Source: Manila Bulletin
Author: Christopher Datol
Date: 2001-03-26
To the parents and elders it’s a religious tradition — a pledge to visit the Virgin of Antipolo who has blessed her people year after year.
To the kids, it’s a picnic — where the change in scenery is a welcome respite from school activities.
To the lovers, it’s a romantic setting — where on weekend nights they can go up the rolling hills quite leisurely. From their cars, they can gaze at the metropolitan city lights below, and exchange pleasantries with the stars — and each other.
Antipolo has been like a favorite tambayan since the last century for most Filipinos, specially Manileños who consider it a neighboring town.
This century, it welcomes guests as a fast-growing city — quite a far-cry from a rural municipality of Rizal province.
Town turned city Antipolo became the capital of Morong Province under the revolutionary Republic of the Philippines, and was
incorporated into Rizal province under the American regime. In 1918 it became a separate municipality.
The municipality of Antipolo was officially transformed into a component city (a city under the Province of Rizal) under Republic Act no. 8505 signed by former President Fidel V. Ramos on February 13, 1998.
The city’s rolling hills and 16 barangays occupy 32,898 hectares of land. It is bounded by the towns of San Mateo, Montalban, Tanay, Teresa, Angono, Taytay, Cainta and Marikina. Its 16 barangays are San Roque, San Jose, Dela Paz, San Isidro, Cupang, Mayamot, Mambugan, Calawis, Dalig, Beverly Hills, Sta. Cruz, San Luis, Inarawan, San Juan, Bagong Nayon and Munting Dilao.
Agriculture used to be the main livelihood in Antipolo. Today, urban development has led entrepreneurs and businessmen to spice up the economic mobility of the town.
Other townsfolk are still engaged in woodworking carpentry, dressmaking, automotive and related works, even passenger-vehicle operating. Aside from the resident laborers and professionals, there are those who labor and engage in their professions in Metro Manila.
With a population of more than 345,000 the average income of the city of Antipolo is P69 million — the average of last three years based on 1991 constant prices.
Conveniently located on an elevated terrain, Antipolo has also opened its doors to housing subdivisions. Water resources abound in the city. It has numerous water resources among Rizal towns. The known springs are: Sukol in Bgy. San Jose, Bubukal in Pantay, Inuman in Dela Paz, Malalim in Dela Paz, and Del Bano in San Isidro. More are being discovered as the trend of bottled mineral or spring water as a health beverage continues to grow in popularity.
Bgy. Dela Paz is blessed with Antipolo’s formerly famed Hinulugan Taktak and the lesser known Nagpuso water falls.
But from all of these, Antipolo’s most revered treasure remains enshrined in a church, the Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage whom thousands visit every year.
Maytime Festival During the Maytime Festival, most of the local folk engage in selling Antipolo delicacies such as kasuy (cashew nuts), suman, latik (coconut jam), calamay, and mangoes.
All the roads leading to the Antipolo Shrine get congested during the festivity season, so townspeople have also forayed in the business of providing parking space. Parking fees range from P15 to P25 per vehicle. Although the sidestreet parking is prohibited by law, it is during this month that such traffic violators abound and are not apprehended.
Today’s festivities however, give no contest to the glitter of yesteryear’s. In the earlier days, a visit to Antipolo was marked by much merrymaking. Trips were done on foot, so with the long distance, ladies were carried on hammocks borne on the shoulders of sturdy young men. The traveling party would bring its own food and music and the trip would be as much occasion for merrymaking as the festivities in
Antipolo itself.
The yearly invasion of tourists paved the way for a number of resorts to sprout all over the city. With Hinulugan Taktak out of the limelight, the new resorts provide facilities for swimming, horseback-riding and bowling, as well as excellent picnic spots.
Pasalubong Center
Devouts who have failed to visit Antipolo for some years may note apparent changes in the church vicinity. After hearing Mass, people were used to going down P. Burgos Street from the church to buy their pasalubong of native delicacies.
Today, they don’t have to go far, because right beside the church is a small complex called Pasalubong Center. The center contains around 20 stalls, selling delicacies, native products, religious articles, and the like.
It opened in 1999, a project of Antipolo City Mayor Angelito Gatlabayan.
Popular among the tourists are sweets like tamarind, brittlenut, turones de mani, suman sa ibos, broas, apas, uraro, peanut brittle, and native favorites like putoseko and kalamay.
The City Of Pilgrimage: Antipolo 