{"id":10767,"date":"2025-10-21T19:55:28","date_gmt":"2025-10-21T11:55:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/?p=10767"},"modified":"2025-10-21T19:55:29","modified_gmt":"2025-10-21T11:55:29","slug":"checking-religious-expression-at-montemaria-in-batangas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/checking-religious-expression-at-montemaria-in-batangas\/","title":{"rendered":"Checking religious expression at Montemaria in Batangas"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>In Matthew 6:24, Jesus himself said a person cannot serve both God and money (or mammon). NOT that money is inherently evil; but the love of it can lead people away from God.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Alas\u2026 if you look at the way faith is practiced now, money just can\u2019t be avoided. Take religious tourism as an example.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So it\u2019s with trepidation that we headed to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/montemariabats\/\">Montemaria International Pilgrimage &amp; Conference Center<\/a> in Batangas.<\/p>\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"tiktok-embed\" cite=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@outragemag\/video\/7563639538652892434\" data-video-id=\"7563639538652892434\" style=\"max-width: 605px;min-width: 325px;\" >\n<section> <a target=\"_blank\" title=\"@outragemag\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@outragemag?refer=embed\">@outragemag<\/a> Eyeing for ways to express your <a title=\"lgbt\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/tag\/lgbt?refer=embed\">#LGBT<\/a> faith? Head to <a title=\"montemaria\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/tag\/montemaria?refer=embed\">#Montemaria<\/a> in <a title=\"batangas\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/tag\/batangas?refer=embed\">#Batangas<\/a> for <a title=\"religioustourism\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/tag\/religioustourism?refer=embed\">#religioustourism<\/a> <a target=\"_blank\" title=\"\u266c original sound  - Outrage Magazine\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/music\/original-sound-Outrage-Magazine-7563639613928049424?refer=embed\">\u266c original sound  &#8211; Outrage Magazine<\/a> <\/section>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There are some things worth stressing here\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Una<\/em>, <em>masalimuot<\/em> <em>ang<\/em> history <em>ng<\/em> Montemaria. It used to be a project of a Roman Catholic priest, Fernando Suarez, with the land donated by local politician Hermilando Mandanas. That was around 2009. But Suarez moved to Cavite, so Montemaria was put in ice in 2014. The land was eventually donated to the Archdiocese of Lipa, managed by the Montemaria Asia Pilgrims Inc. (MAPI).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Prominent buildings include the Santo Ni\u00f1o Chapel, a replica of the Church of Our Lady Victorious in Prague, built around 2010; and yeah, the \u201cMother of All Asia \u2013 Tower of Peace\u201d that was completed in 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Ikalawa<\/em>, Montemaria may be a pilgrimage site, and \u2013 as such \u2013 is filled by the faithful. But it is also a tourist spot, so expect lots of non-believers who are there for non-religious reasons. There are a lot of touristy attractions, like the glass bridge, accommodations facing the seas, and so on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Ikatlo<\/em>, too many of the offerings are still not functional, but yeah\u2026 <em>sayang ang kita<\/em>, so <em>papasukin na ang<\/em> tourists all the same.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Ika-apat<\/em>, you will need money to fully appreciate this place. For instance, the tallest statue of the Virgin Mary, the \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.montemaria.com.ph\/\">Montemaria, The Mother of All Asia<\/a>\u201d, is here. You can just appreciate it for free from afar\u2026 or cough up some cash to be allowed to go up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery aligncenter has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-1 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Montemaria1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"614\" height=\"1024\" data-id=\"10769\" src=\"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Montemaria1-614x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-10769\" srcset=\"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Montemaria1-614x1024.jpg 614w, https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Montemaria1-180x300.jpg 180w, https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Montemaria1-768x1280.jpg 768w, https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Montemaria1.jpg 864w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 614px) 100vw, 614px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Montemaria2.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"614\" height=\"1024\" data-id=\"10778\" src=\"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Montemaria2-614x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-10778\" srcset=\"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Montemaria2-614x1024.jpg 614w, https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Montemaria2-180x300.jpg 180w, https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Montemaria2-768x1280.jpg 768w, https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Montemaria2.jpg 864w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 614px) 100vw, 614px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Montemaria3.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"614\" height=\"1024\" data-id=\"10772\" src=\"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Montemaria3-614x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-10772\" srcset=\"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Montemaria3-614x1024.jpg 614w, https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Montemaria3-180x300.jpg 180w, https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Montemaria3-768x1280.jpg 768w, https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Montemaria3.jpg 864w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 614px) 100vw, 614px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Montemaria4.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"614\" height=\"1024\" data-id=\"10770\" src=\"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Montemaria4-614x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-10770\" srcset=\"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Montemaria4-614x1024.jpg 614w, https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Montemaria4-180x300.jpg 180w, https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Montemaria4-768x1280.jpg 768w, https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Montemaria4.jpg 864w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 614px) 100vw, 614px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Montemaria5.