Te - Balikbayan Magazine

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inuenced the towns of Marinduque the most. e Spanish priests,
who stayed in the towns, had much more impact to the urban
planning that took place. us, the strong Spanish lineage and
inuence they left in the island province of Marinduque are evident
not just in their culture, but more notably, in their architecture.
OLD CHURCHES
e old churches in Marinduque reect the transition era from the
Middle Ages to Renaissance period in Europe where the architecture
is patterned after. e Boac Church was built in 1666 in honor of
the Virgin of Immaculate Conception and served as a refuge to
many Filipinos from pirate attacks, especially since Marinduque is a
province surround by oceans and mountains.
“Architecture, like no other forms, reects the ideologies of
its designer or composer. From 1580 until its completion and
consecration in 1792, the church design and construction continually
evolved—from a wood and anahaw structure to the imposing stone
and brick edice we see today,” Dindo Asuncion wrote in the book,
Marinduque: e Heart of the Philippines.
e church’s architecture is classied as Baroque style, which is
the dominant architectural style in Europe in the 1600s. However,
the architecture of Boac Church is a far cry compared to Baroque
European churches because of some consideration.
“e Boac Church parallels Il Gesu (of Rome) in many respects,”
Asuncion wrote. “A pediment with a vaulted niche tops the facade. e
placement of windows reects the frontage of the Jesuit Mother Church.
Nevertheless, the use of local craftsmanship and materials, thicker walls
reinforced with a persistent dose of buttresses, the emphasis on girth
rather than height resulted in an interesting variation—the ‘earthquake
baroque’.”
On the other hand, the architecture of both Sta. Cruz Church and
Gasan Church leans towards the cruciform as its inspiration. “Perhaps,
the missionaries wanted the church structure to relate closely to the
town’s name,” Asuncion explained in the book. “Hence, the Jesuit
designers opted for the cruciform mode of the basilica leaning towards
the Latin cross variation (with the nave forming a longer arm) rather
than the Greek cross alternative (arms of equal length). e addition of
the transepts intersecting the nave made this possible.”
AMAZING FIND: ULANG-ULANG SOUP
On our second night in Marinduque, it felt as if we were transported
back to the time when gentlemen wear barongs and don hats, and when
women wear kimona and saya and cool themselves with handcrafted
and embroidered fans. We found ourselves in the capital town of Boac
where the streets are lined with Spanish-style ancestral houses and
where the occasional kalesas still roam the city at night.
We stood in front of an old ancestral house whose ground oor
was converted into a canteen-style restaurant. Our guides ushered
us towards the second oor of the ancestral home where we found a
quaint, beautifully-lit restaurant called Casa de Don Emilio. e house
is made of large planks of wood and overlooks the Boac Town Plaza
and the Marinduque Museum. With our team’s professional cameras
and everyone’s smart phones poised at the array of Filipino delicacies
they served us, the use of modern technology is an amusing irony to
the overall ancestral look and feel of the place. Apart from the nicely
restored antique furnishings, the walls are decorated with old musical
instruments and charming chandeliers.
Another Marinduque gem we found is the delectable “ulang-ulang”
soup, a native dish made of grated young coconut, de-shelled shrimps,
and calamansi (Philippine lemon). e strips of young coconut meat
were so tender we thought it was a type of native pasta and the shrimp
meat tasted so fresh especially with the hint of calamansi that left us
craving for more.
Ulang-ulang soup, now considered as one of Marinduque’s ocial
native dishes, is actually the homegrown recipe of Aurora Pitero, mother
of Mary Rose Sotta, who is the owner of Casa de Don Emilio. e
dishes served in the restaurant trace their roots to family recipes like
the bestsellers Paella Valenciana, Adobong Manok sa Gata (another
Marinduque delicacy) and Boneless Crispy Pata.
Locally embraced and widespread famous among tourists, Casa de
Don Emilio has become a favorite dining spot especially for guests
coming from Bellarocca Island Resort and Spa who wish to have a
taste of the province’s best kept recipes.
A WISH BEFORE THE TAKE-OFF
On our way to Marinduque Airport in Gasan, we made a quick stop
at the Marinduque Lepidoptera Farm (Buttery Farm) in Barangay
Uno. e province of Marinduque is actually dubbed as the Buttery
Capital of the Philippines, supplying 85% of the country’s exports
of pupa and butteries. While buttery breeding is a relatively new
industry in the Philippines, its growth rate is pretty strong considering
that three-fourths of the country’s top buttery breeders can be in
Marinduque.
Emer Sevilla, the OIC of the Marinduque Lepidoptera Farm,
gave us a quick walkthrough of a buttery’s life cycle and the role the
butteries play in the tourism of Marinduque. People believe that
when released, the butteries bring one’s wishes up to heavens.
Each of us was asked to catch one buttery and place it inside a
triangular envelope with our names on it. Before we boarded our
plane that would take us back to Manila, each of us gingerly took the
butteries out of the envelopes and whispered our wishes softly. After
a brief moment of silence, we released them and watched in awe as they
ew towards their freedom. ey told us that the butteries would
bring us back to Marinduque someday, knowing that the Heart of the
Philippines is throbbing to have us back.
balik!"#"$ February – March 2012 !"#!