Lake Caliraya

One of the most prominent man-made attractions in the provinces stretching from Lumban to Cavinti, Lake Caliraya is actually a large reservoir built in 1943 to supply water to the Caliraya Hydroelectric Plant.

As the dams were constructed, entrepreneurs with foresight created two adjacent communities, which were envision being ecological communities, where one can enjoy the beauty and richness unspoiled nature.

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The Battle of Mabitac

The Battle of Mabitac was an engagement in the Philippine-American War, when on September 17, 1900, Filipinos under General Juan Cailles defeated an American force commanded by Colonel Benjamin F. Cheatham, Jr.

Mabitac was linked to the garrison town of Siniloan by a causeway which, on the day of the battle, was flooded with water (in many parts waist-deep). The water in the flanking rice fields was even deeper, making it impossible to properly deploy off the narrow road. Trenches occupied by Filipinos under Cailles cut across this causeway, blocking the path into Mabitac.

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Shrine of Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe

Founded in 1687. Father Agustin dela Magdalena was the first cura assigned at the Parish. It is originallly chapel of bamboo and nipa.

Reconstructed in 1960 with deep affection by the town postas (able-bodied men rendering the annual polo of forced labor) under the direction of Miguel Guanco and Alcuacil Mayor Alfonso Garcia. Improved in 1853 by Fr. Joaquin de Coria, a talented priest-engineer designed and built the high belfry and the gorgeous cupola, with the Pagsanjeños supplying the labor, materials and funds.

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Homma-Yamashita Shrine

Four years of war occupation destroyed many buildings, roads and bridges in and around Los Baños. In quick succession, the College of Agriculture became a Japanese camp for prisoners of war, an interment camp for allied nationals. A target of Kempetai punitive measures and the headquarters of a secret organization of guerillas. After the dramatic rescue of the American Internees by Filipino guerillas and United States paratroopers on February 23, 1945, the entire campus was sacked by the Japanese and razed to the ground.

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St. Gregory Church (Majayjay Catholic Church)

Reputedly one of the oldest churches in the Philippines built in 1575 using forced labor. Antique relief statues of saints, which were brought by the Spaniards, are preserved in this church. Its belfry houses four small bells and one big bell – which are probably the oldest in the country. The rooftop of the church offers an obstructed but nonetheless, breathtaking view of Mt. Banahaw and Laguna de Bay.

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Nagcarlan Underground Cemetery

Nagcarlan Underground Cemetery is the only cemetery in the country that works as a meeting place for the rebel leaders of Laguna. Nagcarlan Underground Cemetery is located at an irregular terrain north of Mount San Cristobal. The cemetery facing the road has a vaulted entrance about 18 feet and two iron-grill gates.

Father Vicente Belloc, a Franciscan missionary, built the underground cemetery in 1851. Today, the new Nagcarlan partially restored was acknowledged as a national historical shrine, and the only one in the Philippines. Its’ baroque structure is being converted into a cultural enter where cultural, historical and religious presentation can be held. (more…)

Mount Banahaw

Another popular destination, specially during the Lent period, is Mount Banahaw, an extinct volcano which rises 2,100 meters above sea level.

Banahaw towers over the southeastern towns of Laguna and Quezon. Revered as a mystical mountain, Banahaw has become a sanctuary for different religious cults. Up on Banahaw’s leafy slopes live members of various religious sects who adhere to what seems to be a mixture of Catholicism, Buddhism, the cabala, animism and other forms of pagan worship. Down below, in the foothill towns, dwell amulet-makers, soothsayers, faith healers, diviners and dedicated UFO watchers.

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