May 2025 - National Heritage Month*
San Vicente, Ilocos Sur
- Heritage Zone of the North
Dr Abe V Rotor
Living with Nature School on Blog
1. A Place of Gems and Flowers2. Basi Wine and Ilocos Vinegar Production3. Finest Wood Furniture Maker
4. Living with Nature Center: Tour, Research and Workshop
5. Botanical Garden, Arboretum and Eco Sanctuary
*To protect their historical and cultural integrity, President Rodrigo Duterte declared Ilocos Sur's San Vicente town, and Cebu's Carcar City as Heritage Zones. These are provided under Republic Act 11645 and 11644 respectively, signed by the President into law last January 14, 2022.
Under RA No. 11645, the heritage zone in San Vicente shall include the “cultural properties declared as National Cultural Treasures and Important Cultural Properties as well as National Historical Landmarks, Shrines, Monuments, and Sites, and such other immovable, movable or intangible cultural properties whether publicly or privately owned.”
1. A Place of Gems and Flowers
San Vicente Ilocos Sur - Heritage Zone of the North
Ancestral town of Dr Arturo B Rotor, icon in Philippine Literature and political leader
"Full many a gem of purest ray serene,
The deep unfathomed caves the ocean bear;
Full many a flower is born to blush unseen,
And waste their sweetness in the desert air."
Thomas Gray, Elegy on the Country Churchyard
It took Thomas Gray several times of editing to perfect, so to speak, this passage from his most celebrated work, for the reason I believe, that it touches a very sensitive nerve of human society, that the unsung are actually the pillars of institutions - the unknown soldier, the unheard bard, the unknown sculptor of a Venus de Milo's version, the artisan of edifices only by their structure are known, the musician who by ear composed a local Verdi or Othello - these and many others have made epics living and legends true characters - by unknown people, the "sleeping gems and the flowers in the desert".
But the passage speaks well of truth, and if it does not gain much credence to people like in Mark Twain's The Prince and the Pauper, it is because truth is a Diogenes with a lamp at noon time. But indeed there are gems pure and shining but they are in the obscure places, there are flowers sweeter than a Givenchy, and more beautiful than any Vanda or Cattleya, but whose scent and beauty are too far out of reach by the senses.
San Vicente Ferrer 17th century church, unique Baroque architecture, lately declared a shrine. Pilgrims and devotees pay homage, particularly every Tuesday. It has become a tourists' destination.
Perhaps it is there that a piece of San Vicente is found, maybe a doctor or a nurse in London hospital, a professor in an American University, an engineer in the middle east, a teacher in Papua New Guinea, a missionary on the island of Jamaica, a governess in Hongkong.
And when one finally succeeds in his search, he finds a small town classified at the lower rung of the economic ladder in Adam Smith economics. He is unimpressed. There is no fanfare. The old callejon is still the main road. The pre-war elementary school is well preserved. He enters the old church so massive it makes a minuscule of all buildings and houses. He walks toward the altar. A message written on the altar cloth reads in Ilocano: Ur-urayenka Anakko. I am waiting for you my child. But the translation is inadequate to capture the vernacular quaintness of the message.
Unless he asks a bona fide balikbayan. But it is not easy to compress history, to build instant bridges of memory. But it is the homing instinct that reverses the direction of the feet and the march of time. It brings back the life of the dead, relives experiences on the stage, transforms the past to present, dusting off the archives.
It is homing instinct, more than the native Alaskan salmon's determination, or the homing dove's accuracy, that takes every native of the place to go back home - to live the golden years of his life, to die and be buried there. And when a balikbayan is asked, "Where have all the children gone? " he takes a deep breath and releases it with a sigh of joy we call nostalgia. Then silence reigns. And time moves backward. Everything seems beautiful.
Because the gems, even in the deep unfathomed ocean, do shine; flowers bloom - and in all places - in a desert. Then he asks, Where have all the children gone?
And the balikbayan with teary eyes has a simple answer, "They have gone to all corners of the earth. "Memories about people may be short-lived; of events, for a lifetime perhaps; but for a cause - some ideas bigger than themselves, may last for a long time. Or until that particular idea has arrived in its own sweet time.
What is music, for example? Here Maestro Anselmo Pelayre is a pillar in the conservatory of Ilocano music. He wrote for the high mass, zarzuela, orchestra. His own compositions are still played in Ilocano communities and homes here and abroad. Maestro Selmo's commitment to music is its inseparability with culture, tradition and history, the lyrics as conveyors of the vivid, the detail; and music the soul, the spirit. It was, and will forever be, a fight for a cause in the midst of intercultural homogenization, even after the Great Maestro is gone, when music has evolved into abstract forms bordering music and non-music.
In the same way Ilokano, the language, and Ilokano, the culture, are one. Gain in one is gain in the other; lose the language and lose the culture. And gaining both enhances heritage to permeate into the head, heart and soul of the Ilocano, and therefore the Ilocano heritage lives in the person - wherever he goes, he does, he meets, and more so, in raising his own family.
Unless he asks a bona fide balikbayan. But it is not easy to compress history, to build instant bridges of memory. But it is the homing instinct that reverses the direction of the feet and the march of time. It brings back the life of the dead, relives experiences on the stage, transforms the past to present, dusting off the archives.
It is homing instinct, more than the native Alaskan salmon's determination, or the homing dove's accuracy, that takes every native of the place to go back home - to live the golden years of his life, to die and be buried there. And when a balikbayan is asked, "Where have all the children gone? " he takes a deep breath and releases it with a sigh of joy we call nostalgia. Then silence reigns. And time moves backward. Everything seems beautiful.
Because the gems, even in the deep unfathomed ocean, do shine; flowers bloom - and in all places - in a desert. Then he asks, Where have all the children gone?
