THE rains brought about by Typhoon Jose had considerably let up on our third day in the World Heritage city of Vigan in Ilocos Sur, so our group of Manila-based media people lost no time in covering lost ground. It was rise and shine early in the morning and, energized by a hearty breakfast of Spanish sardines, fried dried espada and sunny side up eggs with garlic rice, we set off on a tour of the remaining major attractions of Vigan that we hadn’t visited yet.
Walking back to our homebase, Hotel Felicidad, calesas (horse-drawn carriages that tourists can take a ride in for a tour of Vigan’s famous attractions) decorated with a single flower on each horse were waiting to give us an exciting and uniquely Vigan ride to one of the major attractions in the outskirts of the city, the Bantay Bell Tower and the Shrine of Our Lady of Charity beside it.
BANTAY BELL TOWER
Bantay Bell Tower was where an important scene in the Panday movie of the late Fernando Poe Jr. (FPJ) was shot. It was the scene where FPJ, in his character as Flavio, a tinsmith, pulled out the ‘magical’ sword from the giant bell of the bell tower. It’s a bell tower set on top of a grassy hill and was built as the belfry of the Shrine of Our Lady of Charity and at the same time the watch tower of the town of Bantay.
The church, also known as Santuario de Nuestra Señora de Caridad, St. Augustine Parish, is one of the oldest churches of Ilocos Sur. It was built in 1590, was damaged during World War 2 and reconstructed in 1950, with the restored facade taking on a Neo-Gothic design mixed with pseudo-Romanesque elements. The church became a shrine of Our Lady of Charity when the miraculous image was crowned as the patroness of Ilocandia by the Most Reverend Monsignor Vagnozzi, Papal Nuncio to the Philippines, in 1956.
Alighting from our calesas near the church grounds, the group walked up the stone steps to the Bantay Bell Tower, all the way up to the belfry, where the giant bell used in Panday still stands. Then we quietly made our way down to visit the Shrine of Our Lady of Charity to whisper a prayer to God and send it up to heaven. I was surprised – and, no, not lucky, but blessed – to have been singled out from the crowd of visitors by a church hand, who walked me to the back of the altar, where he instructed me to reach in and touch the foot of the miraculous image, pray for the fulfilment of my most fervent wish, and then walk back to the main area of the church with an even more positive disposition.
My husband Raff and I made our way out of the church afterwards to find a friend, Gillian Gacuma of Philippine Star, in the plaza feeding the doves on the palm of his hand. It was a beautiful sight to behold.
ARCE MANSION
When the group congregated once again, we got back onto our assigned calesas, which then took us on a leisurely trip to Arce Mansion, an ancestral house along Quirino Blvd., Vigan City, that has been converted into a tourist attraction where guests can dress up in colonial costumes and have their pictures taken in any part of the well-preserved house.
Upon entry, you are immediately escorted to the costume room on the ground floor, where you can choose from racks upon racks of colonial-style Ilustrado costumes for women as well as outfits of gobernadorcillos, military officers, illustrious mestizos, even religious attires for men. You pick the outfit that you like, change into it, and then walk up the stairs to enter the main house. Every nook or corner of the mansion is photogenic, and every shot taken will transport you back to the time of the Spanish colonial era.
Bookings can even be made for a lovely dinner at the Arce Mansion, with everyone garbed in costumes to simulate the turn-of-the-century times. The Arce Mansion is air-conditioned for such occasions.
As for our group of media people hosted by Hotel Felicidad in partnership with the Provincial Government of Ilocos Sur and the City Government of Vigan, we simply spent an hour or so having our pictures taken in our chosen costumes at the Arce Mansion, and then it was time to move on.
BALUARTE
From the colonial environment of the Arce Mansion, we headed for Baluarte, the home and the private zoo of former Ilocos Sur Governor Luis ‘Chavit’ Singson. We had a good Ilocano lunch and a long chat with Ilocos Sur Governor Ryan Singson at the veranda of the house, and then got to explore the Baluarte grounds.
