Everyone of course knows who GMA is. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo—former Senator of the Philippines, former Vice President, twice President of the country, and now Pampanga Congresswoman. Her political stint had left a bitter aftertaste to the Filipino people which led to her confinement to the wheelchair, neck braces and all.

But before all those political controversies, Gloria also used to be a kid—probably not as ordinary as you and me, but perhaps like the rich kid around the block. And during Iligan City’s Waterfalling Adventure Tour 1.0, I got to see a little bit of that side from the place she once played around in, the Macapagal-Macaraeg Ancestral House.

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From the age of four to eleven, the 14th President of the Philippines made the simple-looking cream-colored house her home in Iligan City. The house is owned by the Macaraeg’s, the clan from her mom’s side of the family tree—more specifically that of Gloria’s grandfather who was a highway engineer assigned in Mindanao.

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And most days of those three years are probably spent inside the small playhouse at the ancestral house’s gardens. I checked the mini-playhouse of the future president and was totally creeped out by what I saw. The small space looked like a small bedroom complete with tables and chairs filled with blank-eyed dolls, staring at nothingness. Cue music from the X-Files.

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A marker by the National Historical Institute proclaims the Macapagal-Macaraeg Ancestral House as a Heritage House in 2005. And there are a few who are not entirely convinced that it should’ve been so. They claim that not only didn’t the Former President Diosdado Macapagal take residence there, but more importantly, the fifty-year required period has not yet elapsed since the death of the said Former Philippine President.

Well, I really have no idea what to make of all these, but I’m just glad that the place has already been turned over to the City of Iligan and converted to a museum. I guess, the earlier the better. At least there won’t be any need for extensive renovations if ever it fall into disrepair in the coming years.

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It’s surprising to see a fairly modest house for Gloria’s grandparents. It wasn’t as opulent as one would expect a house that produced not one, but two presidents of the country. Of course the place looked above average to the regular middle-income homes, as apparent with its furniture and fixtures; but still, it doesn’t look over-the-top and as lavish as say the Malacañang of the North—Marcos’ home in Ilocos Norte.

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Glimpses of two Former Philippine Presidents can be seen throughout the house; from small trinkets, keepsakes, photographs, sculptures, and paintings.

And about those paintings, who can ever forget Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s almost FHM-ish canvass near the house’s stairwell? It was surprising, to say the least. It’s probably the thing that would forever be seared into the heads of visitors checking the Macapagal-Macaraeg Ancestral House in Iligan City.

~ THIS TRIP WAS MADE POSSIBLE BY THE ILIGAN BLOGGERS SOCIETY

The Macapagal-Macaraeg Heritage House
Address: Brgy. Buruun, Iligan City
Contact Number: (063) 223-6992
Entrance Fee: Donation
Opening Hours: Mon to Fri - 8:00AM to 5:00PM, Sat & Sun - 9:00AM to 4:00PM
GPS Coordinates Map: 8.191245, 124.178911

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