Bulacan
has always been a destination that I would want to explore because of the many
good attractions and learning sites that the province has, both natural and
historical. My first visit in this province was way back 2008 during an
immersion tour in Angat Dam in the town of Bustos as part of our workshop sites
for the National Arts Workshop.
Last
June 6 I revisited Bulacan together with my colleagues in the workplace to
conduct benchmarking tour to several important watershed reservation areas in
Luzon. Fortunately Angat Dam Rainforest Ecopark was included in the itinerary.
The first order of the day was to examine the mechanism on watershed
conservation and protection in Angat Dam as a main source of potable water
supply in Metro Manila. The Angat Watershed Forest Reserve covers approximately
6,000 hectares adjoining the municipalities of San Jose Del Monte, Norzagaray
and Rodriguez. It is also a support system to the Ipo Dam.
Our
4-hour travel from Manila to Norzagaray was spoiled by the information that we
could not enter the forest reservation area and view deck due to the landslide
brought recently by a typhoon in Luzon. We were instead just entertained by
some personnel at the main gate and were given short time to observe the facade
of the forested site and the more popular Bitbit River. As a major river system
of the Angat Forest Reserve, Bitbit River is a natural water park being
developed as domestic ecotourism attraction in Norzagaray. There are small open
cottages in the downstream portion of the river. The cold flowing water hosts
several community members as a cooling place, while the upstream part is a
stretch of blue waters being bounded by green tree canopy.
It
was a quick stopover in Bitbit River and we directly travelled back to Bustos
for our lunch. The group decided to drive all the way to Malolos to visit two
interesting historical sites, the Barasoain Church and Museum of Philippine
Political History. Officially called Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish, Barasoain
Church is dubbed as the most important building in the Philippines being the
site of the First Philippine Republic. From it hails the first revolutionary congress
where the first Philippine Constitution was officially declared. It is also the
very place where President Emilio Aguinaldo was inaugurated as first president
of the Philippine Republic. Century of years later, President Estrada took his
oath as the 13th Philippine President in Barsaoain Church. With all
these historical significance of Barasoain Church it is referred to as the
“Cradle of Democracy in the East.”
Walking
distance from Barasoain Church is another important historical attraction in
Malolos, the Museum of Philippine Political History. It is located within the
Paseo del Congreso, Plaza Rizal in Malolos City. Presently it is operated by
the National Historical Commission under the Office of the President. The main
entrance of the museum presents a beautiful standing frame of Baybayin Fonts,
the old writing system of the Filipino commonly called Alibata. The entire
coverage of the museum raises awareness about the country’s government system
in the past, as well as a defining site for the Philippine Political History.
There are two content in the museum that are truly impressive to me personally,
the Writ of Japanese Surrender where an inscription on how the Japanese
atrocities ended at the hands of the American was framed in a glass platform;
and the other one the Interactive Multimedia equipment wherein a virtual tour
can be done by just merely pressing the screen monitor.
Norzagaray and
Malolos, two beautiful localities in Bulacan that boosts of two opposite
selling points, are definitely good places to visit in Luzon.
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