Travel
Las Piñas tourism: A mix of greens and patches of history
The prominent Las Piñas Bamboo Organ, composed of 1,031 pipes, of which 902 are made out of bamboo rests steadily on the strong adobe walls of St. Joseph Parish Church. (Photo by Joyce Ann L. Rocamora)
MANILA — While Las Piñas had long been a prominent destination for those seeking trails of history given it hosts the unique Bamboo Organ, the Department of Tourism (DOT) is stepping up efforts to further promote the whole city as an emerging tourist site as it tries to divert attention from usual sun and beach recreation.
Fast-becoming popular visitor attractions include the St. Joseph Church, and the itinerary fillers Las Piñas-Parañaque Critical Habitat and Ecological Area (LPPCHEA), and the Sarao Jeepney manufacturing plant.
Wooden treasure
One activity a responsible tourist shouldn’t miss when in Las Piñas is a mosey within the Baroque-inspired St. Joseph Parish Church. On its adobe walls, the Bamboo Organ built by Fray Diego Cera Dela Virgen Del Carmel in 1816 is mounted.
Tour package rate is PHP50 per person, and according to the Las Piñas City government, it is best to visit while the bamboo organ is being played from 8 a.m. to 12 nn and 2 to 6 p.m. daily.
During a Tuesday morning tour, local and foreign visitors, including the media present were able to hear an enchanting piece of Johann Pachelbel’s Canon in D being played with the wooden instrument.
The bamboo organ, to note, is recognized as a Philippine National Treasure by the National Museum of the Philippines and is touted one of its kind since it is the only 19th century bamboo organ in the Philippines that has survived and is still functioning.
While now capable for continued use, the instrument had first gone through a lot, from typhoons and earthquake in the 1880s until it was destroyed, stored in an old sacristy and was rediscovered around 1917.
As per the Las Piñas City government, it was only in 1972 when the bamboo organ restoration project by Johannes Klais Orgelbau began.
After the organ’s return from Bonn, Germany in 1975, Las Piñas has since celebrated the annual International Bamboo Organ Festival every February. A yearly reason for both music enthusiasts and general public to visit South.
Icon of PH transpo
Another patch of the country’s history can also be found in the city – the plant where the iconic jeepneys which defined Filipino transportation are made.
In an interview with the Philippine News Agency, DOT Assistant Secretary Frederick Alegre said removing the issue of Public Utility Vehicle modernization program, the jeepneys would always be known an icon of Philippine transportation.
“Tourists like to see something unique and this is definitely something unique,” he said during a tour at the Sarao Jeepney manufacturing plant, one of the most prominet jeep makers in the country.
“Take out the issues on modernization, the aspect and the concept of the jeep, and how it is known globally, this is definitely a must see for tourists,” he told PNA.
DOT Assistant Secretary Frederick Alegre poses with Sarao Motors second-generation owner Edgardo Sarao alongside one of the first jeepney prototypes in the country. Behind them is the jeepney commonly used in public today. (Photo by Joyce Ann L. Rocamora)
Edgardo Sarao, owner of the Sarao Motors, Inc. acknowledged that the PUV modernization program would definitely affect the production of these traditional vehicles, with possibility of slimming down their current 40 end products annually.
While it might change the company’s dynamics, Sarao told reporters that they were “ready to adapt.”
Indeed, when you tour around their plant, you will witness a change in time akin to pages of calendars being lifted, with their 1955 jeepney design displayed in Sarao’s forefront, the common long and stainless steel jeepneys used today being assembled in the middle part of the place, and some prototypes of modern jeepney at the back part.
Last natural bastion
A day tour on the first two stops is already sure to meet satisfaction but an additional visit to LPPCHEA, a 175-hectare wetland off Manila Bay, will further take someone’s mind off from the taxing urban grind.
LPPCHEA is divided into two islands- the Long and Freedom Island, and had been declared as critical habitat on April 22, 2007 by Presidential Proclamation No.1412.
Since then, through cooperation with the local government unit, the Department of Environment and Natural REsources-NAtional Capital Region was able to preserve what they cannily tag as the “last natural bastion” in Metro Manila.
During a tour, few LPPCHEA infrastructures were introduced to the media, including the newest open-air visitor center and the newly constructed boardwalk along Mangrove areas of the park.
According to Carlito Castañedas, LPPCHEA site manager, an LPPCHEA Wetland Center is soon to rise beside the visitor center to house a museum and a spacious lounge for tourists.
While the official admitted “avoiding the overcrowding” of LPPCHEA is key to prolonging its future, foreign and local visitors are most welcome to experience this metropolis green spot.
No entrance fee are collected in LPPCHEA but a permit from the DENR office, which can be easily obtained, is required upon park’s entry.
For those having a sudden crave for stroll minus the hint of city life, the park offers a flat trail that provides visitors a walk in what may seem like an organic museum, curating different types of trees and plants along the way.
Also an A+ for would-be tourists is its long concrete boardwalk trail that puts Philippine LPPCHEA quite near with the picturesque walking paths of Arashiyama Bamboo Grove in Kyoto, Japan.
Newly-constructed LPPCHEA boardwalk wading through mangroves in the Freedom Island, largest division of the wetland park. (Photo by Joyce Ann L. Rocamora)
LPPCHEA does not only house a lush collection of plant and trees but also 80 species of birds, including three endangered species such as the Chinese Egret, the Philippine Duck and the Black-Winged Stilt, of which one percent or 1,000 out of the 100,000 estimated global population are in the Philippine sanctuary.
In a statement, DOT Assistant Secretary Frederick Alegre said it indeed was an “amazing attraction for nature lovers.” (PNA)