And the balikbayan with teary eyes has a simple answer, "They have gone to all corners of the earth. "Memories about people may be short-lived; of events, for a lifetime perhaps; but for a cause - some ideas bigger than themselves, may last for a long time. Or until that particular idea has arrived in its own sweet time.
What is music, for example? Here Maestro Anselmo Pelayre is a pillar in the conservatory of Ilocano music. He wrote for the high mass, zarzuela, orchestra. His own compositions are still played in Ilocano communities and homes here and abroad. Maestro Selmo's commitment to music is its inseparability with culture, tradition and history, the lyrics as conveyors of the vivid, the detail; and music the soul, the spirit. It was, and will forever be, a fight for a cause in the midst of intercultural homogenization, even after the Great Maestro is gone, when music has evolved into abstract forms bordering music and non-music.
Re-enactment of the Passion of Christ by the town folks on Good Friday, brainchild of the late Boy Francisco a local sculptor who brought Lenten to the street, so to speak.
In the same way Ilokano, the language, and Ilokano, the culture, are one. Gain in one is gain in the other; lose the language and lose the culture. And gaining both enhances heritage to permeate into the head, heart and soul of the Ilocano, and therefore the Ilocano heritage lives in the person - wherever he goes, he does, he meets, and more so, in raising his own family.
Dr Nicholas L Rosal in his dissertation Understanding an exotic Language - Ilokano, attests that "language reveals structures and expressions that can tell social characteristics of a people... concepts and feelings conveyed are as human in one language as in another." His book revived the formal structure of the language and projected it to international consciousness, It has become an important reference for writers of Bannawag, the foremost magazine of Ilocanos the world over.
At the grassroots, several writers like Fredelito Lazo and Placido Real Jr, have likewise gained fame through the vernacular Bannawag, Samtoy, Ammianan, and through TV and radio broadcast reaping recognition not just for the quality of their work but for the cause in preserving the art of literature and communication - the "fine art of living" threatened by postmodernism.
But what projected San Vicente into the national and international scenes are products of artisans, among the makers of the finest furniture, Spanish fans meticulously carved from lanute wood, which are at par with the world's best; bigger-than-life religious icons, paintings bearing qualities of Renaissance art, salt (asin) whiter and more refine than sugar, basi table wine meeting the standards of European standards for Port and Sherry.
The best cigarette tobacco is raised here, so with vegetables. San Vicente shares with its border neighbor Sta Catalina the vegetable bowl of the Ilocos region. Here semi-temperate crops are grown from cauliflower to shallot and yam. If self-reliance and sufficiency is the main gauge of economic status, then the town is a first class municipality, and in fact can stand by itself from the political structure as a satellite to a metro city, Vigan, the former capital of the province.
But the biggest contribution of San Vicente, though not specific in terms of economics, law, science, education, sports, arts, and the like, is greater than the sum of all these - true service of its citizens. Like goodness itself, it is synergistic, building on the philosophy that goodness builds on goodness, be it in the field, shop, court house, classroom, hospital, street, office, or humble dwelling, whether here or in some parts of the world. As a wise old man from the place proudly said, "Tell me a place in the world and San Vicente is there. Tell me of a career and San Vicente is there, In any event - one of celebration, or compassion, or reverence - count on a Vincentian."
Which speak of the philosophy of Saint Vincent Ferrer, one of the greatest scholars and teachers of the church, the inspiration of every Vincentian. ~
--------------------------------------------------
About Saint Vincent Ferrer
About Saint Vincent Ferrer
For three years he read only the Scriptures, and knew the whole Bible by heart. He converted the Jews of Valencia, and their synagogue became a church. Grief at the great schism then afflicting the Church reduced him to the point of death; but Our Lord Himself in glory bade him go forth to convert sinners, "for My judgment is nigh." This miraculous apostolate lasted twenty-one years. He preached throughout Europe, in the towns and villages of Spain, Switzerland, France, Italy, England, Ireland, Scotland.
Everywhere tens of thousands of sinners were reformed; Jews, infidels, and heretics were converted. Stupendous miracles enforced his words. Twice each day the " miracle bell "summoned the sick, the blind, the lame to be cured. Sinners the most obdurate became Saints; speaking only his native Spanish, he was understood in all tongues. Processions of ten thousand penitents followed him in perfect order. Convents, orphanages, hospitals, arose in his path.
Amidst all, his humility remained profound, his prayer constant. He always prepared for preaching by prayer. Once, however, when a person of high rank was to be present at his sermon he neglected prayer for study. The nobleman was not particularly struck by the discourse which had been thus carefully worked up; but coming again to hear the Saint, unknown to the latter, the second sermon made a deep impression on his soul. When St. Vincent heard of the difference, he remarked that in the first sermon it was Vincent who had preached, but in the second, Jesus Christ.
He fell ill at Vannes in Brittany, and received the crown of everlasting glory in 1419.
Arial View of San Vicente Poblacion The old church is seen at the middle facing left. Photo taken by the author on a helicopter, circa 1976
References: Home, Sweet Home with Nature, AVR; Ti Pakasaritaan San Vicente, Lorenzo L Mata, 2005; Internet (Life of Saint Vincent Ferrer).
Lesson on former Paaralang Bayan sa Himpapawid (People's School on Air) with Ms Melly C Tenorio 738 DZRB 8 to 9 evening class, Monday to Friday
--------------------
*National Heritage Month is celebrated annually in May in the Philippines. By virtue of Presidential Proclamation No. 439, it aims to promote the appreciation and celebration of Filipino heritage and history throughout the country. During this month, people focus on Philippine culture and its rich history.
