Larry Cruz’s gone yet stirs village to join wellness map

When the late journalist and restaurateur Larry J. Cruz put up Abe’s Farm in Barangay (village) Ayala at the lower slopes of Mt. Arayat in Magalang town in Pampanga in 2007, he meant it to be a tribute to his father, the late writer and editor Emilio Aguilar Cruz.

One way or the other, he also roused positive prospects for the community of Ayala.

That must really be so because five years after Larry died on Feb. 4, 2008, the village has become a nurturing wellness destination to travelers in search of country cuisine, serenity, healing or leisure.

“After Abe’s Farm, there is now Orissa (Garden of Wellness) and five resorts,” village chief Ricardo David said.

Moreover, Ayala has begun to be a site for Holy Week pilgrims, David said.

They come to pray and reflect at the large outdoor sculptures of the Stations of the Cross, which show the last hours of Jesus Christ until his crucifixion. Non-Catholic pilgrims also come, drawn by the mystical deity “Sinukuan” who stands across “Namalyari,” who reigned in Mt. Pinatubo.

The Soroptimist International of Magalang built the 13 stations along the route leading to the “White Rock” at the summit of the mountain starting 2012. Landowners and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources lent spaces for the stations, said Bing Feliciano, one of the project’s movers.

David said that except for two gaps (300 meters each), the route has been paved, making the trek easier than usual.

Around 75,000 pilgrims came during the Holy Week last year. “Those are impressive figures,” Ronaldo Tiotuico, director of the Department of Tourism in Central Luzon, said during a meeting last week where Soroptimists, Mayor Romulo Peczon and volunteers finalized a plan to build the 14th and final station.

Fr. Mario Sol Gabriel said the Parish of St. Bartholomew would help bring down the cost by donating the church’s 10-foot image of the Risen Christ to the project.

Pampanga Board Member Cherry Manalo, head of the provincial tourism committee, encouraged local leaders to study how to make the community equitably benefit from the opportunities coming the way of Ayala.

Orissa, which opened on Feb. 1, employs 10 residents for various jobs, including massage therapists, its owner, Risa Lim, said.

The center offers spa services, vegan and vegetarian diet, herbs, natural vitamins, alternative healing, detox programs, yoga, meditation, life-coaching and counseling, prayer and spiritual retreat.