Laguna Loop Trip 9

7/25/2019 Laguna Loop Trip 9

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[Laguna Loop Trip 9] Kalayaan, Laguna andthe Sad Story of LongosPosted on8 May 2011bybryanamparoStandard

2 Votes

This is a view of the old church of Kalayaan !a"una from #$otic %estaurant& Thiswas ta'en (pril 2010 )see my si"nature is the old one hehe*& (s much as +wanted to visit it ri"ht away + can,t since + only accompanied my cousin andtheir family& Sabit i'a n"a& -ast forward to 2011 here + am& (s part of my!a"una loop trip + made sure that + visit the church&
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Kalayaan is a very small town in !a"una located at the shore of !a"una de .ay&The nearby towns are Paete in the north /avinti and !umban in the south& (ndas far as my research "oes it has only three baran"ays !on"os San uan andSan (ntonio& !on"os and San uan are located at the !a"una de .ay,s shorewhile San (ntonio rests on the mountains of Sierra Madre&


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.ro& #rnin" alleros of Pa'il church told me that each baran"ay in !on"os has itsown church the eldest one is in !on"os )the one viewable from #$otic%estaurant* then in San uan )which loo's li'e it,s not maintained well*&

%ecently San (ntonio has its own because as .ro& #rnin" e$plained thedi3culty of "oin" up and down hill to San uan to attend the mass&

(nd the search for the old /hurch in !on"os made me appreciate more the sadstory behind Kalayaan&

-rom my last stopover at Paete + too' a 4eepney ride to Kalayaan but + missed!on"os and the church )+ have reached the power lines in /avinti already5*& 6fcourse + too' a 4eepney ride bac' and upon seein" the Kalayaan Municipal hall+ "ot o7 because + thou"ht that it is where + can nd the old church& .ut when +as'ed the locals they pointed me to the San uan church because they thou"ht

that it is the old church and the new one is in San (ntonio& +t,s a "ood thin" thata tricycle driver 'nows what +,m tal'in" about and too' me to !on"os forPhP19&00 almost the same amount of a special tricycle ride in Manila&

:hile on the tricycle the 'ind driver )how stupid + am not to as' for his name5*"ave me some history about Kalayaan& (lbeit not that accurate his story wassomehow consistent with the history pamphlet + "ot from the !on"os church andsome notes from the +nternet&


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(ccordin" to the tricycle driver the picture above is where the former municipalhall was located& 6ri"inally the name of this town was ;Visita .abaye, whichwas only a part of !umban !a"una );Visita, + believe is the e the town of !on"os was born&?urin" the (merican colonial period !on"os was a"ain anne$ed to the town ofPaete but "ot bac' its town status a few years later& @owever on March A01>B8 the seat of power was transferred from !on"os to .r"y& San uan )where itis presently located*& (nd as a nal blow to !on"os the town was renamed toKalayaan on May 1C 1>9C&


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:hen + arrived in !on"os it was the openin" of an interDbaran"ay bas'etballtournament ma'in" !on"os a little bit alive&


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(nd more importantly + nally found the church&

+nside the church compound there is also a small "arden& (nd a few stepsahead is the shore of !a"una !a'e& -rom the outside it seems that the !on"oschurch has retained its SpanishDera features& :hen you enter the churchhowever is a di7erent story&


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(ccordin" to the lay wor'ers in the church the rooftop of the church wasdestroyed by the typhoon Milenyo last 200=& @owever they don,t have themeans of restorin" its ori"inal roof that,s why they settled to the less costly butmore miserable loo'in" roof& (nd + presume that the church )and the whole


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!on"os itself* was Eooded durin" typhoon 6ndoy since it is 4ust within theshores of !a"una !a'e&

(s + made this entry a month after the trip + believe that !on"os is a reEectionof the Philippine society& !ac'in" in sense of history 4ust li'e the renamin" of!on"os to Kalayaan& @owever li'e the !on"os church we,re resilientresourceful and will not bac' down to any challen"e& -ilipinos are survivors 4ustli'e the !on"os church& ust li'e !on"os itself&

Laguna Loop Trip 9

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