Family Bonding in Tagaytay (Part 2): Going High in People's Park

After savoring bulalo in Taste Ride, our next destination is Tagaytay People's Park.

We rode the jeepney from Tagaytay Palengke to reach People’s Park. The ride is easy and there was no heavy traffic since it was a Friday. Heavy traffic in Tagaytay usually occurs during weekends and holidays.

Gate of Tagaytay People's Park

The entrance fee per person is 50 pesos. We were happy that kids below 7 years old are free of charge. So, we just paid the entrance fee for three people.

There is a jeepney near the gate for people who do not want to do the upward walk of around 300 meters to the “Palace in the Sky”. The jeepney fare is 15 pesos per person.

Road to the Palace in the Sky.

We decided to walk so that the kids will have some exercise and also for them to observe nature.

It was a tiring-but-in-good-way walk. The kids enjoyed looking at plants and trees, the birds flying above, the view of the lowlands, and the colorful wildflowers.

It seems like the absence of people during the pandemic allowed many plants to grow.

What didn't change is the "Palace in the Sky", which remained decrepit and abandoned.

Tagaytay People's Park in the Sky is also known as Palace in the Sky. It is indeed in the sky since it stands atop Mt. Sungay, which is the highest point in the whole Cavite Province. This mountain was a prominent landmark for ships navigating Manila Bay. It was topped with distinct rocks that look like horns, which is the reason for its name as Mt. Sungay.

The construction of Palace in the Sky, which was started in 1981 at the behest of Imelda Marcos, destroyed the “horns” of Mt. Sungay. The mountaintop was leveled and trees were cut. The farmers who were planting pineapples at the mountainside were driven away without any compensation.

The Marcoses decided to use the Palace in the Sky as accommodation for US President Ronald Raegan when he announced in November 1983 his visit to the Philippines. The visit did not push through and the government stopped the construction works.  

The construction of the palace truly ended when the Marcoses were ousted through People Power. What remained of what should have been an opulent palace is the unfinished shell that is now used as a viewing deck for tourists.

The Marcoses wasted $10 million according to the estimates of Chicago Tribune. It was said that President Corazon Aquino intentionally left Palace in the Sky abandoned to show to the public the excesses of the Marcoses.

President Fidel Ramos, seeing the tourist potential of the palace, approved its renovations. The place was made more tourist-friendly by adding benches, cottages, and interesting spots like the giant pineapple.

Viewing deck of Palace in the Sky.

The view from the palace is breathtaking. We were able to see three bodies of water: Laguna de Bay, Taal Lake, and Manila Bay.

Taal Lake and Taal Volcano from Palace in the Sky.

The kids oohed and aahed while they looked at the vast expanse of Laguna and majestic Taal Volcano.

Souvenir shops still occupy the ground floor of the palace.

My kids' favorite spot is…

…is the solitary pineapple that reminds our kids of Spongebob's house.

Near the pineapple is a real horse that visitors can have a selfie with for a fee. This reminded me of the disappointing selfie horse in Mines View Park in Baguio.

There is nothing much to do in People's Park other than relaxing and enjoying the good view.

Our visit to Tagaytay People's Park will never be complete without climbing the chapel for Our Lady, Mother of Fair Love.

On the roof of the chapel is the image of the Divine Mercy.

The statue of the Divine Mercy was sculpted by Marcial G. Bernales, who is a sculptor of religious icons and is well-known to santeros and icon collectors. He is considered a master sculptor and has been sculpting ivory for around half a century.

The rooftop is also a good vantage point overlooking Taal Lake. It is a good spot to take photos with Taal Volcano in the background.

Mt. Sungay was dedicated to Our Lady, Mother of Fair Love even before the beginning of the construction of the Palace in the Sky. In 1974, Hernan D. Reyes and four high schoolers from Opus Dei’s Lauan Study Center (now Lauan University Center) in Quezon City and a sculptor from a shop along EDSA (near West Ave.) installed a low relief image of Our Lady, Mother of Fair Love on the wall of a big granite rock atop Mt. Sungay.

It was a private shrine dedicated to Mama Mary that is only known to these high schoolers who frequented the inaccessible Mt. Sungay for excursions. According to Atty. Jose Sison, these high schoolers had a project of leaving Marian images atop the different mountains that they visited to show their veneration to the Mother of God. 

Our Lady, Mother of Fair Love

The huge granite rock blocks the good view of the planned Palace in the Sky. So the construction workers tried to destroy it, first by using their equipment, which did not work. They then used dynamites but the rock remained intact. The workers, after clearing the rock's surroundings, discovered the image of Mother of Fair Love previously installed by the high schoolers. The construction crew, probably awed with the discovery, understood why the granite rock is miraculously indestructible.

The image of Our Lady, Mother of Fair Love was copied from the image gifted by St. Josemaria Escriva to the University of Navarra in Spain. The image shows Mama Mary holding the infant or toddler Jesus standing on a pile of books. It was the perfect Marian image for students. 

The chapel was built to fully honor Our Lady, Mother of Fair Love. The chapel was formally inaugurated on February 14th of 2003 - Valentine's Day - by Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, who was the Bishop of Imus by that time.

The visit to the chapel completed our Tagaytay People's Park experience. And so we descended from the mountain and then went to our final stop: Tagaytay Picnic Grove.

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Read more about our recent adventures in Tagaytay:

Family Bonding in Tagaytay (Part 1): A Taste of Bulalo in Taste Ride Tagaytay

Family Bonding in Tagaytay (Part 3): The Newly Improved Picnic Grove

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References and Interesting Reads:

1. A Law Each Day (Keeps the Trouble Away) by Att. Jose Sison at PhilStar for the story on how the image of Our Lady, Mother of Fair Love reached Mt. Sungay.

2. Marcos' Mountain Palace is the House that Arrogance Built by Janet Crawley at Chicago Tribune, which told the story on how the Marcoses tried to build the Palace in the Sky. 

3. Palace in the Sky (Tagaytay City, Cavite) by Benjamin Layug, which tells the story of a visitor to the Palace in the Sky three years after the Marcoses were ousted through People Power.

4. GettyImages by Brent Stirton and "Tayuman store selling statue with ivory parts for P230,000" by Erika Sauler at Inquirer.NET, which provide interesting info about Marcial G. Berrnales (the sculptor of the Divine Mercy image in People's Park)