Remembering the past in the Philippines

The traveller sees what he sees, the tourist sees what he has come to see

Gilbert K. Chesterton

In planning any trip most of us will have a list of must-sees, the sights that drove us to want to visit in the first place. For us, in the case of the Philippines, those sights included the rice terraces, hanging coffins and the tarsiers of Bohol. Our trip was built around these, but that left plenty of room to see much more.

I’ve already taken you to see the highlights of Vigan. And I’ve shared many of the interesting colonial churches we visited on Luzon. But there were other sights I wasn’t even aware of before our trip to which our super guide Jezzy introduced us. Sights I want to show you in this round-up of some places that haven’t made it into those previous posts.

The Marcos legacy

For instance, I had no idea that former President Ferdinand Marcos was still so revered in his home state of Ilocos Norte. Despite a rule known for human rights abuses, the executions of political dissenters and enemies, and the excesses of the president and his wife, the people of this region still admire him for his achievements. Achievements that in many cases were fabricated or exaggerated, such as his war record.

We visited two sites associated with Marcos.

Ferdinand E. Marcos Presidential Center

In Batac we visited the museum dedicated to his life, the Ferdinand E. Marcos Presidential Center. It tells the story of the infamous president / dictator’s life. The building was the home of the Marcos family. Today it houses displays covering his early years, his war service and route into politics, starting in local politics and going on to become a Senator and eventually President. It also covers his personal life, focusing mainly on his whirlwind courtship of Imelda. There are photos of the ‘happy couple’, as well as some of her clothes and even a few of the infamous shoes (but without reference to the outcries they provoked).

The slant of the museum reflects his ongoing popularity here, celebrating his achievements and more or less ignoring his controversial dictatorship and eventual overthrow. I was reminded of sights we had visited in North Korea, where history was presented in a similar fashion. The exhibit captions in my gallery below will give you some idea of the tone of the whole museum.

Ferdinand E. Marcos Presidential Center

The Malacañang of the North

The Malacañang of the North on the shores of Paoay Lake was built in 1977 to serve as the Marcos summer residence. It is a beautiful house, with traditional design, lovely woodwork, capiz shell windows and a fresh breeze blowing through every room even on the really hot day when we visited. My feature photo shows the view of the lake from the terrace.

The Malacañang of the North

The house was built by Philippine Tourism Authority for Marcos to mark his 60th birthday. It has seven main rooms, as Marcos considered seven his lucky number. After his downfall it was handed over to the provincial government to serve as a museum.

Other museums

We did visit several other less one-sided museums. One highlight was the Museo Ilocos Norte in Laoag, housed in a former tobacco warehouse. It showcases the traditional way of life in this region. There was a very effective replica of a typical home with features that Jezzy recognised from her childhood, such as a bamboo floor for ventilation. I also liked the display of woven textiles showcasing the patterns traditional to each part of the region.

Museo Ilocos Norte

And in Badoc we paid a short visit to a small museum dedicated to two of the town’s famous sons, brothers Juan and Antonio Luna. Antonio was a general and Juan an artist. Both participated in the struggle for Philippine independence but in very different ways. Antonio led Filipino forces in battles against the United States after the Philippines had been ceded from Spain to the US in the Treaty of Paris. However he died at the hands of his own troops after disciplining an officer for insubordination. His older brother Juan, meanwhile, used his artistic talents to paint allegorical works with an underlying revolutionary political commentary. Several of these works are displayed in the museum, and Jezzy explained some of the allegorical meanings behind them. Unfortunately photographing the paintings wasn’t allowed although other photos were permitted.

The Museo nina Juan at Antonio Luna

Monuments

We stopped briefly at a couple of historical monuments worthy of mention. In Laoag we saw the Abolition of Tobacco Monopoly Monument. In 1780 the Spanish colonial government established a monopoly in the cultivation and sale of tobacco in this region. The authorities forced local farmers to plant no other crop but tobacco and sell it only to the government at unfairly low prices. The crops were strictly controlled and stored in warehouses like the Tabacalera building in Laoag, which today houses the Museo Ilocos Norte. The monopoly was abolished a hundred years later by King Alfonso XII. In gratitude, the people of Ilocos constructed this monument in November 1882. An inscription on the obelisk reads, ‘erected by the people as an expression of joy’.

The Tobacco Monopoly Monument on the left, Blood Compact Monument on the right

On Bohol we stopped to photograph a ‘Blood Compact Monument’, commemorating a pact between the Spanish and indigenous people. To seal the pact, on March 16, 1565 Spanish explorer Miguel López de Legazpi and Datu Sikatuna, chieftain of Bohol performed a blood compact to seal their friendship following tribal tradition.

There seem from an online search to be several such monuments in this area, due to confusion about where the compact took place. Most sources show a larger monument but acknowledge that it was erected in the wrong place. I believe this smaller one is on the actual site of the compact in Loay. And as it’s fee to visit I’m claiming it as public art and linking to Natalie’s Weekend Coffee Share!

And one final church

On our way to visit the tarsiers on Bohol our driver/guide Noel also stopped at the church in Baclayon, La Purisima Concepcion de la Virgen Maria. This is the second oldest church in the country, after San Agustín in Intramuros in Manila. It was however badly damaged in an earthquake twelve years ago so has been extensively rebuilt. The painted ceiling was very impressive and the light through the simple but rich coloured stained-glass windows was lovely.

La Purisima Concepcion de la Virgen Maria

I visited the Philippines in February and March 2025