Baluarte is like a huge private zoo of the Singson family that is at the same time open to the public. The place is so big and the animals so varied and plenty that it’s really like a theme park, more so since it held regular animal encounter shows. We caught one such animal encounter show which was just about to begin, and it gave the audience a chance to see and touch rare animals like an Easter bearded dragon, a corn snake, a Palawan bear cat, an iguana, an African python and a crested serpent eagle.
Then we walked over to the ‘BALUARTE’ sign, and in the company of the iconic concrete dinosaurs that ‘dominated’ the now famous Baluarte facade, we had wacky selfies and groupies taken.
Baluarte is a beautiful place because it’s open fields upon open fields of grazing deer and ostrichs. There, you can also gaze at exotic and colorful birds, get close to animals from the wild, albeit from a safe distance, and enjoy a free pony ride around the open area of the zoo.
The eight-level house of former Governor Luis Singson, located towards the more secluded back of the property, is kept private, of course, but it constantly serves as a venue for many parties and get-togethers hosted by the Singsons.
ABEL WEAVING
Next stop was a weaving factory for Ilocos Sur’s famous Abel Iloko in Caoayan, Ilocos Sur. We were met by the owner, Agustina Quitoriano, who had been in the loom weaving business for 20 years now. She first oriented the group with the process of Abel weaving – starching, spooling the thread into bamboo spools, warping to combine colors of thread according to the thread guide of the pattern to be followed, beaming or putting the threads into the wooden loom frame, heddling, reeding, weft winding, and then the actual weaving.
We walked around to watch the weavers at work, and then congregated around the lovely Abel Iloko placemats, table runners and shawls, which sold at amazingly affordable prices.
AND THERE WAS MORE
Since the group was leaving Vigan on a land trip back to Manila that evening, the rest of the afternoon was free time for us. Raff and I got down from the van at Calle Crisologo so we could take good pictures of the iconic heritage street and get to buy souvenir items, such as Ilocos’ signature chichacorn (corn kernels cooked to a crisp with garlic, and seasoned with salt), which usually comes in garlic, cheese and barbecue flavors. The shophouses were lined with Vigan souvenir shirts, refrigerator magnets and keychains, Abel Iloko placemats, antique furniture items and décor, bags, woodcraft, novelty items, and food products.
From Calle Crisologo, we walked further on to the plaza area for another round of shots of St. Paul’s Cathedral, also known as the Vigan Cathedral, and crossed the street to the Tongson’s Royal Bibingka store for a few boxes of Royal Bibingka to take home. Then we headed back to Hotel Felicidad, which served as our home during our stay in Vigan. With plenty of time to spare before the van was to take us to Plaza Salcedo to watch the musical fountain show, we packed up at a leisurely pace.
When dusk fell, we ‘trickled down’ to the hotel lobby one by one, until the group was complete.
The musical fountain show at Plaza Salcedo was an awesome sight to behold. Lasting about 45 minutes, the show was of a world-class theme park calibre. Whether to the tune of pop tunes like Psy’s Gentlemen or classical masterpieces, the “colored” water spurts of the fountain danced to every beat of the music playing. The people of Vigan are so lucky to have such a spectacular light-and-sound fountain show to enjoy as part of their evening routine.
From Plaza Salcedo, we headed for our host Hotel Felicidad consultant Jose ‘Bonito’ Singson’s Casa Caridad one last time for a light dinner of Vigan-style Miki, Royal Bibingka and Empanada. We hung around the place, which had become like a real home to the group, until it was time to set off for Manila.
It was difficult to say good-bye to Vigan. Having been to Vigan twice before, the heritage city had grown on me. It was also very close to my heart because I had spent my childhood summer vacations in my mom’s hometown Tayug, Pangasinan, an Ilocano-speaking area of Pangasinan, and Vigan spoke the same language. This – besides the fact that we had great hosts who made us feel right at home.
I know I shall be back.
(Hotel Felicidad is located at 9 V. delos Reyes corner Florentino St., Vigan City, Ilocos Sur 2700 Philippines; with telephone numbers +63 77 7220008, +63 77 6740232 and +63 77 6740227.)
