The New San Jose Builders, Inc., one of the country's leading developers and constructors of the Victoria high-rise condominiums and office buildings, and owners of the now famous Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar Heritage Resort in Bagac, Bataan, has released a unique coffee table book on the heritage resort.
“What makes it unique ,” Jose Rizalino Acuzar, owner and chief executive of the New San Jose, said , “is that handsome and substantially composed book featuring nine reconstructed heritage buildings, as well as the whole heritage resort, is written in formal Filipino, the national language.”
Titled Sa Mga Bahay ng Ating Gunita (At the Houses of our Memory). The sleek and exquisitely photographed coffee table book was formally launched on August 21, 2019, right at the height of the celebrations of National Language Month or Buwan ng Wika, and two days after the birth anniversary of Manuel L. Quezon, the acknowledged “Father of the National Language.”
The launch of the coffee table book was held at Casa Juico or Las Casa Filipinas Quezon City, on 134 Roosevelt Avenue San Francisco Del Monte, Quezon City.
The Book appears to be the first of its kind in the country as it is world-class in quality but written in the national language.
Speaking in Filipino, Acuzar explained that “In the many countries I have visited in Europe, all the social tourist destinations that publish brochures or books about their cities, resorts, etc. do so in their own languages.” He said that in Germany, for example, the tourist brochures ar written in German; in France, they are written in french; in Italy, the same.
“Why can’t we do that for our own tourist brochures and other promotional material?” Acuzar asked. “It is more natural,” he said. “We should be proud of our very own,” he added. That’s why when New San Jose Buillders was planning the coffee table book with its editor, award-winning poet Marne Kilates, Acuzar asked specifically that it be written in Filipino.
The unique coffee table book, quite exceptional in its production and design, and quality of make and printing, “should be presentable to the world, but it should be “speaking’ in Filipino and written for Filipinos,” Acuzar said. “Foreigners should adequately served informed by our tour guides and maybe by an English edition in the future.”
The coffee table book put a spotlight on nine restored casas that hold secrets of the past; including Casa San Juan from Batanags, Casa Lubao from Pampanga, Casa Quiapo and Casa Byzantina from Manila, Casa Luna La Union, and Casa Binan from Laguna.
Meanwhile Las Casa’ premiere convention center takes the center stage through a special feature included in the book.
Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar, Heritage Hotel and destination, nestled at the heart of Bagac, Bataan, Las Casas, a restored piece of history saved from total ruin and neglect, is a sprawling open-air museum and heritage resort consisting of 128 hotel rooms and 24 elite casas.
Brick by brick, these Filipino houses were transported and rebuild inside the 400-hectare property that creates a historic paradise where each guest can marvel at the rich and beautiful history the Philippine has.
All these unique initiatives if Jose Acuzar in line with it mission to bring Filipino heritage to greater heights has caught the attention of the international scene being the only Philippines property to be a part of the Conde Nast Johansens Luxury Global Collection and Historic Hotels Worldwide.
This heritage resort is also the Asia Awards of Excellence winner for Asia’s most excellent destination for 2017 and is a project of the New San Jose Builders, Inc.
