It is a wonderful trip for those who enjoy the wilds. The gorge is considered one of the beauty spots of the world.
RIZAL PROVINCE.—To the north of Laguna de Bay, is Rizal Province, named after the national hero of the Filipinos. Pasig, the capital is an important commercial town. It is located on the Pasig River, a stream which is navigable thruout the year. Malabon, noted for her fisheries and fish ponds, furnishes the City of Manila with choice fish to the value of hundreds of thousands of pesos a year. A flourishing poultry industry may be seen at Pateros. Parañaque is noted for its embroideries while in Mariquina the chief industry is the making of shoes and slippers. Along the borders of the Pasig River much grass is cultivated to furnish the Manila market with green fodder for horses and carabaos.
In this province are the towns of Pasig, San Juan del Monte, and Caloocan where the first blood of the Philippine Revolution against Spain was shed. Here also is to be found the historic spot of Balintawak where Andres Bonifacio and his followers sounded the well-remembered “Cry of Balintawak,” the call for the outbreak of the Revolution.
The Monument to the “First Cry of Balintawak,” commemorating the day when the revolution against Spain was started
Antipolo Antipolo has the shrine of Our Lady of Peace and Prosperous Voyages. It is a town about half an hour’s ride from Manila. It is built on a mountainous section of the province of Rizal. The road is rather steep and the scenery quite wild and impressive.
The image of the Virgin, commonly known as the “Virgin of Antipolo,” was originally brought from Mexico by the Spaniards to insure the safety of the galleons from the anger of the sea, and from the attacks of the pirates who used to lie in wait in the San Bernardino Strait and Verde Island Passage.
Shrine The shrine is the most famous of all Philippine shrines. To it thousands of devout Filipinos journey annually to pay their respects. The Virgin is dressed in a robe that falls in a cone stiff with gold and other jewels. It is estimated that the value of her decoration is as high as ₱1,000,000.
The true history of the image is interesting, but still more remarkable is the crust of legend with which the facts have become overlaid. It was actually brought to the Islands in 1626 by Juan Niño de Tabora, who had just been appointed Governor-General, and in 1672 it was removed to its present home. According to the legends, the Virgin crossed the Pacific eight or nine times, in addition to the original voyage, and, on each one, calmed a tempest. On other occasions she is said to have descended and appeared among the branches of the antipolo or bread-fruit tree (whence the name of the present church), to have survived the roaring fire in which the Chinese rebels cast her in 1639, and to have given the Spaniards a complete victory over twelve Dutch warships off Mariveles!
