Angono, Rizal - Early 8Os : The years that was when I was still a child that Bloomingdale Subdivision in Brgy. San Pedro was still being developed. I can still remember when the empty underground sewage system was a good spot for hiding when playing hide and seek and the newly cemented road where i learn to ride a bike.

It was also the time when the nearby ricefields in Brgy Bagumbayan was still green in the planting season of palay and totally brown during the harvest season. It was also during this time that farm frogs "palakang bukid" and farm rats- "dagang bukid" can be caught in the irrigation canals and ricefields during planting and harvesting season respectively and was cooked and shared by friends.

This period maybe the early development of real estate in Angono, together with the development of subdivisions in Brgy. San Roque, Kalayaan and San Isidro like Dona Justa, Palomo, Constellation, Aurora and Rainbow Subdivisions.

Angono today is a diverse community like Metro Manila where residents came from all over the Philippines, everywhere you will see Ilocanos, Kapampangans, Bicolanos, Visayans and Mindanaons. There was even a community in Brgy San Isidro named Tagavisacol - which stands for Tagalog-Visaya-Bicol.

Prime properties usually in the uplands are being developed particularly in Brgy. San Isidro, San Roque and Mahabang Parang - the farthest barangay from Angono town proper and easily accesible through Antipolo than the dusty trek of Domsa Road.

Googling through Angono property development leads me to these sites which you can personally check:

Forest Farms by Filinvest East County Group

Come home to Forest Farms. A mountain retreat and nature park set within a residential resort-farm setting. It is the best place for families who choose to lead quiet lives and yet are able to invite adventure any time they wish.

At Forest Farms, you'll be surrounded by nature's splendor --- calming greens, vibrant blossoms and majestic century old trees. The breathtaking views of Laguna Lake and the Sierra Madre range make the perfect setting to build your North American inspired home!

At Forest Farms, a typical day has you taking misty walks in the woods, nurturing aromatic herbs or simply honing your skills in fishing!

Life can be unhurried yet fulfilling. Reside in Forest Farms and start living. Resort-style!

http://www.filinvestland.com/forest/home.htm

Forest Farms is actually part of Filinvest Havila Township project as presented in below article in The Daily Tribune by Michael Kho Lim. The comprehensive write up about Angono is really commendable. Please check below for you to see, link to the original article is also posted below.

The Havila Township

Paradise found in Angono

By Michael Kho Lim, Contributor

The Daily Tribune 04/23/2008

"When people talk about real estate development, the province of Rizal would likely fall behind the list. It is usually perceived to be a suburban terrain far from the metropolis. Over the years, however, many developers have successfully transformed this place to be at par with the subdivisions found in Metro Manila.

Filinvest Land, Inc. is one of these developers that want to change the common notion about Rizal. In this seemingly sleepy province arises Havila, a township located in Angono, which is about 30 kilometers east of Manila. Havila is named after the special place found in the Garden of Eden where gold and other treasures abound. It is with this idea that Filinvest sets its vision “to create an enriching piece of paradise.”

Havila is a master-planned community developed for people of different age groups and income brackets. It has a wide range of residential, commercial and leisure developments. It also has recreational facilities available only to its community members. Havila is also strategically located near educational institutions like San Beda College’s Rizal campus and PAREF (Parents for Educational Foundation, Inc.) Rosehill School, and provides easy access to nearby commercial establishments. But what really makes Havila a unique and inspiring place to live in is the rich heritage of arts and culture that thrives in Angono.

Angono may appear to be a quiet and boring town for many people but it’s really very much alive and vibrant with colorful art masterpieces decorating and livening up the municipality. It is also home to late National Artists Carlos “Botong” Francisco and Lucio San Pedro, and artists like Jose Blanco, Nemiranda and Perdigon Vocalan, who have enriched the arts and culture of the country. It is no wonder that Angono is dubbed as the “Cradle of Philippine Art” and the art capital of the Philippines.

Angono’s street murals

The simple abode of National Artist for Visual Arts Botong Francisco still stands humbly on Doña Aurora Street. When he was still alive, this also served as his workshop studio. Most of Francisco’s subjects for his artworks revolve around the common people like the farmers, fishermen, vendors, street sweepers and construction workers, among others. His works represent the folklore, history and patriotism of the Filipino people, and the Catholic religion.

