Las Casas Filipinas De Acuzar is in Bataan. My friends and I have decided to visit this place because of its history and heritage casas that were moved pieces of pieces to its original form. Since I am a history lover, this trip for me is something spontaneous. 

SIDE TRIP - MT. SAMAT

Before heading to Las Casas, we visited Mt. Samat first. There is a P30 entrance fee charge per person. What's fascinating about this mountain is that it used to be a war zone during the battle of Bataan. Mt. Samat has a tall cross on top of the hill. There is an elevator to get to the top to see more exhibition and exhilarating view. However, the lift is close under maintenance.

LAS CASAS FILIPINAS DE ACUZAR

Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar is at Barangay Ibaba, Bagac, Bataan. Mr Jerry Acuzar owned it. Las Casas is fantastic because it brings you back to the old times. They moved the heritage and historical casas all around the Philippines to Las Casas by carefully disassemble all parts and reassemble it pieces by pieces according to its original form while some of the casas are recreated as replicas. Las Casas is also a resort, and you may rent out rooms or the whole casas for a night to experience living the old and traditional houses. However, high rates should be expected as it is after all a heritage resort.

HOW TO GO THERE

There are two different ways on how to get to Las Casas, either by car/van or by public buses. We paid a total of P600 for the gas (roundtrip) and P100 each tip for the driver. Manila - Bataan is approximately a 2 hours ride (no traffic).

PRICE & PACKAGE

There are three different packages for Las Casas. We picked the Package no. 3 (P999). It includes full access to all heritage houses, fees, 1-hour heritage tour, a welcome drink, a cold towel and a heritage map. You may walk in for buying the tickets, and they accept both cash and credit cards.

THE CASAS

THE BINONDO BRIDGE & RIVER

According to our tour guide Maricon, they have tried their best to rebuild the Binondo bridge just the same as how it initially looks like as they are not able to disassemble the original bridge.

CASA STA RITA 

Casa Sta Rita is now establishing as a restaurant "Cafe Del Rio" in Las Casas. The restaurant is very relaxing, in a garden setting with old folk songs. It makes you feel like you are living the ancient time.

CASA LEMERY, CASA GAPAN & CASA IROSIN

Casa Lemery is originally in Batangas.

Casa Gapan is originally in Nueva Ecija. This house got a very heartbreaking past story about a father and his beloved daughter. The daughter met an American soldier, and his father was furious about it. So one day they decided to elope and get married. The father was so angry that he couldn't accept what his daughter has done. He was so drunk that he wanted to burn down his house. Thankfully his brother in law was there to stop him. The father has accepted and forgave his daughter and his son-in-law after several years later and finally meet his four grandchildren.

Casa Irosin is in Sorsogon, Bicol. This area is use for wedding ceremony & reception in Las Casas.

PLAZA MARCELINO

Plaza Marcelino has unique and beautiful floor tiles. In the middle, there is a fountain for you to enjoy the view and take some pictures.

LA RIBERA

La Ribera is surrounded with houses along with a long river. This river somehow reminds me of Venice. You may also rent a boat to tour around the river, but it is quite expensive, which cost around P880 per person.

CASA LA ESQUINA, CASA LADRILLO, HOTEL DE ORIENTE & SANTUARIO DE SAN JOSE

CASA HAGONOY

Casa Hagonoy is probably one of my most favourite casas on the site. I find the casa very intriguing, and according to our tour guide Maricon, Casa Hagonoy used to be owned by a wealthy family. For them to maintain their wealthy profile, they have purchased plenty of expensive types of furniture, pieces of jewellery and clothing over the years. Until one day they became weak and eventually, they died still very poor.

CASA LUBAO

Casa Lubao was built in 1920, and the Arastia and Vitug families own it. It was served as a storage for rice and sugar. It has also become a Japanese garrison during World War II. The mansion was supposed to be burned down by the Japanese, but the former family's driver, who happens to be a Japanese colonel stopped the men from burning the house in gratitude for the kindness that the Arastia family have shown him.

