Las Casas at night

The Philippines is a country with rich and colorful history. The country may seem too "Americanized" in modern times, yet traces of the Spanish era is still evident in the country's language, food, culture, even in architecture. That is not too surprising since the Philippines was under the Spanish rule for three centuries. That said, it is not uncommon then to see houses from the Spanish era in one town or the other. But seeing those houses standing side by side along the cobblestone roads where kalesas pass by, that is something else.

Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar (or Houses in the Philippines by Acuzar) takes you back in time, to the 18th century when the country was still under the Spanish rule. Inside the 400-hectare resort are roughly around 60 casas. Most of the houses are made from the original materials, built plank by plank and column by column. Other structures, however, are only replicas as the original ones were destroyed during wartime.

Casa New Manila - side view

Upon arriving, guests are first welcomed by Casa New Manila. The first floor serves as the resort lobby while the second floor houses Cafe Marivent which serves Filipino and Spanish food. We didn't get to try the food in the restaurant as we weren't that hungry when we arrived.

mandatory turista shot

Behind Casa New Manila is the Umagol river which connects to the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea). The Las Casas property seats by the Umagol River delta, so the water level in Las Casas also follows the tides since it is not man made. At the back of Casa New Manila is a balcony where guests can stay while waiting to be accommodated while being served welcome drinks. It also houses the boat ride decks, where you can pass through the canals in between the houses as if you are in Venice!

Venice-like waterways for boat rides. Found in between casas.

There are several jeepneys roaming around the resort, picking up guests from Casa New Manila and driving them to either the casa they are staying or to Casa Lubao, where the tours are organized. Because there was an influx of guests during our visit, we were then given a free boat ride to El 82, where we stayed.

El 82 at night

El 82, which sits by the resort's Estero de Binondo owned by Don Roman Ongpin, used to be an art supply store where some of the works of Filipino painters like Juan Luna and Fernando Amorsolo were in display. It now serves as one of the Accesorias (similar to condominiums and apartments of the Spanish era) in the resort where guests can stay.

The Casas

View from our room: Accessoria 1 (Sunico) on the leftmost part.

The casas are typically named after the town it was originally from. Four casas are open for the walking heritage tour: Casa Lubao, Casa Biñan, Casa Quiapo, and Casa Luna. We had the tour during the second day of our stay, before we check out. Guests are encouraged to remove footwear when stepping inside the house to pay homage to its original owners and to bring back the old tradition.

Hotel de Oriente

Hotel de Oriente

Hotel de Oriente was said to be the first hotel in the Philippines. It was located in Binondo, Manila at Plaza Calderon de la Barca (now Plaza Lorenzo Ruiz). It was also one of the first structures that had a telephone line, the Malacañang Palace having the telephone number of 1 and Hotel de Oriente 2. One of its most famous guests was none other than Jose Rizal. He was said to have checked in at Room 22 with a woman - his sister Lucia. Sadly, the original structure was destroyed during the Japanese occupation in World War II. The one standing in Las Casas is just a replica - largely based from old photographs.

Nowadays, Hotel de Oriente houses the conference and function halls in Las Casas. The first floor houses the restaurant, where breakfast buffet is served for all hotel guests. The hotel features traditional Filipino breakfast such as pandesal - complete with different jams as palaman, tapa, tuyo, longganisa, scrambled eggs, fresh fruits, and a variety of drinks - coffee, fruit juices, or water.

Casa Lubao

Casa Lubao - from the balcony

Casa Lubao was the ancestral house of the Arrastia family for two generations before being transferred to Las Casas. During wartime, the house became a Japanese garrison. It was typical for the Japanese then to burn down their headquarters together with the family that lives in it when they have to move to another place to prevent traces and leakage of evidence. However, one of their colonels stopped the plan as he used to be the family driver and was touched by the kindness the family had shown him, thus sparing the house and the family.

Casa Lubao - living room

Casa Lubao - one of the bedrooms

Casa Lubao - ceiling

I just realized, I do not have any photos of Casa Lubao from afar. Most of the photos of Casa Lubao I snapped are the interiors. The owner of the house was said to be too superstitious that they even had fruits carved on the ceiling as they believe fruits bring luck to the family.

In Las Casas, the ground floor of Casa Lubao serves as the resort's Salon de Juego (game room) where guests could play traditional Filipino games like sungka and kadang kadang. This is also where heritage tours are organized.