Part 2 - Basi Wine and Ilocos Vinegar Production
Bantaoay River, San Vicente Ilocos Sur
- Riverine Site of Basi Revolt 1807
Dr Abe V Rotor
[avrotor.blogspot.com]
.jpg)
Rotor Basi (made in San Vicente Ilocos Sur) has labels depicting the Ilocos Region's historical events, landmarks, and outstanding natives of the region - Ilocanos. Basi is a major attraction to tourists from different parts of the world. Basi is the only kind of table wine in the world. Basi as well as its by-product, Ilocos Vinegar (suka ti Ilocos, or sukang Iloko to the Tagalogs) meet rigorous European standards and US Food and Drugs Administration tests.
.jpg)
The distinct mellow taste of basi comes largely from its aging time in burnay (earthen jars) - perhaps the only kind of tropical table wine processed and aged in this respected age-old tradition. The jars are kept to as long as ten years in home cellars or buried in the ground, and sealed hermetically with hard clay. Basi was once an important article of commerce in the region, and when the islands were colonized by Spain, basi reached Europe via the Galleon Trade passing through Acapulco, the southern tip of Mexico.~
The idea of reviving this sunset industry holds great potential in creating livelihood opportunities, and in integrating agriculture and industry in the practical concept of agribusiness that is rural- and people-based. The industry offers natural products that protect people’s health, and which are friendly to the environment. Lastly, it revives the spirit of Filipino nationalism, culture and tradition.
Historical Background
The manufacture of Ilocos wine (Basi) and vinegar (Sukang Iloko) predates Spanish colonization of the islands. Although the two products were already a part of vigorous trading among the islands and with neighboring countries, basi in particular reached prominence when it became one of the island’s exports for nearly two centuries through the Galleon Trade to Europe by way of Acapulco, Mexico.
Because of the significance of the industry, the Spaniards declared government monopoly on the industry stirring an uprising by the brewers and natives known as the Basi Revolt of 1807.
The Commonwealth era saw the decline in the production of basi and sukang Iloko as imported products flooded the market, and worst, the local industry suffered seriously during the second World War. The industry never recovered since then. Today’s generation has a vague idea of this fine, traditional industry, which was once the pride of our ancestors.
General Features of the Enterprise
1. It revives a once flourishing industry, making use of indigenous tools and materials. Thus, it also relives a rich history of a people and culture.
2. As a cottage- and rural-based family business, it is dependent on family and local manpower; nonetheless it requires innovations in both technology and management.
3. Its products are made from natural materials and by a natural process, hence health-safe and environment-friendly.
4. It makes use of local researches and indigenous skills, but will benefit from institutional researches. It therefore, links the research system and enterprise system, and the field with the laboratory.
5. It is viable as a short- or medium-scale enterprise, but it can be expanded on long term basis, thus it is compatible with different business organizations, most especially family enterprise and cooperative.
6. It supports the philosophy on which NACIDA and KALAKALAN 20 were founded. It is in line with the government’s program on small and medium enterprises, led by DTI, UP Institute of Small and Medium Enterprises, other governmental organizations and NGOs.
7. As a dollar earner (and saver), it takes pride in a modest sense in this contribution, propagating a Filipino product that meets international standard for European table wines, in the likes of sherry, port and mass wine.
Its universal formula lends to expansion of product lines within the same framework of technology and business organization. Table wine can be produced from local fruits such as chico, pineapple, mango, guava, and the like, using the same formula of making basi. This is true with vinegar made from these fruits particularly during their peak season.
The Products
Basi is table wine (12 proof or 6 % alcohol), a product of fermentation of sugarcane. The chemical reaction is shown in this general formula.
C6 H 12 O6 --- Zymase ---> 2 C2H5OH + 2CO2
Sugarcane juice Yeast Ethanol
It contains local botanical ingredients, mainly
· Glutinous rice – Oryza sativa
· Bubud or Yeast Complex - Saccharomyces spp.
· Duhat –Syzygium cumini
· Kamachile – Pithecolobium dulce
· Samat – Macaranga tenarius
Raw Materials
The principal raw materials are as follows:
1. Upland Sugar - The main ingredient is cooked sugarcane juice, with no adulteration. Baume reading should not be lower that 15 degrees depending on sucrose content and variety of the cane.
2. Glutinous Rice - Glutinous rice increases concentration since starch is polysaccharide. Through hydrolysis, it is broken into simple sugars.
3. Bubod or Yeast Complex - This is prepared from pure culture in the laboratory consisting of several strains of yeast.
4. Purified or Spring Water - The jars are thoroughly cleaned and sterilized. Purified, deep well or spring is used.
Sukang Iloko
Sukang Iloko, sour basi. Vin egar means sour wine. This means that basi, like any wine, spontaneously turns into vinegar when oxidized with the aid of beneficial microorganisms. Thus, the equation will lead to oxidation or acetification (vinegar formation).
C2H5OH + O2 Acetobacter -----> CH3COOH + 2H2O Sukang Iloko
As shown in the two equations above, the two products – wine and vinegar - are integrated. The dual process can be extended to the production of Nata de Coco as a third product.
The formula is applicable in the production of other wine and vinegar products from fruits, grains and root crops. Thus wine and vinegar making has good potential as an enterprise.
Manufacture of Basi
1. Cleaning and Sterilization - The jars are thoroughly cleaned. This takes three weeks, with the water changed three times, once every week. Sterilization is by the use of boiling water followed by direct sunlight exposure.
2. Brewing - Cooked sugarcane juice is poured into the sterilized jars including the botanical ingredients, bubud (yeast complex) and glutinous rice. Fermentation takes place immediately and increases in rate until the eight day. Thereafter brewing declines. The sediments are removed and the jars are closed, and are ready for ageing.