CASA BINAN

Casa Binan is a replica of the house of Lorenzo Alonzo and Teodora Alonzo, the grandfather and mother of the Filipino national hero, Dr Jose Rizal. They used the original wooden door, stairs and a few planks when the house was recreated. Don Jose Alberto Alonzo, the brother of Teodora Alonzo, was often away for a trip. His wife, Teodora Formosa, feels very lonely and has developed an affair with another man. Don Lorenzo found out about the affair, he then locked her up in her room, and Teodora Alonzo brings her meal to her room during that time. Teodora Formosa secretly snuggled a letter through one of the windows in her room stating that Teodora Alonzo has been poisoning her. Teodora Alonzo was forced to exile the town by walking from Binan to Calamba on her barefoot, while Don Lorenzo was imprisoned. 

Casa Binan was also used for the filming of "Heneral Luna" movie.

CASA QUIAPO (ESCUELA DE BELLAS ARTES FILIPINAS)

Casa Quiapo was the first campus of the University of the Philippines School of Fine Arts in 1908. Sadly, the university eventually has to undergo many repairs, and it was then used for other purposes such as bowling alleys, dormitories, live sex shows and abortion.

CASA MEYCAUAYAN, CASA TONDO, CASA CANDABA & CASA MEXICO

Casa Meycauayan was built in 1913 by the Escota family. It was initially built in the city of San Fernando in Pampanga.

Casa Tondo is a very simple casa yet beautiful.

Casa Candaba was built in 1780 owned by the Reyes family in Pampanga. National Artist Gerry De Leon used it as a setting for his film adaptation of Noli Me Tangere.

Casa Mexico was salvaged from a junk shop and was reconstructed by using an old photograph. However, they only had the front side of the picture and none for the back side of the house. The builders have tried their best to recreate the back side to make it look similar.

CASA BINONDO III (BYZANTINA)

Casa Byzantina was built in 1890. It was influenced by the Renaissance, Baroque, Byzantine and Romanesque style. After World War II, the building was leased to various tenants. There were at least 50 informal settlers before it was demolished in 2009.

CASA MARANAO, CASA SAN MIGUEL & CASA JAEN II

Casa Maranao is the homes of the Datu and the Maranaos in Mindanao during the ancient time. It is the only casa that has come from Mindanao to Las Casas.

CASA LUNA

Casa Luna was built in 1850, owned by the Novicio family in La Union. The mansion was later renamed to honour the heroes and brothers Juan and Antonio Luna. This mansion was also used by the US Armed Forces to plan for the capture of General Yamashita. 

PASEO DE ESCOLTA

Paseo De Escolta uses old and new materials to recreate the commercial buildings in the early 1900s in Manila. The big mansion consists of 17 rooms for resort guests. The ground floor was used for shops where you can find souvenir shops, photo studio shop and even a bread shop.

CASA SAN LUIS, CASA BALANGA, CASA UNISAN & CASA CAGAYAN

Casa Unisan was built in 1839 in Unisan, Quezon. This house probably carries the darkest past in Las Casas. , and only one of the youngest daughters have survived. She was hidden in a clothes hamper by her nanny. 

Casa Cagayan is a collection of four wooden houses. These houses are considered as houses for the poor people in Cagayan during the early 1900s.

OTHER ACTIVITES

There are plenty of activities to do aside from the heritage tour in Las Casas. You can swim at the beach or the resort pool, water sports activities (banana boat, jet ski, flying fish and wakeboarding), ride a kalesa around the heritage, play volleyball, picnic at the beach, watch the sunset and sunbathing at the beach.

Overall, the whole experience is unforgettable. Since I'm a history lover, I do appreciate and enjoy this kind of activity. I have learned a lot about the story of each casas, and it is impressive how they have recreated the casas pieces by pieces according to the original form. I hope to be back here in the near future, and maybe at that time, I can stay overnight in one of the casas. It sounds spooky, but I'm definitely in for the adventure!

CONTACT

Las Casas Filipinas De Acuzar

Address: Barangay Ibaba, Bagac, Bataan

Landline no. (02) 5469123  

Mobile no. 09178729371

Email: reserve@lascasasfilipinas.com

Website: www.lascasasfilipinas.com

BUDGETING

Mt. Samat Entrance Fee - P30

Las Casas Entrance Fee - P999

Lunch (Cafe Del Rio) - P350

Transportation (Gas) - P600 (divide by 6 people - P100 each)

Driver's tip - P100 each

Parking Fee - P120 (divide by 6 people - P20 each)

Total spending: P1,599 each

Yours Truly,

Michelle Chan