Backpacking Philippines: Ancient Rock Art of Angono Petroglyphs in Binangonan, Rizal

Ancient Rock Art of Angono Petroglyphs in Binangonan, Rizal

The most important place visited by Tutubi and friends in Angono really is the 3000 year old Angono Petroglyphs inside a sprawling playground of the rich and infamous-- the Fiesta Resort and Casino.

The Fiesta Resort and Casino, now Thuderbird Resorts, said to be owned by a former president and retired generals. The refugee truck will "deliver" its "cargo" there.

Going there wasn't easy as there's no public transportation available. The gang literally looked like refugees inside a truck they boarded in front of Maricor Bakery used by employees of Thunderbird Resort (formerly Fiesta Resort and Casino).

Alighting at the marker (picture above) and walked about a hundred meters to the guard station and registered there.

The guards led the gang to a man-made tunnel about 30 meters long

at the end of the tunnel is a marker that said Angono Petroglyphs in Binangonan, and a trail that points to a museum managed by the National Museum plus a viewdeck of the Petroglyphs.

The pre-historic drawings, officially called Angono Petroglyphs in Binangonan due to its within the territory of Binangonan town, consists of 127 drawings of human, frogs, lizards and other animal figures inscribed on the rock wall estimated to date back to 3000 B.C.

Discovered in 1965 by National Artist Carlos "Botong" Francisco on the mountain at the boundary of Angono and Binangonan, Province of Rizal, Philippines

Signs of vandals on the loose. People that desecrate important cultural places like this should be hanged or crucified with the head down!

The Angono Petroglyphs is a National Cultural treasure that should be preserved for generations to come.

Related Site:

Angono: Art Capital of the Philippines

How to get to Angono Petroglyphs in Binangonan, Rizal:

Commute to Angono: Board the Angono-bound jeepney/vans at EDSA Central terminal on Shaw Blvd or alternatively the Angono-bound jeeps in Cubao, Quezon City. Alight at Angono market. Board a tricycle to take you to Maricor Bakery. At Maricor bakery, wait for the truck used by employees of Fiesta Resort and Casino (you need to pay a small amount for this). Ask the driver to drop you off at the junction of the road going to the Petroglyphs then walk about 100 meters to the guard station. Register at the guards and look for the man-made tunnel about 30, turn right on seeing a golf course. There is a building and small museum maintained by the National Museum. There's also a guard stationed at the site. No video allowed, only photographs.

Driving directions to Angono, Rizal: take the Manila Road East (not the one leading to the town proper), turn left on the street where Maricor Bakery is (ask tricycle drivers since there were no street signs in that part of the world when we visited). That road leads straight to Fiesta Resort and Casino (now Thunderbird Resorts Rizal) where the Petroglyphs site is located.

If you want to get to Angono, Rizal from abroad, book a flight to Manila then take a taxi to EDSA Crossing, board a jeepney/shuttle to Angono. Taxi Fare to EDSA Crossing is about P300.00 plus the approximately PhP30.00 shuttle fare to Angono.

Updated: April 2014

Labels: Art, Calabarzon, National Cultural Treasures, Rizal

posted by GingGoy @ 8:22 PM,

40 Comments:

At Jul 30, 2007, 9:48:00 PM, Ronnie said...: do i need to make prior arrangements to go there? or pwede punta na lang sa site?
At Jul 31, 2007, 12:59:00 AM, Photo Cache said...: did they build a tunnel after the discovery or prior? who knew this existed. really nice trip.
At Jul 31, 2007, 1:05:00 AM, Anonymous said...: thanks for the walk through this interesting place. and these tunnels really exit, ha? they're amazing!
At Jul 31, 2007, 3:33:00 AM, Anonymous said...: This is very interesting. I will visit this place on my vacation.

Thanks for the info.
At Jul 31, 2007, 6:00:00 AM, Anonymous said...: those petroglyphs are amazing. vandalism isn't.

thanks for the tour =)
At Jul 31, 2007, 10:19:00 AM, Anonymous said...: I had to look up what petroglyphs mean. :)

Very interesting indeed. I didn't realize that there were also cavemen in the Phils.

Btw, I have been getting errors when I try to visit your site. This is my third try actually. I wonder why.
At Jul 31, 2007, 10:45:00 AM, Anonymous said...: ironnie, we had no arrangements. merely walk-in visitors :)

photo cache, they built a tunnel maybe for the golf course of the casino, not for the petroglyphs

sexymom, for the golf course, I guess :(

myepinoy, do visit it

carlotta, babalikan ko yan

niceheart, yes there were cavemen in the philippines (not the tasadays though, it's a hoax). In palawan there's the tabon cave

regarding the errors, I'm still trying to find out why. I started to remove some new features I added aside from asking my bestfriend google. I still don't know why. visitors to this blog is peaking mostly after my noli me tangere posts, possibly students doing research :)
At Jul 31, 2007, 3:37:00 PM, Anonymous said...: Wow!