3. Ageing - The jars are hermetically closed and sealed with termite earth, an innovation of the author.. They must be kept in a dark cool place away from insects and any kind of disturbance. Ageing mellows the wine giving it the desired aroma, bouquet or body, color, taste, and other qualities. The wine matures in 10 to 12 months. Premium basi is aged longer, to 10 years.
4. Bottling and Packaging - Long-neck glass bottles with 750 ml content are obtained from suppliers of recycled bottles. Smaller bottles contain 250ml and 500 ml. The bottles are thoroughly cleaned and sterilized under direct sunlight. The bottles are directly filled up with the harvested wine after undergoing laboratory test (percent alcohol and acidity) and organoleptic test (taste, color, bouquet, etc.).They are capped, sealed, and labeled. and placed in brown bags and in carton boxes..
Manufacture of Sukang Iloko
1. Cleaning and Sterilization - The procedure is the same as that in the preparation of jars in basi making.
2. Brewing- Oxidation - Cooked sugarcane juice together with the botanical ingredients, yeast complex and mother liquor (inoculant) are poured into the sterilized jars. Vinegar formation or acetification accompanies the formation of ethanol. It means that the wine is oxidized to form acetic acid. This dual process takes place spontaneously and simultaneously in the presence of natural fermenters, such as the fruit fly, Drosophila, that carries a beneficial bacterium, Acetobacter aceti. The filtrate is then separated from the sediments, and placed in another jar in which it then undergoes ageing.
3. Ageing - Vinegar matures in 4 to 6 months, shorter than that in ageing wine. During the process, residual sugar undergoes secondary fermentation and acetification. This is why natural vinegar improves with time. (Artificial vinegar, on the other hand, loses acidity after prolonged exposure.) Ageing makes the product mellow, improves color, taste and other qualities.
4. Bottling and Packaging - The same procedure in basi is followed, except that the label is simpler or as specified by the buyer. For both products, laboratory tests are conducted in order to maintain quality standard. For vinegar, microbial count, acetic acid, and residual sugar are measured.
Production-Marketing Setup
San Vicente, Ilocos Sur, is three kilometers from Vigan, the provincial capital, 408 km from Manila. This town is the center of the once flourishing basi and vinegar making industry before and during the Spanish times. It is also the site of the Basi Revolt of 1807. Revival of the industry carries the imprimatur of history and the original basi. For the local needs of the area, both products are packaged and retailed to meet the local demand in Vigan and Laoag, two tourists spots. Among the principal buyers is the Ilocano balikbayan.
One of the 14 paintings depicting the Basi Revolt of 1807 by Esteban Villanueva
Facilities, Equipment and Materials
1. Cellar and Working Area - The ground floor of an old brick house in San Vicente, Ilocos Sur, serves as cellar, office and working area. It houses a small office and basic laboratory tools. It has ready accessible to the sources of raw materials, buyers and transport facilities.
2. Jars (Fifteen-liter capacity) - Burnay or earthen jars are made in Vigan. The net content of each jar can fill up 50 long necked bottles of 750 ml, the standard packaging of both products. Old jars can be procured from former brewers in the locality.
3. Laboratory equipment - The principal tools are high resolution compound microscope, refractometer, sugar hydrometer, pH meter, and accessories such as weighing scale, beakers and test tubes. Analyses and experiments involving sophisticated equipment like chromatograph and distilling apparatus are conducted in cooperation with research institutions like the Food Development Center and DOST. Similar linkages with local institutions in Manila and Vigan can be arranged.
Quality Control
Quality control starts with the choice of variety of sugarcane, its cultivation, maturity and crop stand. Too much nitrogen fertilizer is not advisable. Upland sugarcane is desirable. Thus, in cultivating the crop, recommended agronomic requirements must be followed. Only the best sugarcane should be used for basi while inferior canes, such as those affected by drought or typhoon are used for vinegar making.
The key to product quality is in the three stages of manufacture: formulation, brewing and ageing. The entrepreneur must have a good knowledge acquired through training to augment basic chemistry and microbiology. It is in this stage that laboratory analysis is regularly conducted to generate these data.
· Percent sugar (15 %)
· Activity and cell count of the yeast (fast acting multi-strain/complex type)
· Fermentation time (8 to 12 days)
Final Products
The ultimate control is in this stage which is composed of bottling, capping and sealing, labeling and packing. Consistency of product quality is of utmost consideration, not only for the whole shipment, but also in all sales in the future. This is to establish patronage (suki).
The entrepreneur must always have in mind to meet international standards. Food
Development Center,which is authorized by the USFDA, determines the quality of products exported to the US and its territories. Basi was confirmed by FDC to have passed the standard for sherry and port.
Small Scale Business Viability*
(Subject to update and adjustment)
Under the present setup of the project, the direct cost in making a jar of basi which is equivalent to 50 bottles (750 ml) is P2500. This means that the production cost per bottle is P50. Fifty bottles is the net yield per jar. This volume allows margin for breakage, leaching, and spoilage, including taste test and samples.
Premium sugarcane juice makes up 26.3 percent of the direct cost. Packaging materials which include bottles, labels, caps, seals and boxes, comprise the biggest cost which is 40.4 percent. Depreciation cost of jars, infrastructure, facilities and equipment like pH and Baume meters, and sealer, makes up 15.8 percent, while marketing and direct labor cost make up 20 percent.
The gestation period of basi is from 10 to 12 months, which means that brewing and ageing time takes almost a year. It is in the second and third year that regular sale takes place, peaking in summer and Christmas season. Computed wholesale selling price is P150 per bottle, thus the net income is P100. For an economic volume of 5000 bottles, the total net income is P500,000 per year.
