Monday, November 8, 2010

The Last Stand of these Historical Houses

I have been very busy for the past weeks. Yesterday I got to surface from work to join some Arki friends in their trip to Bagac, Bataan - to see Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar. This is a brainchild of the owners of San Jose Builders. It was an ambitious feat (fortunately the proponents of Las Casas had the resources and the drive to push through with it) of recreating the old deteriorating houses from the different tired districts around Luzon. Before these houses succumb to being forgotten, they are given new life in a historical site in Bataan, ironically near the kilometer zero marker of the famed Death March.

A big discussion was raised on whether this refuge for heritage houses would be the way to go in saving some of our historical structures. But finally seeing the Acuzar houses would let you understand the passion and mission the owner have in mind. Probably disqualifies the 'heritage resort' as a heritage site, but ...it still is worth to be called a practical museum to showcase these very important pieces. They are surviving proofs of the old Pinoy lifestyles and are worth to be salvaged - where they would be better preserved.

1 comment:

flipster said...

Excellent idea, finally we Filipinos are beginning to accept, appreciate and preserve what we have instead of borrowing from other cultures. Future generations will appreciate this.