#fantasyworld

Fantasy World is an unfinished theme park in Lemery, Batangas, Philippines. With no operational rides, the site functions as a photo park.
Fantasy World was initially intended to be a members-only club[1] but was changed into a resort-theme park open to tourists coming from Metro Manila and Calabarzon. It received an endorsement from the Department of Tourism in 1997.[1] Land acquisition started in January 1999 while site development began in October with ECE Realty & Development Inc. as the project's initial developer.[1][2][3] In 2001, it was granted pioneer incentives by the Board of Investments.
It was touted to be the "Disney World of the Philippines" and was envisioned to dwarf Enchanted Kingdom.[3] The project was expected to cost ₱17 billion and was to be fully operational by 2005.[3] However, due to financial issues and illness of ECE Realty head Emilio Ching, development of Fantasy World halted in the mid-2000s.
Fantasy World was then open to the public in the early 2010s as a site for photoshoots.[6] The site then was bought by new owners.
The Montemaria International Pilgrimage & Conference Center simply known as Montemaria is a township and Roman Catholic pilgrimage site in Batangas City, Batangas, Philippines.[1] It is the site of the Mother of All Asia - Tower of Peace, the tallest statue of the Virgin Mary in the world.[2]
The site of Montemaria, was originally a project of Mary Mother of the Poor Foundation of Roman Catholic priest Fernando Suarez.[3] Suarez got the idea of developing a pilgrimage site from Hermilando Mandanas, a local politician and acquaintance whom he met in 2006, where the priest could perform his faith healing work. Mandanas' company, Abacore Capital Holdings, Inc., donated the five-hectare land in Barangay Pagkilatan where the statue and the proposed pilgrimage site would stand, which would later be called Montemaria.[4]
Initially progress for the project was made in 2009 after Suarez's foundation was able to raise ₱200 million. But in the following year, the project was later put on hold after Suarez moved to Cavite, where San Miguel Corporation (SMC) offered him a 33-hectare land in the town of Alfonso where he could set up a bigger pilgrimage site.[4] Suarez ran a pilgrimage site in Cavite until development of the area was stopped in 2014 due to challenges of Suarez's foundation in fulfilling conditions of its donation agreement with the SMC. The associated property was returned to SMC.[5][6]
Mandanas continued the Montemaria project in Batangas City and established the Montemaria Asia Pilgrims Inc. (MAPI) to help him manage the Montemaria development. The Montemaria property was later set for donation to MAPI but such plans were canceled and the land was donated to the Archdiocese of Lipa instead.[4]