Good morning, Morong!

W e continue our visits to Philippine parks and plaza this week with a look at a small but historical town in Bataan. Morong is a seaside town with just about 30,000 inhabitants. I say small, although its land area covers a large swathe of Bataan province, just south of Subic Bay. It is its semi-urban core that is small, but it probably would have grown bigger if the nuclear power plant was completed and became operational.

That unfinished white elephant has been the town’s current claim to fame until the last decade or so. From the 1990s, people started discovering its tourism and realestate development potential. Ayala’s chic Anvaya Cove is turning over 300 hectares of Morong into a leisure destination. A slew of other similar developments are being planned or under construction, all from the edge of Subic Bay to the south and down to the fantasy heritage attractions of Las Casas de Acuzar in Bagac.

Morong was originally called Bayandati, but the Spanish, as these stories always go, mistook the locals’ reply to a question about original Moro traders who frequented the area, to be a reference to their racial background; so the Spanish named the town Moron. This eventually became Morong.

Morong is one of the oldest towns in the Philippines as the original settlement dates back to 1578. In 1607, it became an official pueblo with its own coral stone church ran by the Recollects. That church has been rebuilt a number of times but still stands as the church of Our Lady of Pillar. The church has all the classic appearance of Philippine baroque and it is going to celebrate its 410th anniversary in October this year.

The town evolved slowly over the centuries and remained a minor footnote to history until a famous battle in January 1942, celebrated as the “last charge of the American Cavalry.” The town was a strategic goal early in the Japanese invasion. A small band of Americans and Filipinos charged a large Japanese force and managed to hold their line as a delaying tactic for the rest of the allied forces. The Battle for Morong is still celebrated by the town.

I visited the town recently and looked for its church and plaza. It did not show visibly on the Google map. The reason for this, I discovered, is because most of the plaza is covered by a large roof, essentially a covered basketball court. This is a reality in many Philippine towns, which have lost their historic open spaces to “multi-purpose pavilions.” On the plus side, these pavilions provide continuous shade and a place for refuge during calamities.

On the down side, they erase the original heritage character of towns and cities. The large roofs often visually overwhelm historic churches or municipal halls. Some towns and cities have enough space in their large plazas so they introduce elements. Morong, like many towns with smaller cores, doesn’t have enough space so the ubiquitous Rizal monument is surrounded by less actual open plaza space. Ditto for the town’s church.

The town’s municipal hall is a modern building and looks quite functional and complete in housing municipal departments, the police and a health clinic. It faces the covered multi-purpose pavilion.

I rate Morong’s plaza a 6.5 out of 10 because of all of these reasons. That said, the town is still worth a visit. The church is still intact and the town has a quaint feel that has not been compromised by urbanization. Its beaches and river are picturesque. I can imagine a river tour for tourists and visitors from Anvaya and other resort enclaves being built in the town’s fringes. There are a number of small resorts along the beach but these are momand-pop operations that cater mostly to the local market and the adventurous foreign backpacker. The town ought to fix a master plan so future resort development is set well back from the shoreline and any development is sustainable.

Eventually, Morong will wake up to a McDonald’s or Jollibee and a small SaveMore grocery or similar establishments. It will have to prepare for growing tourist traffic from Subic and Bagac. If the planned coastal link from Bataan to Metro Manila becomes a reality, then even more people will discover Morong, its landscape and seascapes.

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Morong’s church is still intact and the town has a quaint feel that has not been compromised by urbanization.

Morong is a picturesque town with its plaza now almost completely covered (on the right of the picture).

The Municipal Hall of Morong appears to be well-built and complete in its facilities, but lacks a forecourt or plaza to complement it.

Morong’s beach is yet to be discovered by tourists.

Morong’s Spanish-era church dates back to 1607.

The town’s Jose Rizal monument is fully colored like many provincial statues are, an aesthetic that seems to be inherited from how santos are maintained.