A Mother’s Stuff

Ma-Cho Temple

This Chinese temple believed to be the only one built with five gates sits on a promontory north of the town proper of San Fernando and overlooks the San Fernando Bay. The temple enshrines the image of the Virgin of Caysasay, the patroness of the Filipino-Chinese residents.

Many Filipino-Chinese venerate the image of Ma-zeun shrine at the Macho Temple at the City. The image believed to have a Christian counterpart known as Virgin of Caysasay, which is found in St. Martin in Taal, Batangas.

The Macho Temple main edifice adorned with detailed Chinese ancient decors. The building was constructed by skilled workers direct from Taiwan and was designed by Architect Diokno.

General Ricarte National Shrine

This shrine was built in honor of a beloved native of Batac, General Artemio Ricarte, who was a revolutionary hero and a controversial World War II figure.He was the first chief of staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines in 1897 and during the American occupation refused to vow any oath of allegiance to the United States.

The shrine consists of a memorial park that features a statue and two field guns on display, as well as a library and museum that has photographs and relics from his life, and also several American and Japanese guns from the World War II era.

Ricarte was born in Batac, Ilocos Norte, Philippines to Faustino Ricarte and Bonifacia Garcia. He finished his early studies in his hometown and enrolled at the Colegio de San Juan de Letran where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts. At the University of Santo Tomas and then at the Escuela Normal, he prepared for the teaching profession. He was sent to the town of San Francisco de Malabon (now General Trias) to supervise a primary school. While there, he met the likes of Mariano Alveraz, another school teacher and surviving revolutionary of the 1872 Cavite Mutiny. Ricarte then joined the ranks of the Katipunan as a Lieutenant-General under the Magdiwang Council and adopted the name “El Vibora” (Viper).

The Juan Luna Shrine in Ilocos Norte

The Juan Luna Shrine in among the top tourist attractions in Ilocos Norte Philippines. The Shrine is the ancestral home of Juan Luna (1857-1899), a world-renowned painter. Inspired by Rembrandt, Delacroix and Daumier mixed with a style that’s distinctly his own, Luna’s works of art are powerful and dramatic.

Luna’s works not only earned international recognition and awards, but more importantly served as a catalyst for Philippine nationalism during the Spanish era.

The restored house has been converted into a museum that showcases various memorabilia and works of Luna, including a reproduction of ,b>his masterpiece, the Spolarium, which won the gold medal in the 1884 Exposicion General de Bellas Artes in Madrid.

A more recent addition to the museum’s collection is Luna’s original painting “The Parisian Life,” completed in 1892 - a significant period in Philippine history.

The 113-year-old (44-inch by 39-inch) painting depicts Luna, Dr. Jose Rizal and Dr. Ariston Bautista Lin in a huddle in a Paris café at the turn of the century, just before the Philippines revolted against Spain. In the foreground of the painting is a young Parisian woman whose silhouette, according to some curators, seems to match that of a mirror image of the Philippine archipelago.

The Philippine government acquired the painting from Christie’s auction in Hong Kong for about US$1 Million.