Welcome to the Balé Aquino, the Aquino Ancestral House. .
Tarlac is the Aquino family’s baluarte.
This is the province where Ninoy grew to prominence as a politician. The guy was a whiz when it comes to politics; being a mayor at 22, a vice governor of the province at 27 and finally its governor at 29. His record still stands as being the youngest senator of the country at age 34.
But unlike most ancestral houses I’ve visited, and I have visited a few; I find that the Aquino’s have a more restrained approach when it comes to ornamentation. Yes there are the usual trimmings and ivy flourishes over arches but they don’t look overdone. Which is quite refreshing as the house doesn’t feel as cluttered.
MORE PICTURES BELOW:
With his impact to the lives of the Filipinos, I was having a hard time imagining him being other than the statesman I once saw on television; that dignified, eloquent politician everyone seemed to love. But entering the Aquino Ancestral House, my mind fancied on the fact that Ninoy was also a child once. That he once played here. Quarreled with his many siblings. And like any other kid, ran around his home’s grassy yard.
