Aguinaldo Shrine

I know it is pretty late but I have something to do last week that makes it impossible for me to blog this I'm sorry guys :( so let me share you my experience in the Aguinaldo Shrine.

June 12 a very important date for us aside from holiday it is the Philippine Independence Day and since its Independence Day lets have a walk to the memory lane and go back to where it started. June 12, 1898, this is the first time our Philippine flag made a public appearance and who waved that flag our very first President Emilio Aguinaldo. A few weeks ago I decided to go back to Aguinaldo Shrine and asked my friend Alpha to come with me and let me share our experience to you guys.

Before we start let's go back to June 12, 1898. Emilio Aguinaldo declared the Philippine Independence but it was not recognized by either USA or Spain. Spain ceded the Philippines to USA in the 'Treaty of Paris'. Later on after many years USA granted Philippines Independence on '4th' of July. On August 4, 1964, President Diosdado Macapagal proclaimed June 12 as Philippine Independence Day.

Now let's start our little tour. If you are from north and want to go here you can ride a Bus going to Cavite City, I suggest to check Cavite City Bus with Cavitex sign on it so it will be faster. One good thing about the place is there is no entrance fee but you can give a donation if you want.

Aguinaldo owned a mansion with 1300 square meter floor area. Built 1849 this is where President Emilio Aguinaldo was born last March 22, 1869. Did you know that it's just a two storey house until it was renovated on 1919. They have a big garden there you can see Aguinaldo's personal car a 1924 Packard Limousine restored in 2009.

Here's the view of the garden.

After that it will lead you to the Ground Floor where you can find some of Aguinaldo's Memorabilia, once you get inside you can see there the very first bowling alley in Cavite. Since they are not living in the high tech world back then they need to fix the bowling pins manually. 

You can see there a bomb shelter. Before it was a well that had an underground tunnel that leads to the church. They decided to close it because strangers were using it and entering Aguinaldo's house.

Here are the other things you can see in the ground floor.

This is what the Original house looks like until it was renovated.

The Battle of Binakayan, November 11, 1896

Emilio Aguinaldo and Mariano Trias the first President and Vice President

Now lets go upstairs.

Second floor on the east wing shows the rooms of President Aguinaldo's Daughters. The antique furniture clearly shows how wealthy the family is. From a beautiful cabinets and drawers down to their beds.

On this side of the house you can see their medicine cabinet or 'Butikin'. There are tons of 'Ocusol' something that President Emilio Aguinaldo used when he got an eye defect. Did you know that President Aguinaldo had an appendectomy and was confined for 13 days at the Philippine General Hospital and he needed to undergo another operation to removed the gauze that was left inside his body.

In the end of the east wing is a balcony he called 'Balkon ng Makasalanan' or the Balcony of Sinners this is where they plot their military strategies. According to the stories this is where courtships began that lead to the marriage of his daughters.

In the center of the House you can see a grand hall this is where they held big events. There are more antique furniture like big tables and a Grand Piano. You can see here nothing but nice and undeniably expensive furniture.

Here you can see the Balcony, the spot where they believed where President Aguinaldo waved our flag and declare the Philippine Independence last June 12, 1898.

You can see the masters bedroom at the second floor. Masters Bedroom have 3 doors first one is a secret passage using this hat rack, other door is the main door and another door that leads to the Dining area. I must say that the family have a good taste when it comes to furniture.

There is a small reception room where journalist and other important people that need to talk to the President were led here. There is another secret door here leading to the upper floor of the house.

Here you can see the kitchen. That kitchen table you see there once you moved it there is a hidden passageway to the underground storage room. Their water tank is inside to avoid the water to be contaminated or to avoid someone from putting a poison on it. Beside the kitchen is the maids quarters. Aguinaldo also have an icebox now known as a refrigerator built into the wall.

 There is another balcony on the west side of the house this is where they cut his hair, his "Alfonsino Corto" haircut.

Here are the other things you can see inside the house

On the right side you can see an ordinary wall design of a shell but as you can see you can turn it to a vase holder once you pull it out. amazing huh?

An ordinary long chair on the right, but once you open the 'Sandalan' its a place where they hide their weapons

This is part of their big mirror. This is where they put important documents back then . Who thinks you can open them? very clever!

Hat rack that leads to another door connected to the masters bedroom

As you can see in the picture President Aguinaldo's Mansion have a Tower but unfortunately we cant go to the tower because it is not open for public. According to the tour guide the third floor is the library other floors are other rooms by Aguinaldo's kids. The Veranda on top allows President Aguinaldo to have a nice view of Cavite and Manila.

President Aguinaldo died of Coronary Thrombosis at age of 94 and at the back of the mansion there's tomb, this is where they put his remains. Before he died he donated the mansion to the government then later on declared as a national shrine. 

The mansion is full of mystery and how I wish that I can talk to President Emilio Aguinaldo and asked him what happened to him and Andres Bonifacio, but ofcourse it is not possible. It's nice to look back to the past, imagined what happened. Philippines may not be as free as we think but we still owe this guys and we need to treasure the freedom we have right now.

If you want to visit the Aguinaldo Shrine feel free to visit them from Tuesdays to Sundays from 8am to 4pm. Have a Great Day everyone.