philstar/entertainment/2013/09/16/1214261/enigma-ilocos If one were to ask for the secret of Ilocos Norte’s newest resort hotel, we would quickly answer Rolando Lawas, its resident manager who everyone calls LanLan. Small wonder his boss Danny Jacinto quickly left us in his care to spend four days at his hotel. Upon landing at Laoag’s airport, an hour’s flight on Airphil from Manila, we were whisked off to the Plaza del Norte Hotel & Convention Center in the midst of desert and hills, and after breakfast we were given a service vehicle to take in everything we could on the first day and to be able to relax on the other days. Our companion and friend Adolfo Timuat was only interested in the Juan Luna Museum. Aside from being a renowned Flamenco guitarist and Luthier (builders of guitars) in Spain, Adolfo was also a collector of Luna drawings. Juan Luna is decidedly the country’s greatest painter, instrumental for placing Philippine arts and culture on the world map. His most famous works were the Spoliarium, La Batalla de Lepanto, The Blood Compact, People and Kings and Ecce Homo among many others. We found students lined up for a visit at his Shrine in Badoc, Ilocos Norte, a reconstruction of the original house that burned down in 1861. Juan Luna was a co-worker of Jose Rizal, Graciano Lopez-Jaena, Marcelo H. Del Pilar and other Filipino reformers in Europe. All over the city are popular eateries purportedly put up by current Gov. Imee Marcos. Called the Johnny Moon cafeterias, it is said to be Imee’s way of honoring Juan Luna. Luna’s remains are at the San Agustin Church, Intramuros, Manila.
Posted on: Mon, 16 Sep 2013 05:28:32 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015