While other real estate developers are focusing on their properties south of Manila, Filinvest encourages future home owners to move east to Havila. To showcase what the Province of Rizal has to offer, Havila invited members of the media to tour the Philippine’s art capital: Angono Rizal.<\/p>\n
Admittedly, Rizal is not a place I would think to go to. The only time I remember going to Rizal was when we toured the historical churches in Rizal and Laguna ten years ago. I never thought there would be that much art in Rizal. I’m not that cultured, you know? \ud83d\ude1b<\/p>\n
First in our itinerary was the house of National Artist, Carlos “Botong” Francisco, on Do\u00f1a Aurora Street. The house where the National Artist used to live and paint is also the site of his grandson’s Second Gallery. Carlos “Totong” Francisco II welcomed us to his grandfather’s home and told us more about Botong’s art. <\/p>\n
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Do\u00f1a Aurora Street itself is a great art destination. The street boasts of murals depicting the National Artist’s paintings in cement. <\/p>\n
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And in the corner, we saw a colorful wall with the most amazing decoration:<\/p>\n
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The corner lot was dedicated to National Artist for Music, Lucio San Pedro, who also hails from Angono. The words and melody of his Ugoy ng Duyan, the most recognizable lullaby in the Philippines, is inscribed in concrete, paint and metal work. <\/p>\n
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After a quick look at the San Clemente Church, we headed on to our lunch destination: the Balaw Balaw Restaurant. Known mainly for its menu of exotic meats (frog, cricket, duck, beetle, cow butts and balls), the restaurant also serves as a gallery for Perdigon Vocalan’s art.<\/p>\n
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With our tummies full, we walked to the corner for our next stop: the Nemiranda Art House<\/a>. Housing the Angono School of Arts, the Nemiranda Gallery is headed by artist Nemesio R. Miranda, and the collection includes paintings by his children. We were welcomed by Katrina Miranda Tuazon, who quickly demonstrated how to draw a still life in pastel.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Our last stop in Angono was the Blanco Family Museum. Parents Jose (“Pitok”) and Loring and their seven children are all artists, and their work are all simply astounding. They all follow the school of Realism, and each painting in the gallery are truly remarkable. They capture the character of their subject and are able to clearly express the feelings of each scene.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Amazing paintings aside, I couldn’t resist taking a photo of these two:<\/p>\n
\nSecond and third generation artists<\/em><\/div>\n
\nVictoria at the Blanco Family Museum<\/em><\/div>\n