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"614\" height=\"1024\" data-id=\"10775\" src=\"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Montemaria5-614x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-10775\" srcset=\"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Montemaria5-614x1024.jpg 614w, https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Montemaria5-180x300.jpg 180w, https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Montemaria5-768x1280.jpg 768w, https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Montemaria5.jpg 864w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 614px) 100vw, 614px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Montemaria6.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"614\" height=\"1024\" data-id=\"10771\" src=\"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Montemaria6-614x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-10771\" srcset=\"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Montemaria6-614x1024.jpg 614w, https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Montemaria6-180x300.jpg 180w, https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Montemaria6-768x1280.jpg 768w, https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Montemaria6.jpg 864w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 614px) 100vw, 614px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Montemaria7.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"614\" height=\"1024\" data-id=\"10773\" src=\"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Montemaria7-614x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-10773\" srcset=\"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Montemaria7-614x1024.jpg 614w, https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Montemaria7-180x300.jpg 180w, https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Montemaria7-768x1280.jpg 768w, https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Montemaria7.jpg 864w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 614px) 100vw, 614px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Montemaria8.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"614\" height=\"1024\" data-id=\"10774\" src=\"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Montemaria8-614x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-10774\" srcset=\"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Montemaria8-614x1024.jpg 614w, https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Montemaria8-180x300.jpg 180w, https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Montemaria8-768x1280.jpg 768w, https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Montemaria8.jpg 864w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 614px) 100vw, 614px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Montemaria9.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"614\" height=\"1024\" data-id=\"10776\" src=\"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Montemaria9-614x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-10776\" srcset=\"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Montemaria9-614x1024.jpg 614w, https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Montemaria9-180x300.jpg 180w, https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Montemaria9-768x1280.jpg 768w, https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Montemaria9.jpg 864w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 614px) 100vw, 614px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Montemaria10.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"614\" height=\"1024\" data-id=\"10777\" src=\"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Montemaria10-614x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-10777\" srcset=\"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Montemaria10-614x1024.jpg 614w, https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Montemaria10-180x300.jpg 180w, https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Montemaria10-768x1280.jpg 768w, https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Montemaria10.jpg 864w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 614px) 100vw, 614px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Montemaria11.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"614\" height=\"1024\" data-id=\"10779\" src=\"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Montemaria11-614x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-10779\" srcset=\"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Montemaria11-614x1024.jpg 614w, https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Montemaria11-180x300.jpg 180w, https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Montemaria11-768x1280.jpg 768w, https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Montemaria11.jpg 864w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 614px) 100vw, 614px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Montemaria12.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"614\" height=\"1024\" data-id=\"10780\" src=\"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Montemaria12-614x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-10780\" srcset=\"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Montemaria12-614x1024.jpg 614w, https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Montemaria12-180x300.jpg 180w, https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Montemaria12-768x1280.jpg 768w, https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Montemaria12.jpg 864w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 614px) 100vw, 614px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In truth, publicly-accessible venues need to earn for their upkeep. I\u2019d say Montemaria is no different. And yet\u2026 yeah, we can\u2019t help but feel uneasy when money\u2019s involved in promoting faith.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But off we go to the next <em>rampa<\/em>\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><em>Montemaria is located in Barangay Pagkilatan, Batangas City.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The love of money may be the source of all evil, but religion won\u2019t survive in these modern times without money. That\u2019s why religious tourism exists\u2026 as Montemaria shows.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":10768,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[576,110,1742],"class_list":["post-10767","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-destinations","tag-batangas","tag-travel-2","tag-travel-adventure"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10767","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10767"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10767\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10781,"href":"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10767\/revisions\/10781"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10768"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10767"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10767"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10767"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}