Casa Biñan

Casa Biñan, with tourist kalesas passing by

Ah, Casa Biñan... Our tour guide mentioned that this is the house with the most chismis. The house is owned by the Albertos in Biñan, maternal relatives of the national hero, Jose Rizal. It was really a long story, started even before Rizal's mother was born, all about infidelities. First story, the first owner of the house, Lorenzo Alberto, had another wife, Brigida Quintos. Teodora Alonzo, the mother of Jose Rizal was the fruit of that affair. The first family of course does not recognize, which explains why she was always treated like an outsider.

Another story is that Teodora's half brother, Jose Alberto, had fathered a child with his niece, Jose Rizal's sister, Saturnina. In order to hide the truth, Teodora and Saturnina went away for a "vacation", and returned later with a newborn child - who was named Soledad. Teodora claimed the child was hers though. That was the reason why Jose Alberto's wife, Teodora Formoso, felt hostile towards Teodora Alonzo.

Casa Biñan - the very bed in the very room where Teodora Formoso was locked up. With the tour guide, Sarrah.

Final story was that Teodora Formoso was caught having an affair while her husband, Jose Alberto, was out of the country. Enraged, Jose Alberto returned immediately and locked his wife in a room for days and asked Teodora Alonzo to give her food. Teodora Formoso refused to eat the food Teodora Alonzo gives her thinking that she was poisoning her. Teodora Formoso then thought of a clever way to get out of the room. She has successfully smuggled a letter out of her room. Written in the letter was that Teodora Alonzo and Jose Alberto locked her up in a room and was trying to poison her. Teodora Alonzo and Jose Alberto was imprisoned because of that but managed to get out eventually.

There are a lot more stories hidden inside the walls of Casa Biñan other that the ones mentioned. Those does not include yet the childhood of the young Jose Rizal. He lived in that house during his childhood while attending a private school in Biñan. It's best to leave all those stories for historians to write in their books.

IG-worthy doors of Casa Biñan

To be honest, Casa Biñan was initially the only reason I wanted to visit the place. As someone who grew up (and still is living) in Biñan, old Spanish houses is a common sight most especially around the marketplace. They are so common that it was through my Rizal classes I learned that the house in front of the plaza, in front of the then municipal hall, was considered a historical landmark, was related to the national hero.

Casa Biñan - the second part of the house at night

Casa Biñan is a big mansion. It has two parts. The right side (facing the house), which is part of the heritage tour, is the older part of the house. The left side houses La Bella Teodora, the resort's Italian Restaurant. Curious as to why they serve Italian dishes and not Spanish when the resort is themed Spanish-y? It was because during Jose Rizal's trip in Italy, he had a spaghetti meal in a restaurant which he loved. He loved it so much that he even asked the chef for its recipe. It was said that he gave the recipe to his mother Teodora to cook for him whenever he visits home. The said recipe is now acquired by Jollibee. JUST KIDDING! The recipe, unfortunately, was lost as time passed by.

That's fine, we have Jolly Spaghetti naman, di ba? 😜

Casa Biñan - inside the first house's garaje. On the left is the staircase going to the balcony.

Even in modern times, Casa Biñan is still facing some serious issues. A huge majority of the house is just a replica of what was in Biñan. The first house was already deteriorating prior to it being transferred to Bataan. The current owner of the house has decided to donate all salvageable parts of the house to Las Casas for it to be restored. The brick parts of the house are left in Biñan, behind the makeshift wall that serves as a perimeter fence around the property.

The second part of the house was partially? destroyed when a fire occurred in the area. I have seen that part of the house transform to cater different purposes - as a cinema (Ligaya Theater), a bank (Security Bank if I remember it right), and now a supermarket. The local government wanted to keep the original property and convert it to a museum but the owner refused to do so, perhaps rooting from the Alberto-Alonzo rife from the past.

Personally, it was a painful to see that historic part of the past to be gone in Biñan, but happy to see it being restored to its almost-original glory and learn more about its history.

Casa Quiapo

Casa Quiapo at night

Casa Quiapo - bearing the UP logo on the facade

Casa Quiapo is the house, according to our tour guide, that has the most sinful past. It used to be home to the UP School of Fine Arts as its owner, Rafael Enriquez, was also the first director of the college. It was also the first school to offer architecture in the Philippines. After the school operations were transferred locations, the mansion was renovated several times to become a bowling alley, boys and girls dormitory, sex live shows, and an abortion clinic.

No wonder there's a creepy feeling inside the house!

Casa Quiapo - The master's bedroom in the second floor. Yes, that's just a bedroom.

Notice the unpainted columns on the background? Parts of the house that were salvaged from the original location are left unpainted while the replicas are painted as new. That is for guests and perhaps caretakers identify which ones are which.

