Tales of love, lust, and murder at Las Casas Filipinas

Las Casas Filipinas Acuzar is a resort in Bataan filled with Spanish Heritage houses. These
houses were carefully dismantled from their original location and brought in at Las Casas to be
reconstructed to its original form. While it is somewhat true that a bahay na bato signifies wealth,
families of middle-class backgrounds also lived in stone houses during the Spanish regime. The
definition of wealthy is highly subjective and varies from one person’s perspective to another but the
way it’s written in the article insinuates that only the upper most social class can afford to live in stone
houses. With that being said, this just goes to show that not only those of upper-class backgrounds
lived in stone houses but also the middle-classes. In the article, it was also mentioned that rich families
lived in stone houses while the commoners lived in wooden houses when technically, every residential
house during that period of time were made of wood. A bahay na bato is not entirely made out of
stone. It is a hybrid of stone and wooden materials. The author could’ve said that poor families lived
in bamboo houses which are the traditional ‘’bahay kubo’’ instead to establish his point.

Taking shoes or any foot wear for the matter isn’t solely a Filipino tradition. Pretty much all of
Asia practice this and even some Latin American countries. The tour guide may have gotten the
definition of an Aliping Saguiguilid wrong and may have translated its meaning literally when he
mentioned that this type of servants was only allowed at the sides of the house hence the term
‘’Saguiguilid’’. An Aliping Saguiguilid is a servant without a house and any property. They often lived
with their masters and are actually allowed inside the main areas of the house to go about their daily
routines. While it is true that an Aliping Namamahay was allowed inside the house, this isn’t the main
distinguishing factor from the other type of servant. An Aliping Namamahay has his own house and
isn’t tied to his master. An Aliping Namamahay can get married without his master’s permission and
isn’t obligated to live with his master.

It was also mentioned in the article how early Filipinos weren’t permitted to smile in photos
due to the highly conservative society where smiling may be seen as flirting. The actual reason why
people in the early days didn’t smile in photographs is because cameras back in the day take an awful
long time to shoot and people usually can’t hold their smiles long enough for the camera.

While the intention of the author and the tour guide was good, there shouldn’t be room for
misinformation especially since this is history we are talking about. Facts should be carefully checked
before being published for all the people to see. However, I still commend the author for giving Las
Casas an exposure to the general public through the article. During this age where heritage isn’t given
attention and is often ignored, it’s important to raise awareness on the value of cultural heritage in
our identity as Filipinos. The purists may view Las Casas as a bastardization of the heritage houses but
in my own opinion, the owner of Las Casas is doing the right thing by preserving the heritage houses
and keeping it away from harm and possible deterioration.

RONQUILLO, RENZ M.