This place looks really interesting; I gotta visit it when I am there again. I like those pre-historic drawings.
At Jul 31, 2007, 5:08:00 PM, Any given madness said...: ang ganda nga nung place. i was about to say na buti wala pa vandals, until i saw that one.
At Jul 31, 2007, 10:03:00 PM, Anonymous said...: Grabeh! Ang dami talagang puwedeng makita magagandang lugar dito sa Pinas!

Thanks for sharing this, Tutubi!
At Aug 1, 2007, 1:00:00 PM, Anonymous said...: tutubi, what a coincidence! i just recently posted an article in my blog about petroglyphs that i took up and down the Rock Canyon river, which dates as far back as 9,500 years ago. i didn't know that we have it also in the philippines. i notice that they love to carve animals and human beings. interesting!
At Aug 1, 2007, 2:49:00 PM, kegler747 said...: Nice pictures, pwede na sa National Geographic :)
At Aug 1, 2007, 6:40:00 PM, dodong flores 도동 플로오리스 said...: That's an interesting journey. Sana nakakasama din ako syo :)
At Aug 1, 2007, 7:00:00 PM, Anonymous said...: kyels, such a sight to behold and imagine how the ones who inscribed those drawings

abssss, dapat talaga ibitin ng patiwarik yung allamer na yun

rhodora, problem lang lagi is that kulang info available on some spots here

belle, saw it nga. same rock art posts we have :)

kegler747, sana nga. wish ko yan national geographic :)

dodong, at least naisama kita virtual travel hehe
At Aug 1, 2007, 11:15:00 PM, Anonymous said...: Thanks for providing us a glimpse of this part of the world. Nice pics! Thanks for visiting my site ha. :-D
At Aug 2, 2007, 1:04:00 AM, -= dave =- said...: Interesting! I wonder what could be the interpretation of those carvings? Have you tried simulating some chanting? I think the place has good acoustics to induce a trance. And the trance provided the visions for those carvings.
At Aug 2, 2007, 2:01:00 AM, Anonymous said...: Very interesting post. We have a lot of pre-historic drawings and carvings from thousands of year back in Norway too you know.

Btw: Thanks for your visit and nice comments - I also love to read about other people and their cultures you know:-)
At Aug 2, 2007, 2:56:00 PM, Anonymous said...: I've never heard of it before but it's clear that the Angono petroglyps are one amazing work of art, since it was done 3,000 years ago. It should be more famous than what it is right now...
At Aug 2, 2007, 6:16:00 PM, Anonymous said...: ladybug, thanks too for returning the visit :)

dave, no chants for me. i just took pictures and examined closely those drawings. it's up in the mountains yet you see things drawn there probably from far away

rennyBA, norway's too different than philippines. will re-visit your blog soon.

major tom, it's not that famous. in fact, few people have heard of it much less been there. usual problem with philippine tourism :(
At Aug 2, 2007, 10:15:00 PM, Anonymous said...: wow, i've been thinking of going to this place before but forgot about it :p

besides this place, are there possible other places in the country?
At Aug 2, 2007, 10:36:00 PM, Anonymous said...: I've been longing to go back to this place as the last time I went here was like in 1997 pa. I wonder how it looks like right now?
At Aug 3, 2007, 2:15:00 PM, Anonymous said...: estanli, good question. been searhing for other samples of ancient rock art, petroglyphs and petrographs here in the Philippines and one of them is in in Alab, Mountain Province carved on boulders on top of promontories.

"The Petrographs are of two kinds: a) Charcoal drawings on cave walls in Penablanca, Cagayan Province, and the Singnapan Caves in southern Palawan; b) red hematite prints in Anda Peninsula, Bohol province. The dating of these is still undetermined."

