Revisiting Pagsanjan, Laguna: The Houses in Mabini Street I

* a mixture of modernity and a touch of the past

* a typical renovated house;
on the ground floor is Infinito (whether it was a shop or a store I cannot recall)

* the local Iglesia Filipina Independiente

* an old arch along the street

* only the solid walls remain of what could have been a grand house

I have walked again into Wonderland. Or to make use of a more common phrase, it was as if I have walked back to the past. It is always, and I say always, wonderful to find myself surrounded by these houses that derive their designs from the Spanish period.

They are already relics, and these houses in Pagsanjan are part of that few remaining treasure houses in the country. They should be protected and preserved. In this country where weather phenomena are bound to wear every thing exposed to the environment, we cannot hope to find security by just owning them. Preservation methods should be done to them.

* elegant, as far as I see it

* strong and brick-colored

* still looking strong and elegant

* a haggard- and harassed-looking Trailer Pransis posing outside the house previously shown


* despite finding the Mabini Street just adjacent to Rizal Street which is always busy and noisy with vehicles, the street is surprisingly quiet

I admit I envy those who own such houses, as in the case of a brod in an organization Michael ‘Mike’ Asinas in San Pablo City, Laguna (see his house here). Passion for such colonial houses combined with the aptitude for preservation and the arts would surely enable these houses to survive and meet the future generations.

It is important that they survive I believe. For in these web-pervaded times, people’s attentions are shifted towards things online. And with the way Western culture permeate even our smallest activities; we really should have objects to which we Filipinos can call back our origins, our roots.

Such houses can be of immense help to us.