For vinegar, the direct cost is P1000 per jar or P20 per bottle of 750 ml. The biggest cost is spent on packaging (glass bottles, caps and seals) which is 37.5 percent. Cane sugar is 31.5 percent, while marketing and direct labor make up 25 percent. If the selling price is P30, the net income is P10 per bottle, or 50 % ROI. The economic volume is at least 5000 bottles a year. A successful entrepreneur supplied these figures. Like any business the prospect of improving profitability is based on carefully studied economics of scale.
With the current business climate in the Philippines there are many risks entrepreneurs face - from the crunching effect of currency devaluation to open competition brought about by the world’s order on trade liberalization since the passage of WTO-GATT whose inequitable workings are a disadvantage to Third World countries.
How a fledgling industry survives, more so as it rises from the ashes of a colonial past, which with it had virtually died, is beyond imagination of a businessman who is looking at any bright prospect. But business has many challenges, beyond time, money, and the many opportunities to get rich. Would not an enterprise consider values, beyond economic parameters, such as reviving a rich culture, reliving history, touching fervors of faith and pride in a people? ~
-----------------------------------------------
Basi and Sukang Iloko project proposal wins Business Idea and Development Award (BIDA 2001), sponsored by the Department of Science and Technology, Department of Trade and Industry, Republic Planters Bank, and the Small and Medium Industry Council.
Rotor Basi won the distinct Business Development Development Award (BIDA) in 2000. The prize inspired the revival of a sunset industry in the Ilocos Region. Left photo, the late former administrator Jesus T Tanchanco (right) of the National Food Authority and Mrs Alice Tanchanco pose with the author after receiving the BIDA Award. Right photo, members of the winning team receive the cash award from BIDA, a joint project led by DOST and DTI (Small and Medium Industries), Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI), and Planters Bank of the Philippines.
* 2010 analysis, subject to adjustment based on present situation, such as inflation rate, government policy, market conditions - and socio-economic upheaval both local and global brought by the current Coronavirus Pandemic. A review and update on the economic viability of the enterprise is therefore necessary.
Bantaoay River, San Vicente Ilocos Sur Site of Basi Revolt 1807
Basi Revolt 1807 - Paintings by Esteban Villanueva
The revolt took place 400 km north of Manila where Diego and Gabriela Silang heroically fought Spanish rule 50 years before. It was precipitated by the declaration of Wine Monopoly by the local Spanish government that virtually took from the hands of small cottage brewers an industry the Ilocos region enjoyed long before Spain colonized the islands. Basi was carried by the Galleon trade plying Ciudad Fernandina (now Vigan City) and Europe via Acapulco, Mexico (1565-1815).
The final battle took place along the Bantaoay River that runs through the town of San Vicente, some 4 km from the capital where the industry flourished. Scores of Spanish soldiers and natives were killed. Although the revolt spread to as far as Ilocos Norte, and Pangasinan to the south, it culminated on September 29, 1907 with the public execution of the captured rebels.
Fourteen big oil paintings depicting the Basi Revolt, also known as Ambaristo Revolt (named after its leader) can be seen today at the Vigan Ayala Museum, which is housed in the original residence of Filipino priest martyr, Fr. Jose Burgos. The painter, Don Esteban Villanueva was an eyewitness of this historic event.
Today, the Basi Revolt lives on with the fine taste and tradition of this unique product standing among the best wines of the world. Nine of the paintings are posted here.
Basi is the flagship of wine products of San Vicente Ilocos Sur which include fruit wine from chico, pineapple, dragon fruit, guava, and the like, and the popular sukang Iloko (Ilocos Vinegar).
Rotor Basi (made in San Vicente Ilocos Sur) has labels depicting the Ilocos Region's historical events, landmarks, and outstanding natives of the region - Ilocanos. Basi is a major attraction to tourists from different parts of the world. Basi is the only kind of table wine in the world. Basi as well as its by-product, Ilocos Vinegar (suka ti Ilocos, or sukang Iloko to the Tagalogs) meet rigorous European standards and US Food and Drugs Administration tests. ~
Basi is ideally aged for a period of 2 to 5 years in earthen jars hermetically sealed with clay.
This 18th century wine cellar is part of a tourist destination at the Living with Nature Center at San Vicente Ilocos Sur, Philippines. (Author's residence)
The distinct mellow taste of basi comes largely from its aging time in burnay (earthen jars) - perhaps the only kind of tropical table wine processed and aged in this respectable age-old tradition. The jars are kept to as long as ten years in home cellars or buried in the ground, and sealed hermetically with hard clay. Basi was once an important article of commerce in the region, and when the islands were a colony of Spain. Basi reached Europe via the Galleon Trade* passing through Acapulco, the southern tip of Mexico.~
*The Manila Galleons were Spanish trading ships which for two and a half centuries linked the Philippines with Mexico across the Pacific Ocean, making one or two round-trip voyages per year between the ports of Acapulco and Manila, which were both part of New Spain. Wikipedia
3. Finest Wood Furniture Maker
- The Pride of San Vicente, Ilocos Sur
Dr Abe V Rotor
San Vicente was dubbed "the Little Florence". It was in Florence, Italy where the seed of Renaissance grew and spread throughout Europe, and to other parts of the world through colonization, the Philippines being a colony of Spain for four centuries.
Antique chairs and open cabinet. There was at one time a big demand for antique furniture. For an untrained eye, fake and original ones are difficult to differentiate. Today there are furniture that are like lemon cars. They look attractive when new but they do not last long. Plywood, particleboard, canvas upholstery, glued-joint instead of mortise-and-tenon joint, linings to hide defects, and other shortcut woodwork have destroyed much of the integrity of the original industry.
