The WHITE HOUSE @ TIAONG: The Peak of all Proses on Red Ground

An interesting discovery in Tiaong fascinated me during our exploration of the province of Quezon, where we met a medical doctor who owns a big house atop a hill overlooking the plains of Quezon and Laguna. His name is Dr. Godofredo Stuart, a medical doctor by profession, an artist, entrepreneur and now actively engaged in restoration of old ancestral houses in Tiaong.

 I assumed he is quite eccentric, so to speak, but rather friendly and accommodating.  I included his big house in the places-to-visit list because of the rather mysterious and historical description of the place.  There are many names given to this place, stories both fictional and factual that add  to the attraction of the place.  Foremost, Dr. Stuart made  his place open to the public, a testament of his desire to promote Tiaong and encourage people to patronize the culture and tradition of the place.

   

Pulang Lupa is the original name that townfolks know of the place and is the peak of a 50 hectare hilly agricultural land called Sitio Santol, or "Proses" (four roses) to the old-timers, or the "Farm" to the Stuart family. The place is less than 2 kilometers from the town center of Tiaong, province of Quezon in the Philippines.

To the Stuart's relatives and friends, Pulang Lupa is fondly referred to as the "Peak." Reaching the peak is quite a challenge because of the uphill walk going to the place.  It could just be an easy stroll for the young ones but more of a challenging task for the young once.  

However, your tired muscles and inflated lungs and overpumped heart  would be laid to rest as soon as your breath is taken away by a 360-degree view of the wide plains of Laguna and Quezon with Mt. Banahaw in the background and capped with the cool breeze of countryside air that replenishes the pollution-saturated cells of our lungs coming from urban jungle.

Since time immemorial, the place is called "Pulang Lupa" (red ground) because of the reddish color of the soil which is apparently volcanic in origin and very prominent on the peak. From war accounts, the place has been described as "Pinagbanderahan" (Flag Site), where the Japanese occupation forces hoisted their flag to establish their occupation of the province during World War II.  

Speculations after the war began to emerge that the retreating Japanese buried treasures from their spoils of war in tunnels and caves carved out of the hills of Sitio Santol that until now remain undiscovered.  Clandestine diggings are rumored being conducted in the cover of darkness.  There was some time not long ago that treasure hunters armed with metal detectors and even bringing  along psychics made several attempts to find the coveted treasure to no avail. Others even collaborated with Japanese clients who arrives with authentic-looking maps. No factual news came out to verify the existence of such stash.  This and along with the many stories still lingers among the residents of the community and all other people familiar with the story creating a mysterious aura to the place which attracts modern-day tourists of today.

Today, the peak of Pulang Lupa is the site of a building complex erected and all painted white by Dr. Godofredo that consists of a main house, a library, an art gallery, a courtyard big enough for any occasion, five guestrooms, a small 350-seat outdoor quarter -amphitheater, an billiard/entertainment room and an open-outdoor chapel.  

It is also the headquarters of the Pulang Lupa Foundation that has extended help to the needy but worthy individuals in the town of Tiang through scholarships and educational assistance. 

 Its facilities are open for for students such as the library for research and school work, the outdoor theater for can be used for rehearsals and the grounds for summer camping activities.

What really caught our attention and even gave us hair raiser to our senses are the kind of artworks particularly his dolls that the good doctor keeps in his abode.  For novice art gazers like us, our first impression of his dolls are the kind of dolls that voodoo practitioners are using in their trade.  

The feeling we had upon seeing the strange shaped objects was kind of weird and peculiar. The pyramid that houses the dolls also contribute to the eeriness to the atmosphere of his dwelling.  Well, we have to give the good doctor the benefit of the doubt.  It the dolls are just merely artworks, they sure strike a very strong impression on us.

The house came to be popularly known as the "White House" because the entire building was painted white from the inside out giving it a presidential stature.  

Overall, the house is modern in style, simple but elegant with a few furnitures making it very spacious and practical for a seemingly eccentric man.  We were very much impressed with his wide collection of books that makes him obviously a well-read and intelligent person.

Because of the growing population of Tiaong, much of the original habitat of wildlife had been displaced and resulted to the influx of many species of birds which have sought sanctuary in Pulang Lupa.  The area also hosts a wide variety of medicinal plants that benefitted the surrounding communities.

Given the secluded location of the White House, I asked Dr. Stuart if he had experienced being harrased and extorted  by the New Peoples Army or other bandit groups, he said he had indeed been asked for revolutionary tax but he reiterated to them that he has no money and this is all that he has.  The kind doctor must be very good in convincing people because since then, no one returned to extract money from him.

As I perform my traditional jump shot signifying my thumbs up approval of the place, I cannot help but be mesmerized by the breathtaking view at the top of the White House. Let me share with you a beautiful prose composed by no other than Dr.  Stuart himself of how he described this beautiful place in Tiaong, Quezon.  The view from atop the peak of Pulang Lupan provides panorama of vista found nowhere else in Tiaong, perhaps, even in the province of Quezon. For the weary traveler in search of respite, it is a place for solitude. To contemplate, to while away . . . . To be engulfed by the sounds of birds. To indulge on a vista of an unending circumference of mountains and the verdant rural countrysides. . . the morning sunrises wrapped by wisps of awakenng low lying clouds. . . . the capricious colors of the sunsets. To be swept by the fierce and moaning amihan winds of the early months. And at nights, there is the dome ablaze with a starry spectacle of constellations and planets, and the recurrent moon traversing the celestial arc. . . and the layers of sounds that hide in the dark.