A walk through the streets of Doña Aurora and Poblacion Itaas highlights and showcases some of Francisco’s famous paintings and murals. His artworks have been recreated through the help of local sculptors like Charlie Anorico, Gerry Bantang and Ebong Pinpiño. They were commissioned to carve Francisco’s works on the concrete walls that serve as fences for the houses there. The street murals are also Angono’s way of fighting off vandalism that threatens the town’s beauty.

As an additional tribute to Francisco, the city government also made a bust for him and it can be found towards the end corner of Poblacion Itaas. Beside it is also the bust of National Artist for Music, Lucio San Pedro. One of his musical masterpieces, “Sa Ugoy ng Duyan,” whose words were written by fellow National Artist, Levi Celerio, is also inscribed on the walls of teacher Naning Floriza’s house along this street.

Without the stone marker outside the house of Botong Francisco declaring him as National Artist, visitors passing by the area would just walk past his house. There have been plans of transforming his house into a small museum, but this idea has not been realized until now.

The Blanco family museum and art gallery

Moving down the street of Ibañez is a family of artists headed by the father, Jose “Pitok” Blanco. This master painter is married to Loring, who is a former beauty queen of Angono. She is the last in the family to discover her talent in painting, for she mothered their seven children first before pursuing her artistic inclination. It is interesting to note that not one of the children, namely, Glenn, Noel, Michael, Joy, Jan, Gay and Peter Paul, is a fine arts student. They all just learned under their father’s tutelage. And after they graduated from their courses in college, their father required each of them to submit a mural that would serve as their thesis.

Before Pitok became famous for his very natural or close-to-reality style of painting, he was first an apprentice of Botong. In a way, Pitok was influenced by Botong’s painting style. While Botong makes use of vibrant colors, Pitok often employs brown tones in his works to create a more solemn effect of reality. But Pitok’s paintings that reflect the rural life are more colorful and very detailed. Pitok also makes use of the chiaroscuro style, which is the play of light and shadow, to emphasize certain subjects, which are mostly his wife and children.

Indeed, it can be said that talent runs in the family. Not only are the Blancos outstanding painters, they’re also a model family in Angono. In fact, Tatay Pitok and Nanay Loring were both awarded the Ulirang Ama (model father) and Ulirang Ina (model mother) awards, respectively, in 2000.

The Nemiranda Arthouse and Museum

Not far away in Doña Justa Village is the famous Nemiranda Arthouse and Museum. Standing beside it is the Angono School for the Arts. Both structures are owned and founded by the late Nemesio Miranda, Jr., also known as Nemiranda in the art world. The Arthouse is designed to be an environment-friendly architecture in which different plants and trees are grown inside, and birds are free to visit and rest. The house and museum is also made from native materials such as bamboo, nipa, sawali, abaca, as well as old wood. It occupies the whole block of 1,012 square meters on Doña Elena Street.

With Angono being the creative hub of the country, the Nemiranda Arthouse and Museum has already housed different events such as symposia, art competitions, exhibitions, and other art-related activities. But more importantly, it has held numerous art lessons to both aspiring and budding artists of all ages.

Dedicated to develop his town into an artists’ village, Nemiranda is also the co-founder of the Angono Ateliers Association in 1975, and the founder of Angono Foundation for Culture and the Arts in 1992, and Angono Tourism Council in 1995.

The Balaw-Balaw Restaurant and Art Gallery

A few blocks away from the Nemiranda Arthouse and Museum is the Balaw-Balaw Restaurant and Art Gallery. It stands on Don Justo Street, which is also in Doña Justa Village. The idea of putting up a restaurant-cum-gallery came from the late sculptor and painter Perdigon Vocalan. At first, he put this up to serve as a meeting place for his artist friends and also as a gallery to showcase his paintings and carvings. But his love for food has also sparked the idea of putting up a specialty restaurant serving native and exotic dishes, hence the concept of combining food and art in one venue.

The name balaw-balaw actually refers to the sauce native to Angono, made of small shrimps mixed with gruel and angkak, an herb that gives a reddish coloring. This mixture is then fermented and preserved in an earthen jar for three days, after which it can be served together with sinigang or as a kare-kare siding.

Some of the more famous exotic food that Balaw-balaw serves include adobong sawa (python), tapang usa (deer), baboy ramo (wild boar), uok (beetle larva), bibikang abnoy (rotten duck eggs), Soup Number Five (butt and balls of cow), and camaro (crickets), among others. However, for the not so adventurous people who just want to enjoy the usual Filipino cuisine, Balaw-balaw also serves the classic sinigang, the Bicolanong gata, and the Tagalog minaluto, which is one of the house specialties. Diners can enjoy these dishes while in-house musicians serenade them.