other archeological finds are those in Butuan and Cagayan Valley

care to look for them? i sure hope so :)

ferdz, balik tayo minsan dun sa angono. want to visit other galleries :)
At Aug 3, 2007, 5:11:00 PM, Anonymous said...: Very very interesting Tutubi! This one is for National Geographic. I never knew that these petroglyphs existed.
At Aug 4, 2007, 12:16:00 AM, Gypsy said...: Agree ako with Toe, pang National Geographics ito! With the guards around, I wonder why na-vandal pa rin? Maybe recently lang naglagay ny guard? What a pity!
At Aug 4, 2007, 8:45:00 PM, tin-tin said...: wow!!! meron pala niyan sa binangonan?!? galing! ang dami talagang hindi ko pa alam sa pilipinas :)
At Aug 5, 2007, 12:04:00 AM, Mari said...: Amazing that something like this exist. It should be well guarded to deter vandalism.
At Aug 5, 2007, 5:29:00 PM, Anonymous said...: , para akongnanood ng smallville sa nakita kong pictures, yung mga sulatna parang katulad ng mga sulad ng mga taga kryton
At Aug 6, 2007, 12:26:00 PM, Anonymous said...: Never heard about this before honestly. I'd like to visit this place. Thanks for the education :)
At Aug 6, 2007, 7:39:00 PM, Anonymous said...: Toe, NGC uu nga

gypsy, the guard is stationed at the museum and can't see if there's a vandal on the loose. also the vandalism might be made long time ago :(

tin-tin, lots of undiscovered or non-marketed places here talaga.

mari, wish to visit other sites like this in the philippines and abroad

iskoo, nabuhay ka :) clark kent laso have these petrographs in his caves :)

bw, do visit it. and see for yourself
At Aug 7, 2007, 8:57:00 AM, Anonymous said...: tutubi, thanx for the info. sana mapuntahan ko ito one of these days. or if you guys are going, sama nyo ako.
At Oct 19, 2008, 3:14:00 PM, Anonymous said...: Tutubi, thanks. I visited that place about 10 yrs ago. Pwede na rin sigurong idate yung vandals art na yun.

Dahil sa vandals work, nagulo na yung petroglyphs. At the time I visiterd, no guards really and exposed to the elements so it will be eroded. Tingnan mo values nung ex pres na sinasabi mo. Elected Pres and he never cared for it and mukha lang sugal at babae. The nerve na di man lamang ishowcase site.Pwe!!
At Oct 19, 2008, 3:14:00 PM, Anonymous said...: Tutubi, thanks. I visited that place about 10 yrs ago. Pwede na rin sigurong idate yung vandals art na yun.

Dahil sa vandals work, nagulo na yung petroglyphs. At the time I visiterd, no guards really and exposed to the elements so it will be eroded. Tingnan mo values nung ex pres na sinasabi mo. Elected Pres and he never cared for it and mukha lang sugal at babae. The nerve na di man lamang ishowcase site.Pwe!!
At Mar 16, 2009, 10:55:00 PM, Anonymous said...: Tutubi, thanks for informing our fellow kababayans about this very important site. been there twice this year because i accompanied our students for an outbound education.corasoq, ur right.the place is subject to erosion. sayang talaga! my students and i donated some money there where the Nat. Museum employees are.Hope that others who'll go there will also do the same. Hope that our people in the government will really pay attention to this national treasure. Mahirap talaga siyang puntahan but worth the trip coz the fresh air is free.
At Sep 3, 2009, 10:15:00 AM, Anonymous said...: We are doing a study on valuation of the cultural heritage of the Cordilleras. I have been trying to browse the net for a picture of the Alab petroglyphs...non so far.

If there is one,please furnish me one. We can compare with the recent photos that we have.

It is really very sad how the interpretation of the rock carvings were misinterpreted.

We are coming up with a documentation of the Alab petroglyphs. I hope you will be interested to support this endeavor for the Cordilleras.
At Sep 3, 2009, 2:02:00 PM, GingGoy said...: anonymous, never been to alab petroglyphs but hope to be there someday. if you can share information on how to get to alab petroglyphs, then the better so i ca feature it here
At Jun 17, 2010, 6:19:00 PM, jram said...: Wow. I bought my house in Binangonan 6 years ago and if im in Phils. i go to market in angono as it is closer. I couldn't believed what i have just read here. i thought there is nothing really interesting in Angono. i've heard about the casino though... Im going home this coming x'mas so for sure i will go there...Can't wait... thank you Tutubi for this info. for sure if i didnt read this, i will be old and know nothing about this very important place in Angono.
At May 1, 2011, 11:38:00 AM, Anonymous said...: do you have package tour this coming weekend, may 6 and 7? i love to join the group...
At May 17, 2011, 9:50:00 AM, Matt said...: Its always a pity when such places get vanalised obviously by people that don't understand their own heritage and the fact it needs preservation not destroying. Good photos by theway very clear to see the carvings in the rock.
At Oct 26, 2011, 7:08:00 AM, Dave Briseis said...: Thanks for the commuting without a car information. How much did you pay for the truck ride? We would be three men riding.
At Oct 28, 2012, 6:07:00 PM, Anonymous said...: I am sure that those petroglyphs will be claimed by China.

Ancient Rock Art of Angono Petroglyphs in Binangonan, Rizal

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