Go to San Vicente if you wish to see a double size bed made of all-kamagong (ebony), with Persian design. Ebony is a dense black wood, most commonly yielded by several different species in the genus Diospyros. Ebony is dense' it easily sinks in water. It is finely-textured and has a very smooth finish when polished, making it valuable as an ornamental wood. Complimenting the bed are a bedroom table, chest, chairs and cabinets of the same material. I saw a whole set in Bernardo "Berning" Ruelos' residence in San Vicente. The set has become too personal the family would not part with anything.
Spanish folding fan made of lanute wood, exquisitely carved in lace design, can compare with the world's best. In fact you may not know that you would be buying a San Vicente lanute fan in Madrid marked Made in Spain. Maestro Lorenzo Mata Sr is the local wood fan industry leader with beautiful designs of his own. If you have a Mata fan, you might simply save it for very special occasions.
Carro (Ilk), carriage of religious icons during procession is in itself a masterpiece. The carro of the grieving Mother Mary and that of Christ carrying a cross are the most exquisite and decorative, Both carro and religious icons that attract tourists are the works of the Castillo and Lazo sculptors, the late Mauro Castillo and Jose Pepe Lazo Sr, among them.
Customized corner arranger rack and telephone table
Custom made furniture like personalized doors, apparadors, rocking chair, Cleopatra bed, lounging chair (butaka and silyon Ilk), picture frames, jewelry boxes, can be traced to leaders of the industry, the families of Repulleza, Roc, Riotoc, Rigunay, Lazo, et al. each work having a distinctive flavor, so to speak, that among us natives to the place can identify the artisan, or the barangay it was made. Bantaoay, Pudoc, San Sebastain, Bayubay.are major carpentry barangays. Or simply "west" or "east" of the church, Or north or south of this point of reference. In my time the industry was so popular, carpentry is part of growing up.
Our home in QC is graced by the works of three Vincentian master artisan-carpenters: a sala set Victorian in design made by the late Damaso Rotor, an uncle of mine, who won a national prize during the Commonwealth era for his fine furniture, a dining set for eight, also hand carved solid narra with rattan "upholstery" by Vicente "Bitti" Regocera, antique apparadors and chests made by the late Andong Ruelos, and Angel Requilman, veterans of the industry.
My father had a furniture shop before World War II broke. It was the first mechanized furniture shop north of Manila, so I was told. Dad had just returned from his studies in the US finishing Bachelor in Commercial Science from De Paul University in Chicago. As his shop grew, so with the threat of war. Finally the country was placed under Japanese occupation and the shop was destroyed. Memories of the war are old pieces of furniture made in that shop. In later years dad said that things have changed unexpectedly, fast and radical. Even after Philippine independence, furniture making - so with other local industries - were never the same again. Entrepreneurship soon gave way to corporate business and many small businesses were swallowed up.
Today the furniture industry, while it retains its San Vicente signature, has undergone radical developments, mainly through the use of basic machines as envisioned by my dad in pre WWII era, and use of substitute wood materials to the famed narra (Diptherocarpus indicus, national tree of the Philippines), acacia (Samanea saman), molave (Vitex parviflora), and kamagong (Diospyrus discolor) - four threatened species under strict protection of DENR. The supply of wood threatens the industry as a whole, exacerbated by today's market demand trends preferring cheap and mass produced plastic and metal crafts and wares mainly products of China. And with homes getting smaller, and perched on high-rise condominiums, pre-fab and convertible designs hardly called furniture, have virtually displaced the bulky conventional types.
The masters and their generation may have gone, but their works are legendary evidences of a golden era that has put San Vicente on the map as the maker of the finest furniture in the region - if not over the world. ~
If you are a native of San Vicente IS, you can instinctively identify if a piece of furniture is a product of your town. It is experiential, too, that has rooted in your mind the standards of your judgment and conclusion. You are in your own right a natural born critic, a connoisseur of fine products truly Vincentian.
Old narra chest retains its antique quality with relief carving of the typical grape vine design popularized during the Renaissance in Europe.
Lower photo: detail of an intricate carving of an antique narra aparador. These framed paintings are giving way to borderless paintings with the subject spilling out to the sides. These are sample products of a framing shop I put up after I opted for early retirement from government service in 1989 which lasted for ten years when framing business declined. I learned the trade from artisans in San Vicente and from industrial art classes I attended in elementary and high school.
Frames still have a market but selective, such as this special frame of narra made for a memorable photograph.
Details of fine hand carving and rattan instead of modern upholstery. A medieval ambiance of drapery, ceiling and wall, plus a conventional piano and painting could be added to enhance such atmosphere.
Fine furniture products, among other products of the Ilocos Region such as Basi wine and Añil (Indigo Dye), found their way to Europe by way of the Galleon Trade, based on Seville Acapulco, Mexico. Records are scanty on the interchange of products and their value between East and West, but this opened up the first-world economy undertaking set to grow in modern times.
As there are preserved icons from Europe in our churches and homes of prominent Filipinos, so with the fine products of our country found in Europe and elsewhere in the world particularly colonies of Spain. Filipino artisans excel in duplicating fine works, and even innovate them to the point of largely modifying their originality. The ocho-bados wooden glass cabinet for China wares is an example. Dressers bearing oriental touch yet retaining their European design are not rare to find - original or close imitations. Wooden chests are distinctly carved bearing the name of the local artisan. And if you would probe deeper, furniture making is linked to sculpture, as evidenced by religious icons sculpted by local artists. If you have seen the pieces of furniture in Rizal's Shrine in Calamba Laguna, you would think they came all the way from Europe. So with many museum pieces all over the country, including those in the capital town, Vigan, three kilometers east of San Vicente the principal market for its products.
