The Palace in the Sky at Tagaytay

The ruins of Imelda Marcos's guesthouse supposedly for American President Ronald Reagan

Mount Sungay is said to be the tallest mountain in the province of Cavite, so any ideas of trekking the summit with your usual backpack and camping stuff? Heck no! On the top of the summit is a landmark that is known in Tagaytay City, manifestation on how white elephant should be.

Formerly known as Palace in the Sky and now called People’s Park in the Sky, the mansion on top of Mount Sungay was constructed in 1970′s as a guesthouse for then US President Ronald Reagan…but it was never used at all. Oh well, there goes the people’s taxes. The mansion (now in ruins) resembled somewhat like that of Laguna’s National Arts Center, which resembles a pyramid bent heavy in its brute features.

Yet it made its presence felt on Hollywood flick as Chuck Norris shot on this location in the 1980′s as a mansion of a drug lord (too bad, the image has really been tainted) in the movie “Delta Force.”

After that, although it was a landmark and finally opened to the public sometime during the Aquino administration, it was neglected and was left to ruins or pagnakawan pa. It was shrouded in the clouds for several years

I think it was in the 1990′s that it was renamed People’s Park in the Sky…probably because it was the people’s taxes that made this former building of grandeur.

Anyway, going here by commuting is easy. Just take a bus at Pasay Rotunda or Cubao Araneta Station bound for either Tagaytay or Nasugbu. Just drop yourself at the Tagaytay Rotunda and ride a jeepney bound for “People’s Park.” You wont miss it and get to enjoy the lovely vista of Taal Volcano and Batangas down below. It will cost you more or less about a hundred pesos for one way fare.

Anyway, the best part of it is to climb all the way up from the parking base below. I would choose this option as part of a healthy regimen. Pero sa mga tamad maglakad, there are jeepneys going up to the park itself. Oh by the way, 15 Pesos for the entrance fee.

I was saddened that the palace itself is laid to ruins, exposed to the elements of nature…or are they really doing this for a “more dramatic ruin” or something about protesting a Marcos legacy? Hmmm….Its a good thing that the once “scent of MMDA urinals” is gone (they constructed clean public restrooms maybe after tourists complained about that stench of ammonia-urea in the ruins). When I went there recently, the park is ongoing some major repair or adding up tourist facilities.

Anyway, its really touristy up here, shops selling souvenirs and a 36o degree view of Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, some parts of Quezon and on a clear day the silver skyline of Metro Manila.

It truly deserves to be called “People’s Park in the Sky” rather than being a palace. The people’s hard earned money was invested here and was left to decay and made it as a white elephant. I say, its a good thing they opened this to the public, its not only making money out of being a tourist attraction, but also serving the public’s need for leisure. Shrouded no more, it made people closer to the sky.

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