INQUIRER SPECIAL: House that gave voice to PH nat’l anthem remains unsung

BAUTISTA, PANGASINAN—Inside a concrete-and-wood house typical of late 19th-century Philippine architecture, a young soldier-poet penned patriotic verses in Spanish in August 1899 while taking a break from his work for the revolutionary newspaper La Independencia.

More than a century later, the house where the poem was written—known as Casa Hacienda—remains privately owned.

Despite its place ...