CoRambLan Festival 2015 in Alaminos, Laguna

Twenty Fourteen Tales: 2014 Feast of Our Lady of the Pillar in Alaminos, Laguna

A yearly event in the neighboring town of Alaminos, the feast of Our Lady of the Pillar is pretty much the same when I first encountered it seven years ago: merry but religiously grounded. 

A late decision to come and see the activities on the exact feast day led us into snail-pace traffic in going to the town proper. This was expected because the national highway (Maharlika) passes right through the town proper and all the buses, trucks, public and private vehicles had to give way to the crossing visitors and spectators to the festivities. 

In the heart of the town the last mass of the day was conducted in town church just as dusk settled. This was followed immediately by a procession of the image of the lady fronted by a very enthusiastic marching band. The procession pushed through despite the rising noise from the streets outside the church grounds. It was good to see that the night programs were no longer held on the stage found just outside the church gate. It would have been very difficult to navigate through that particular area. Instead vendors covered the sidewalks, displaying their wares ranging from plastic toys, to souvenir wallets, to linen and clothes. 

It is a must that you visit the perya. Composed of a few rides, games, and a multitude of tiangge, perya as a whole somehow defines the general mood of the people–one of merriment. Here one can win a few kitchen wares or toys by displacing tin cans placed at a distance using balls or by throwing coins and putting them inside squares of different sizes on a wide board. Truly Filipinos find such little pleasures an integral part of our religious festivities.

It would probably be worthwhile to revisit the place and follow the activities leading to the October 12 feast day. Hopefully next year.

Casas: La la la Alaminos, Laguna Part 5

* standing strong in Alaminos

* found along the Maharlika highway * another elegant one, also found along the Maharlika highway

* similarly elegant, still found along the Maharlika highway

* not that old, but nevertheless a treasure to behold (and to own)

I shall end this series by sharing a few more houses that have captured my attention. As I have said, they are not those hardcore Spanish houses. But in looking up those houses big and small, scattered randomly on those little streets at the town proper, it served to lay in my mind an imagined walk in a little village during the period between the Spanish and the American periods.

The Casas on Calle Rizal – La la la Alaminos, Laguna: Part 4

* statue of a woman standing in front of a house in Rizal Street

* view of the house where the woman statue can be found; situated on the corner of Rizal Street and the Maharlika Highway

* the Fule Mansion complete with detailed decorations along the fence of the place

* one starts to figure out why it is getting hard to maintain houses made out of wood, such as this one

As with many other places in the country, the main street – most often the very one leading to the church – contains the biggest, if not the most imposing, houses. There was Calamba for instance, then San Pablo, and San Juan in Batangas, just to name a few. And to a certain extent Alaminos can be categorized along this line, as I have observed that in Rizal Street, the street that leads to the town church, many such houses (and even mansion, if we could count the Fule residence there as one) are found.

* a house which I could say is simple yet elegant

* the surrounding compliments the already serene feel of this house

* an imposing one

* one can trace the features of the upper part of this house, features that certainly were lifted from the designs of the houses during the Spanish times

Novice as I might be in technically categorizing these houses, the look of the houses themselves would give one that idea when they came to existence. They are not Spanish, those that some call Antillean ones, nor are they modern, in its present-day sense. They are more to me like immediate post-American, for they have features that can only be placed during the American times. As to the hardcore bahay na bato, I could not find one; or was it just I missed them? In any case, there were certainly traces on some of the houses that feature Spanish details, or designs for that matter. I was able to talk to some elders who told me of the events of the Second World War which included Alaminos. It could have been possible that those tumultuous times had, to some extent, caused the destruction of the houses of the Spanish times.

Lastly, there was a recent comment posted on the first part of my Alaminos series. And the comment relayed a number of details about the Fule’s of Alaminos who I have alluded to earlier. I extend my thanks to whoever shared those details. It is my hope that future readers would find that helpful as well.

