasts, art lovers and local tourists -- some now add Malabon as a destination that's both interesting, inexpensive, and close by. No, not yet in the league of Manila or Vigan, but, we are heading in a direction that is at the very least, hopeful.

I hope we can continue taking those baby steps, because heritage matters -- it enriches our lives, helps us define who we are, and lets us be proud of ourselves as a people.  We can look confidently to our future if we value where we've been.

Just as importantly, preserving our heritage, just like protecting the environment, is good stewardship of a gift.  It is a precious legacy that we can pass on to future generations. By giving them faithful glimpses into the past, they, too, can discover their identity, be enriched, and move forward with pride, hope and confidence.

Tara na, LUSUNGIN ANG MALABON..!

The Journey Begins

I've lived in Malabon since I was six. However, for the last 18 years, I've lived away from the heart of it, in a gated community along its rim. In occasional visits to our family home in Barangay Concepcion, I've watched, appalled, at how the town has succumbed to modern-day maladies. The unresolved flooding problem, rampant informal settlements and environmental degradation - are these symptoms or are they effects of suburban decay? I leave it up to the social scientists to determine. All I know is that, as far as I could see, my beloved town had gone the way of most towns caught up by what ails our country and our society today. So in my heart I said goodbye to the town I loved, and with great dismay said hello to the city it has become and I wish it were not.

The town's descent certainly did not happen overnight. It took years. But I believe it began with the filling up of Dagat-Dagatan, which served as a catch basin not only for Malabon but for surrounding towns and cities as well. That monumental mistake resulted in our town's massive, never-before flooding problem and in my view, triggered the onslaught of informal settlers. These problems have remained through the years and have taken their toll on the quality of life in Malabon.

But it was mostly those in the heart of town who suffered simply because they were the ones who had to wade through flood water when it was high tide or be trapped inside Malabon when flooding rendered streets leading out of town impassable. It was they who had to walk each day through littered streets, pass by places overrun by settlers, or see some unsightly new structure blocking the view and the flow of soft breezes. Me? I was peacefully ensconced in its periphery and for the most part of 18 years, oblivious.

Suburban decay in Malabon became real to me a few years ago when I started to notice how it was beginning to creep up in my Dad's neighborhood. Litter everywhere... garbage mounds right on the street corner... vagrants answering nature's call or sleeping in our alley... All these had the effect of something stealthily creeping up on me. But what came as a jolt was when they built an unsightly barangay hall and covered basketball court on the plaza right next to one of our town's heritage gems, the Borja House. Now, the sweeping view of that majestic house from the once open-air plaza is gone. From that angle all that one can see now is this unsightly structure standing alongside a beautiful heritage house - an unwitting illustration of Malabon's elegant past and its dowdy present. At that point, I thought I could hardly be blamed if I was beginning to feel a sense of hopelessness at what was happening to Malabon.

Then three years ago I read about a group that was organizing heritage tours of Malabon, hoping to promote interest in its rich heritage. My heart leapt and yes, I began to feel hopeful again. Unfortunately I was not able to join their tour that time. And in the intervening years, the everyday realities of my own life took over and my personal hopes and wishes for Malabon had to occupy a back seat. But maybe this beloved town that I've relegated into the dim corridors of my heart wants to take front and center again because a Facebook friend posted vintage photos of Malabon on his site and I became nostalgic.

Now I am dreaming again and feeling hopeful for the town of my youth.

Thanks to the group of Atty. Ramon Lucas and Arch. Richard Bautista who try to keep the love alive for Malabon's rich heritage by organizing those tours, and to my Facebook friend Manny Alba, who posted the vintage photos above on his site -- you have rekindled my passion and inspired hope in my heart that all is not lost for this once serene and gracious town we love.

For in spite of everything that has happened to Malabon, there remains in it much beauty - the beauty of its heritage and its soul. We only need to peel away the layers of apathy and neglect to let its beauty shine through again.

This, then, will be our shared journey of rediscovery.

"My Malabon" is not just me but all of us... who love Malabon and have "ownership" of it because it is a part of who we are and who we hope to be.

God bless Malabon!
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