Vigan, then Ciudad Fernandina, was on the regular route of the Galleon trade. It was second to Manila in economic importance. This lasted for more than two centuries. No other international link surpassed the importance of the Galleon Trade in its own time. It provided stimulus for multicultural growth and development in the region which explains the rich variety of art in the Ilocos from massive churches, to local industries which include furniture, exquisite lanute wood fan, icons of saints and important personalities.
Hand carved dining set, a prized collection for its narra wood and finish, royal design, and intricate woven rattan seat and backing. Ilocano homes take pride in having fine furniture sets from Cleopatra bed to Louis XV sala set distinctly made
by San Vicente artisans
Solid narra cabinets with relief carving show strong influence of European Renaissance art of the 15th century. Renaissance art was brought into the country from Spain, and became a symbol of affluence. Classicism and Romanticism are the two schools which dominated this age which later gave way to Realism, Impressionism, ultimately ramifying into several movements which we collectively term as Modern art.
Jewelry box of solid narra is preferred over fancy designs today. Miniature wooden furniture set attracts tourists and collectors preferring them over mass produced plastic and metal casts.
Go to San Vicente if you wish to see a double size bed made of all-kamagong (ebony), with Persian design. Ebony is a dense black wood, most commonly yielded by several different species in the genus Diospyros. Ebony is dense' it easily sinks in water. It is finely-textured and has a very smooth finish when polished, making it valuable as an ornamental wood. Complimenting the bed are a bedroom table, chest, chairs and cabinets of the same material. I saw a whole set in Bernardo "Berning" Ruelos' residence in San Vicente. The set has become too personal the family would not part with anything.
Spanish folding fan made of lanute wood, exquisitely carved in lace design, can compare with the world's best. In fact you may not know that you would be buying a San Vicente lanute fan in Madrid marked Made in Spain. Maestro Lorenzo Mata Sr is the local wood fan industry leader with beautiful designs of his own. If you have a Mata fan, you might simply save it for very special occasions.
Carro (Ilk), carriage of religious icons during procession is in itself a masterpiece. The carro of the grieving Mother Mary and that of Christ carrying a cross are the most exquisite and decorative, Both carro and religious icons that attract tourists are the works of the Castillo and Lazo sculptors, the late Mauro Castillo and Jose Pepe Lazo Sr, among them.
Customized corner arranger rack and telephone table
Custom made furniture like personalized doors, apparadors, rocking chair, Cleopatra bed, lounging chair (butaka and silyon Ilk), picture frames, jewelry boxes, can be traced to leaders of the industry, the families of Repulleza, Roc, Riotoc, Rigunay, Lazo, et al. each work having a distinctive flavor, so to speak, that among us natives to the place can identify the artisan, or the barangay it was made. Bantaoay, Pudoc, San Sebastain, Bayubay.are major carpentry barangays. Or simply "west" or "east" of the church, Or north or south of this point of reference. In my time the industry was so popular, carpentry is part of growing up.
Our home in QC is graced by the works of three Vincentian master artisan-carpenters: a sala set Victorian in design made by the late Damaso Rotor, an uncle of mine, who won a national prize during the Commonwealth era for his fine furniture, a dining set for eight, also hand carved solid narra with rattan "upholstery" by Vicente "Bitti" Regocera, antique apparadors and chests made by the late Andong Ruelos, and Angel Requilman, veterans of the industry.
My father had a furniture shop before World War II broke. It was the first mechanized furniture shop north of Manila, so I was told. Dad had just returned from his studies in the US finishing Bachelor in Commercial Science from De Paul University in Chicago. As his shop grew, so with the threat of war. Finally the country was placed under Japanese occupation and the shop was destroyed. Memories of the war are old pieces of furniture made in that shop. In later years dad said that things have changed unexpectedly, fast and radical. Even after Philippine independence, furniture making - so with other local industries - were never the same again. Entrepreneurship soon gave way to corporate business and many small businesses were swallowed up.
Furniture making today as a home industry
Marker of the Manila-Acapulco Galleon that carried Philippine products to the other side of the globe which included fine furniture, basi wine and añil (indigo dye) from the Ilocos. It paved the way to international trade, precursor to modern world economy. ~
4. Living with Nature Center
Study Tour, Research and Workshops
Dr Abe V Rotor
Study Tour
Teachers and students regularly visit the place for their outdoor study,
practicum and home assignments. The Center offers assistance to
students in their thesis and dissertation, as well as screen and stage
presentations, papers and publications notwithstanding.
Apo Baket - keeper of traditional values, and Basang (right) - nanny of orphaned children, are icons enshrined in the Living with Nature Center (San Vicente Botanical Garden)
Shrines in the Garden
Top, Apo Baket' keeper of time honored values and tradition. Emilio
Aguinaldo, first president of the first republic of the Philippines, and
national hero Dr Jose Rizal, depicted here at the Center in his exile at
Dapitan. While in exile Rizal became a biologist, agriculturist, school
teacher, while he practiced medicine benevolently to the community.
Children's Art Workshop
School children joyfully enter the world of art, gateway to the
realm of creativity, in lieu of cellphones, malls, and loafing.
Art Evolution
Art evolution is increasing experimental and abstract. Schools
of art today continue to expand rapidly - from impressionism and
expressionism to fauvism and surrealism. Can we set its chart and
goal and make art relevant to our lives in these changing times.
Can we bring back good tradition and values of old, and the true
essence of art as a beautiful embodiment of humanity?
Ecological Art
The art of recycling such as broken ceramics (burnay), given a new
life as a home and garden decor, instead of just being thrown away.
Painted broken jars given a second life, function to aesthetics, in our
search for beauty and meaning of material things in our wastefulness
and affluent living - brokenness after all is transformation, so with life.