Casa Quiapo - a woodcarved artwork inspired by the Aetas in Zambales

To restore the house's dignity, Casa Quiapo is now home to the Bellas Artes Projects Foundation. It is a non-profit foundation that's founded by Jam Acuzar. Bellas Artes often invite artists from different parts of the globe to stay in the resort and create art masterpieces, drawing inspiration from the place as well as Bataan's nearby provinces.

Casa Luna

A part of Casa Luna's facade - a very IG-worthy window

Named after history's Luna brothers - Antonio and Juan Luna, this house was actually owned by their uncle, Primitivo Novicio. The house was said to feature the typical floor plan of a typical bahay na bato. The casa's ground floor is restricted to guests as the stairs going up the second floor are too narrow that a number of people in the past got injured because of that. Currently, the ground floor serves as the resting area for tour guides.

Going up the second floor is through the azotea by the red clay stairs at the back of the house. The second floor houses the antique items collection of the resort's owner, Jerry Acuzar. The stuff inside are nowhere related to the owners of the house. Different stuff can be found inside such as the old tabacco molders, three versions of irons (plantsa), and others.

Casa Luna - most of the houses (mansions) in the resort has a volada

One interesting thing I learned from this trip is I get to understand more the difference between the aliping namamahay and aliping sagigilid. As what I have learned from my history classes back then, the aliping namamahay are like the helpers we have in modern times. They have their own lives, can have their own families, can own their own houses, they just work to serve their master. The aliping sagigilid on the other hand, are owned by their masters. They live for their masters. They have no freedom to choose what will happen to them, they can be sold, traded, whatever their master wants to do with them. Prisoners of war usually end up as aliping sagigilid.

Curious as to why the two types of alipins are called as such?

Casa Luna best describes the answer to that question. In the photo above, you can see a small alley surrounding the house's perimeter. The small alley, called the volada, serves as the passageway for the aliping sagigilid. (Sa gilid = by the side) They are not allowed to step inside the main house. They can only stay in the volada, access the different rooms of the house through that alley, unlike the aliping namamahay (root word: bahay = house) who can walk in and out of the house freely.

I just really find that interesting, something like an additional knowledge to me since that is not being discussed in school during my time.

Casa Byzantina

Casa Byzantina at night

I really remember seeing this building in a few movies back in the '90s and early 2000s. The casa originally stood in Binondo. Its structure was a typical bahay na bato built to protect the inhabitants from earthquakes. The ground floor was open for viewing and photos but the stairs going to the second floor was closed. Guests can rent the whole house to stay in.

Paseo de Escolta

Paseo de Escolta at night. On the right side are statues of kids playing street games.

The building is a replica of a typical row of Escolta buildings in Manila during the early 1900s. Typically seen to the buildings then are shops and stores on the ground floor, hotels on the second and third floors. The structures were build based on old photographs from magazines.

One of the many stores in Paseo de Escolta

Similar to how it was typically designed then, the building houses different souvenir shops on the ground floor while the second and third floor are available for guests to stay in.

Casa Maranao

Casa Maranao from afar. Casa New Manila on the background

The two huts at the center of the photo are called Casa Maranao. Called a torogan, the huts are a house of either a datu or a sultan. The huts are the only representatives of the indigenous architecture in the resort. Once completed, the huts will become a museum focused on the Muslim culture.


All in all, I enjoyed my stay in Las Casas. The whole place is really picturesque, really pleasing to the eyes. During our visit, the weather was cool and windy even though it was in the middle of the summer season, so walking around at 10 AM did not feel tiring at all.

Tips:

• The place is so picturesque, it's easy for gadgets to run out of battery. Make sure to bring either a spare battery, fully-charged power bank, a wall charger, or all of the above.
• THE OUTFIT! There is an unwritten rule that your outfit should always match the place you're going to. Too many IG-worthy spots. NO HYPEBEAST PLEASE!
• Make sure you go there with a friend who knows how to take photos. You don't want to ruin your #ootd and your day just because the person you're with doesn't know how to take IG-worthy photos.
• If going on a day tour: make sure you go there with a full stomach. I discourage day tour guests to eat in any of the restaurants. They are too pricey for the taste and serving.
• Hotel guests: take advantage of the breakfast buffet! They serve really yummy and tummy-filling breakfast. I loved the fruits so much. Hotel de Oriente closes at 10 AM so take your breakfast at around 9 AM, pig out, make sure what you eat suffices you until mid afternoon. 😜
• Hotel guests: just bring your clothes. The resort provides nice towels and toiletries. The toothbrush bristles doesn't fall off while in use. Yay!
• BRING MONEY! You'd not want to miss trying the kalesa ride. There are other fun activities to do in the resort other than the tour and swimming.

Some more pics:

Free boat ride!