As visitors and diners ascend the narrow flight of stairs going to the gallery, no one would miss the paintings of Vocalan and the papier-mâché giants lining up the hallway. These higantes, as they are called, become the stars of the fluvial feast of the town every November 23. After which, they always return home on the third floor of Balaw-balaw awaiting the next festival. On the same floor is the workshop studio where some artisans work on wooden crafts such as key chains, pen holders, and letter openers that Balaw-balaw sells as souvenir items.

Vocalan had also been strongly influenced by Botong Francisco. In his earlier paintings, Vocalan makes use of earth tones and nature colors to depict the town folks’ lifestyles in his paintings. But he was also interested in mythical creatures that some of his painting’s subjects include fairies, mermaids and shamans, which are common characters in Angono’s legendary tales. Perdigon Vocalan passed away in 2001 but his desire to promote the arts and culture of Angono continues to live in Balaw-balaw.

The Angono Petroglyphs

Lastly, a short rocky trip to the mountainside leads to the famous archaeological breakthrough that is the Angono Petroglyphs. Archaeologists from the National Museum of the Philippines have confirmed that this ancient rock art is about more than 3,000 years old. Also, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the International Council of Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) have validated that the Angono Petroglyphs can be considered as one of the oldest known artwork in the Asia-Pacific Region.

There are about 127 stylized human and animal figures carved on the rocks. There are distinguishable images like those of frogs and lizards but there are also interesting and quite peculiar figures that are not recognizable, which could perhaps be a possible effect of erosion.

Since its discovery in 1965 by Botong Francisco, some of the rock carvings have been damaged and new carvings have been added by vandals. In August 1973, by virtue of Presidential Decree No. 260, then President Marcos declared the Angono Petroglyphs a National Cultural Treasure. But it was not until the late nineties that archaeological site conservation and development were started. The government has then begun the construction of a mini museum where people register, a stone path leading to the petroglyphs, and a viewing site with fences to protect them from further destruction.

Indeed, many beautiful things have started with and by Botong Francisco. He has also become a major influence and an example to other Angono artists who have followed his path. Today, a new generation of artists known as the neo-Angono Artists Collective continues the artistic heritage that Botong has established, and what will soon become Angono’s living legacy.

The Havila Township

The city of Angono may sound too good to be true for some, and may appear to be just a dreamland for other people. “But like everyone else, we thought that it was just a coincidence how all these artistic souls converged in Angono. That is, until we visited the place itself,” shares Rona Tan, projecthead and vice President of Havila. “At first sight, we understood how the ruggedly beautiful landscapes of Angono were able to inspire some of the most remarkable pieces of Philippine art.” It is for this reason that Filinvest Land, Inc. has conceived the idea of Havila.

There are four uniquely themed residential communities that compose the great Havila. First is the Highlands Pointe, a Swiss and Scottish inspired community that provides an old-world sophistication and cosmopolitan setting. Next is the Mission Hills, a wide expanse of space filled with greenery and acacia-lined roads especially designed for the urban-weary urbanites.

Third in line is Villa Montserrat, a village full of Spanish-inspired architecture and situated very near San Beda College. Lastly, the Forest Farms, a very cozy and homey environment with nature-inspired architectural features, is perfect for nurturing family ties.

Havila truly lives up to its name: a paradise just like the Garden of Eden. With all the artistic treasures found in the rich cultural setting of Rizal, and the fascinating and captivating view of Laguna de Bay, Havila Township is certainly an artistic haven of the eastern highland. It is sure to cultivate creativity and celebrate artistry from its neighborhood. Perhaps one day, future Havila residents will prove that artists are not just born but also made in Angono.

Havila is a Filinvest township 12 kilometers east of the Ortigas Business District. For more information, call Filinvest Land, Inc. at 856-7788 or contact Havila sales head Ruby Rivera at 723-6515. "

http://www.tribune.net.ph/life/20080423lif1.html

There was a time when the most popular establishment in Angono is the Unishoppe Supermarket - if I was not mistaken - the first airconditioned supermarket in town. Until recently that Save More Supermarket opened as an all in one place for grocery items, meat products, vegetables, fruits and any food items you can think of, even sago't gulaman and tofu.........................................