Church Art Workshop at the Living with Nature Center
Guests view the artworks of students in interpreting a biblical theme,
("I am the way, the truth and the life."), sponsored by the Archdiocese
of Nueva Segovia (Ilocos Sur), and conducted at the Center.
Cyptobiology
Nature spirit surreptitiously and subtly expressed in driftwood and
other natural forms as captured by the artist's inner eye, "an
ecological perception on the harsh treatment of nature by man."
Art and Craft
In both cases, these nature's specimens are among the most popular
museum items. Craft is often identified as the work of the artisan,
while art in its fundamental sense is the work of the artist, often
regarded as fine art.
Nature Trophies
Nature sends a vital message in awaking man's consciousness to save
the environment, which is different from the fraternal praises in gold and
silver trophies in today's acclaimed human achievements.
Indigenous Industry: Basi and Vinegar
Top, 18th century wine cellar, bottled premium basi. Table wines
made from local fruits in season, adopting the traditional process
of basi fermentation and aging in earthen jar (burnay Ilk).
Native Fowls
Native chicken, ducks, turkey, pigs, counterparts of native mango,
chico, guava, and the like. Name it and Nature has it. Let us
preserve the native genes and not alter or even lose them. Native
plants and animals are resistant to pests and diseases, and to
adverse conditions of the environment.
18th Century Well
The well has withstood the elements, principally earthquake, erosion
and siltation. It has however, lost its ability to supply water throughout
the year. It dries up during the dry months.
Pets
Pets are members of the household so to speak, when it comes to
loving and caring dogs, cats, fowls - name it and you can find one.
Having pets is therapeutic, and children grow up happy, healthy
and peaceful.
5. Botanical Garden, Arboretum and Eco Sanctuary
The garden is an outdoor classroom; nature is the greatest teacher.
San Vicente Ilocos Sur Philippines - Heritage Zone of the North (RA 11645)
Dr Abe V Rotor
Croton (Codiaum variegatum) glows with the setting sun
makes a perfect background of youth and beauty.
"Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished." —Lao Tzu
Waterfalls roaring, hissing, cold and refreshing - before a wall mural.
"If you truly love nature, you will find beauty everywhere."
— Laura Ingalls Wilder
The sun is brightest before sundown. These models save
the day among trees and icons in the garden.
"There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature -
the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after winter."
—Rachel Carson
Catch the fish with the camera, even only their impressions in ripples.
"If I had a flower for every time I thought of you…
I could walk through my garden forever."
– Alfred Lord Tennyson
Sampaguita (Jasminium sambac); caballero (Caesalpinna pulcherrima)
"Rose is a rose is a rose is a rose"- Gertrude Stein,
when asked what is a rose (1913 poem "Sacred Emily").
The adage evolved into several variations. The rose could
mean anything compared to its beauty found in nature, and
that it may reside in the human spirit.
"We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice
because thorn bushes have roses." - Abraham Lincoln
"The best place to find God is in a garden.
You can dig for him there."
–George Bernard Shaw
The garden is an outdoor classroom, nature the great teacher;
life the subject, the universe boundless and free. - A V Rotor
Arboretum simulates the tropical rainforest in storeys or layers,
consisting of ground plants, bushes, shrubs, lianas, canopy trees
(main crown) and emergents (tallest trees). Several trees are three
to four generations old, earning the name heritage trees. ~
"If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need."
– Cicero
-------------------------------------------------------
Annex 1 Core Uses For Garden-Based Learning In Basic Education
Acknowledgement with thanks to Livingston Education Foundation,
Outdoor Classroom Initiations, Internet
“We cannot always build the future for our youth, but we can build our youth for the future.” ~Franklin Delano Roosevelt
Academic Skills
- To support core academic training, particularly in science and math – real world hands on experiences
- Enrichment of core curriculum in language arts through introduction of new learning landscapes
- To support standards based education in countries with national or regional education standards
Personal Development (Mental & Physical)
- To add a sense of excitement, adventure, emotional impact and aesthetic appreciation to learning
- To improve nutrition, diet and health
- To teach the art and science of cooking with fresh products from the garden or local farms
- To re-establish the celebratory nature of a shared meal
- Provide ‘real life’ experiences that foster team decision-making to a collective goal
- Provide respite from academic and social stress
Social & Moral Development
- To teach sustainable development
- To teach ecological literacy and/or environmental education
- To teach the joy and dignity of work and a sense of community
- To teach respect for public and private property
- Vocational and/or Subsistence Skills
- To teach basic skills and vocational competencies
- To produce food and other commodities for subsistence consumption and trade
- To teach about food and fiber production
- To engage children in community service and environmental care
- To involve students in lessons of leadership and decision making
Apo Baket - keeper of traditional values, and Basang (right) - nanny of orphaned children, are icons enshrined in the Living with Nature Center (San Vicente Botanical Garden)
Core uses for garden-based learning beyond basic education
Community Development
- Gardens often serve as a focal point for community dialogue, capacity building, and partnerships
- Gardens often organize individuals for action – for water delivery, cooperatives, and transportation
Sustainable Development
- Gardens are an appropriate arena to introduce children to the interconnections that link nature to economic systems and society
------------------
ANNEX 2
To protect their historical and cultural integrity, President Rodrigo Duterte declared Cebu's Carcar City and Ilocos Sur's San Vicente town as Heritage Zones. These are provided under Republic Act 11644 and 11645 signed by the President into law last January 14, 2022. Under RA No. 11645, the heritage zone in San Vicente shall include the “cultural properties declared as National Cultural Treasures and Important Cultural Properties as well as National Historical Landmarks, Shrines, Monuments, and Sites, and such other immovable, movable or intangible cultural properties whether publicly or privately owned.”
-01.jpg){kind=link}
No comments:
Post a Comment