Lucban

My Philippine geography sucks. It took me a while to realize that Palawan is not part of Visayas.. neither
is Bicol; that Ilocanos are not from Ilo-Ilo and that- so help me God- Quezon City is not in Quezon
province. You could ony imagine my futile conception of that place. When I learned we were going to
Quezon, I thought it would take us 6 hours to get there, 3 if there are no timber logs or eroded land
mass along the way. That it's gonna be a muddy terrain through the rain forest, and that bananas and
coconuts will be a staple view. Well, I've lived to tell you that I was wrong. Hello, and welcome to
Lucban!
Lucban is a small town sitting at the foot of Mount Arayat. It is most famous for it's May 15th festival,
more popularly known as the 'Pahiyas'. During this season, house owners hang colourful Kipings (a leaf
like decor made from grinded rice and water) in the exterior of their homes and get a chance to win
awards from their Municipal office. But I contest that summer isn't the only perfect time to be here.
Over the past decade, the town has recorded a spike in real property investments. Most were made by
OFWs looking for a place to retire or newly weds surveying for the best town to settle down. I think I'm
here to brush you up with why I think they choose Lucban. Hop on!

1. Scrap the marble walls and corinthian pillars, if you're fed up with the grandiose and wasteful living in
your town, then this is the place to be.
I have never seen a drugstore, a church, a hotel, a souvenir shop, a restaurant, a dental clinic, a bank
and a residential house, along one street. I repeat- along one street, adjacent to each other! Heck in
Lucban, there's a heritage house on top of 7-11! I don't know how it happened, it just has, and I think I
should just be amazed about it. But more amazing is the fact that the poblacion, which houses 10
baranggays (half of the town) has been consistent with this kind of community-architecture. I'm starting
to believe this was the model town in my 'Sibika and Kultura' book back in first grade. I don't know but I
have this feeling that Utopia- in its most realistic and possible form- has been achieved in this place.
There's little if no distinction between the well off and the ill-fated, both house (or establishment) will
occupy the same lot, the same amount of space- symbolic of the egalitarian spirit the town has
impressed on me.
2. If you think LB is shady, Lo and behold.. this is the real slim shady
During Freshman year, I was convinced that there's still a reason to thank the heavens. My classmates
would praise LB for being a relatively cool place to live in compared to their hometowns. But when I
thought mine was already the shadiest town in the region, lo and behold , the real slim shady turns up.
I swear, Lucban is two-probably three times cooler and shadier than LB. Not to mention the roads are
slimmer and are surrounded with establishments, houses- most two floors in height. This means that
the sun's deadly rays are mitigated along the poblacion and that pedestrians rarely need SPF while
walking. There's also a lot of trees in the vicinity. In fact most of them have a protective grill to avoid
being chopped off illegally.
Lucban too, is probably the cleanest town I've ever been. It's hard to find a trash bin along a street but I
tell you, you would see no litter on the pavement. Everyone is resposible for their own trash. People
wake up early to clean their door steps. The water running through their drainage canal.. is crystal clear,
and I'm not exaggerating.
2. Participative civic culture
We tried conducting a quick survey to know if the residents are familiar with the legend of Lucban.
Surprisingly enough, most of them would turn us to the Municipal Office for a free leaflet that contains
their history. One guy even refused to conduct an interview about the restaurant he's managing. He
said, we can go to the municipal archives and know the story of each building in town. This kind of
government loyalty is creepy. But I guess, Lucban can be spared of scrutiny. I honestly think the civic
culture in town has just been highly participative. This is evident from the monuments and statues
spread across the poblacion. The only park I saw too, was filled with elders- men and women sitting
around Jose Rizal, with newspapers in their hands.
3. The people
Lucban has the nicest people in the country. Everyone was kind enough to help us with directions, assist
us and let us in their houses- very traditional Filipino hospitality. I won't forget what one resident said:
that when you run out of fare, you can simply ask any Lucbanin for some coins and he or she would
surely give it to you. Just make sure you don't lie about it because dishonesty is what this community
hates most.
So I think that's about it folks, but this has only been a general overview of Lucban- an aerial view from a
plane flying 2000 miles above. The specifics are featured through out this magazine and I'm pretty sure
you would enjoy reading through them too. In a nutshell what this town can offer is something that's
grown rare and rare through out the decades, especially with the advent of technology and high mass
consumption. That is a simple and peaceful living.