Revealing the History and Heritage of the Philippines: One Post at a Time
I’ve been tracking down the real stories of the Visayas, the ones that anchor history in architecture, and my latest stop in Tagbilaran City, Bohol, delivered gold. Forget the Chocolate Hills for a moment; the real star is the Balili Ancestral House, now operating brilliantly as the Oasis Balili Heritage…
The air in Dauin, Negros Oriental, today is thick with the promise of world-class diving, but stand by the old stone church of St. Nicholas de Tolentino, and you feel the weight of a far grimmer past. The current coastal parish, Poblacion District 2, is the nucleus of this history,…
Forget the Chocolate Hills for a second. When you hit Bohol, you’re stepping into an island with a history as sharp as a coral stone cut. And if you’re looking for a monument that perfectly captures the gritty reality of Spanish colonial life—a blend of military grit, ingenious engineering, and…
Alcoy, in Southern Cebu, is globally renowned for its crystalline waters and white sands, particularly at Tingko Beach. However, the town’s true historical depth is anchored by the Alcoy Convent, or Kumbento. Constructed and completed in 1890, this structure holds singular architectural significance as the only remaining Spanish-era edifice in…
Long before Bantayan Island became a traveler’s refuge of white beaches and slow tides, it was a frontier where coral walls, coconut groves, and watchtowers stood guard against the uncertainties of the sea. Into this older Bantayan arrived a young migrant from Panay around the 1830s: Manuel Rubio y del…
There’s a quiet sense of permanence that greets you at the foot of the Inang-angan Stairway in Loon, Bohol. Rising in neat coralstone precision from the coastal barangay of Napo to the upland village of Moto, the stairway has been part of Loon’s landscape for more than 170 years. It…
Behind the picturesque Church of Our Lady of the Assumption in Dauis, Bohol, stands a remarkable coral-stone structure that has silently watched over the centuries — the Dauis Watchtower. Built in 1774 under the supervision of Fr. Santiago del Corazón de Jesús of the Augustinian Recollects, this stout, hexagonal tower…
There’s a quiet, gentle stillness that greets you the moment you step onto the grounds of The Ruins in Talisay City, Negros Occidental—a feeling that the past has settled into the air and never fully left. This skeletal mansion, rising with effortless grace over the old sugar fields, began as…
The history of Oslob is often overlooked by those who are not invested in it, most tourists have become accustomed to seeing whale sharks as the main attraction in Oslob, located about 100 kilometers south of Cebu City. Other attractions include its pristine waters, numerous resorts, and the Oslob plaza…
Palalong Cliff, located in Barangay Guibuangan, Barili, Cebu, was the site of one of the most significant wartime atrocities in southern Cebu during the Japanese occupation of the Philippines. Rising about 36 feet above the Tañon Strait, the cliff’s isolated and precipitous drop made it an ideal location for executions…