La la la Alaminos, Laguna: Part 3

* the Rizal statue I have earlier mentioned which has a lady included; I wonder who she is/was: Liberty? Justice?

* the church of Nuestra Señora del Pilar, founded in 1815

* the bell I have also mentioned earlier which has those curious inscriptions; too bad the church was close at that time, I could have asked the caretaker to take me to the tower

* the Al-Iman mosque, found just a short walk away from the town hall

* the Alaminos town hall; more or less created shortly after the American period (just tentative action in figuring out the era when buildings and/or houses are built)

I have earlier posted two accounts of my visit to the town of Alaminos and as I have felt that they were rather incomplete (that is, I was not able to take pictures of things and places there), I decided to embark on a re-visit to the town. (Perhaps the first of the many re-visits that I shall be doing, given the resources and time, in the future.)

The name ‘Alaminos’ certainly has that Spanish feel on it. But on digging in about the town, it was not even its original name. It was in the past called Trencheria. And having this notion that old names during the pre-Hispanic times were usually used to describe the terrain, or the features of the place, I am venturing to say that the place had probably trenches or some kind of feature connected to it. It was still then a barrio of the town of San Pablo, which was still under the jurisdiction of the province of Batangas. In 1873 it became a separate town but was placed under the province of Laguna.

That Spanish feel in the name of this town came from Capitan General Juan de Alaminos Nivera who at that time was administrating the province of Batangas. 1902 witnessed its return to the town of San Pablo. It has finally obtained its town status up to the present in 1916.

In the past, it seemed only to me a transient town, one that should be passed through in going to Manila. Now that I am more than just merely interested in knowing the towns I pass by whenever I travel, it was exciting to know the many little treasures that the town has. I am only talking as far as the town proper is concerned. Who knows, perhaps in its rural barangays, more can be discovered that are of great interest not only to a history buff but to an Alaminos resident as well who has the desire to know more about his town.

Later, I shall be sharing what I love looking for the most in the towns I visit – casas!

(The first two parts about Alaminos can be read here: Part 1, Part 2)

Alaminos Church

Just unearthed this photo from my CD-burned files. This is the altar of the Our Lady of Pillar in Alaminos, Laguna.

La la la Alaminos, Laguna

   

It was Christmas day when I went to the town of Alaminos in Laguna and its main street Jose P. Rizal Street in the town proper was teeming with people. It later occurred to me that it was a holiday but most people chose this day to have their children baptized in church. If I remember it right I was also baptized on a Christmas day.
 
And off I went to mingle with Alaminos Christmas churchgoers but not before having sneak peeks to the objects along Rizal Street.
  

 *some of the big houses in the town proper of Alaminos, Laguna

One will immediately notice the big houses on this street. I would categorize them as mansions as they are of similar built and size to the ones we call mansions in San Pablo. There was one such mansion, on the corner of Rizal Street and the national highway, bearing these names outside: Adelaida Fule and Erlinda Fule, both Bachelor of Music. I do not have any idea of who they were but judging from this huge house the family from which they belonged were most likely rich and perhaps influential.
   
I encountered next was the Rizal monument with a foreign-looking lady behind him. I was not able to look more closely to that figure since the sun was already high up in the sky. Below is a marker:
   

Constructed: Municipal President Don Jose F. Fule, 1920-1923.

 
I venture to say that these Fule’s are probably related to one another and have been prominent figures there. I could probably dig in to this in the future since Alaminos is not that far.
   
The Church (Our Lady of Pillar) has Nuestra Señora del Pilar as its patron saint. The arc just outside says F.1815. Old indeed. But looking inside the church (which I first visited during the christening of a cousin’s daughter) it looked recently constructed. I tried to look outside for any signs that it still hold some time-tested part (old walls, etc.) but all I could connect to its old age was the bell on its tower. It has inscriptions which I would surely want to read and transcribe here at Back Trails!