Jose P. Laurel Residence

Years after serving his term as president of the Second Republic from 1943 to 1945, José P. Laurel built a three-story house near the Wack Wack Golf and Country Club in Mandaluyong (then a town in the province of Rizal) that occupied 1,000 square meters (11,000 sq ft) of the land once overrun with cogon. The house was named Villa Pacencia in honor of his wife, Pacencia Hidalgo y Valencia.^[1]

The house was the venue of several political events. In 1957, Laurel hosted a luncheon at the mansion in honor of James Langley, a New Hampshire newspaper publisher.^[1] Laurel and Langley signed the Laurel-Langley Agreement in 1954, which amended the Bell Trade Act of 1946 and provided for an increase in the duties imposed on U.S. products and a decrease in the duties imposed on Philippine goods.^[2]

The mansion became the de facto Nacionalista Party headquarters when José Laurel Jr. acquired the property after his father's death in November 1959.^[1][3]

On August 5, 1963, the first Indonesian President Sukarno stayed at the mansion during his working visit in the Philippines for the Manila Summit Conference on Maphilindo.^[4] A marker with Filipino and Bahasa Indonesia text was installed at the house entrance on March 9, 1965, documenting this historical event.

The Laurel family sold the property to then-Senator and Nacionalista Party President, Manny Villar, and his wife, Cynthia Villar, the then-Representative of Las Piñas, in 2008.^[1] It served as a venue for some political events leading to Manny Villar's unsuccessful 2010 presidential campaign.^[5]

The property was later turned over to Vista Land & Lifescapes, Inc., a real estate company owned by Manny Villar, as the area was to be developed into Vista Shaw, a high-rise development project. There were plans on converting the mansion into a museum, housing various memorabilia from José P. Laurel.^[6][7] It is also being used as an events venue, with parts of the house allotted as a dining space.^[3]

• Jose P. Laurel Ancestral House (Manila)