Around Manila - The Rough Guide to the Philippines - page 104

AROUND MANILA SOUTH OF MANILA
The Emilio Aguinaldo Shrine and Museum
Tirona Hwy, Kawit • Tues-Sat 8am-noon & 1-4pm• Free • T 046 484 7643 • Take any Cavite-bound jeepney or FX taxi from Baclaran LRT
station in Manila
For most Filipinos, the province of Cavite (“ka-vee-tay”) will forever be associated
with the Philippine Revolution: in 1872 the Cavite Mutiny precipitated the
national revolt against the colonial authorities (see p.440), and the province
was also the birthplace of independence hero Emilio Aguinaldo . That legacy is
preserved at the Emilio Aguinaldo Shrine and Museum in KAWIT , 23km south of
Manila. This is the colonial-style house in which Aguinaldo, first President of
the Republic, was born in 1869, and also where he is buried, in a simple marble
tomb in the back garden on the bank of the river. Philippine independence was
proclaimed here and the Philippine flag first raised by Aguinaldo on June 12,
1898, commemorated on this day every year with the president waving the flag
from the balcony.
With its secret passages and hidden compartments, the house is testimony to the
revolutionary fervour that surrounded Aguinaldo and his men. A number of the
original chairs and cabinets have secret compartments that were used to conceal
documents and weapons, while the kitchen has a secret passage that he could use to
escape if the Spanish came calling. In the general's bedroom, one of the floorboards
opens up to reveal a staircase that led to his private one-lane bowling alley under
the house and an adjoining hidden swimming pool. Downstairs, the museum
displays various Aguinaldo memorabilia including clothes, journals and his sword,
while upstairs there is the general's bedroom, a grand hall, a dining room and a
conference room.

2

Calamba
The city of CALAMBA , just 54km from the capital, is best known today as the
birthplace of national hero and revolutionary José Rizal . Once a rural backwater,
Calamba is now the largest city in Laguna province and effectively a choked extension
of Manila - there's nothing to see in the modern section, but the old barangay of
San Juan was built in Spanish colonial style around the handsome St John the Baptist
Church (1859). A marker inside the church indicates that Rizal was baptized here by
Fray Rufino Collantes on June 22, 1861.

LAGUNA HOT SPRINGS
Just east of Calamba on the National Highway (accessible by the buses and jeepneys to Santa
Cruz), the barangay of Pansol touts heavily for tourist custom on the health properties of its
hot springs , which bubble from the lower slopes of Mount Makiling. There are dozens of
resorts of varying quality that use the hot springs to fill their swimming pools, many catering
to tour groups, day-trippers, company outings and conferences. It's best to visit on a weekday
when the best ones can make for a relaxing few hours.
RESORTS AND SPAS
Makiling Highlands Resort Captain Mamon Rd,
Pansol (just off the National Highway) T 049 545
9703, W montevista.com.ph. This lush resort has
villas and rooms for overnight stays (from P1500) but
to use the facilities for the day is just P100-150. Hot
pools spread out over many hectares of ground, and -
just in case you should start feeling too healthy - 24hr
delivery is available from Max's , the fried chicken

restaurant. You can also rent small wooden kamaligs
(traditional huts) for P1500-1800 for 12hr.
Monte Vista Hot Springs & Conference Resort
National Highway, Pansol T 049 545 1259, W monte
vista.com.ph. This sister resort to Makiling Highlands
offers eighteen hot mineral pools, assorted giant slides
and enough room for 1500 day visitors, with similar day
rates of P100-150.