Remembering Bohol as it Was (Before the Quake)

I was fortunate that right before the big quake, I was able to bring my current partner, Toni to see Bohol sometime in November 2012. This time I took a different route; flying directly to Tagbilaran, I engaged Rod’s services once again and made sure we got to go around all the important sites. We opted for lodgings within the city where there are now numerous fastfood restaurants to choose from to cut our travel expenses. Since I actually had official work to do the next two days, we had to schedule our tour as soon as we arrived. It was Toni’s first time in Bohol and she had always wondered about the beautiful churches I was telling her about. Since we both believed in making three wishes whenever one visits churches for the first time, we headed straight for Baclayon Church. Unlike before, strict dress codes have now been imposed to visitors. And since we were both in shorts, Toni was compelled to borrow a sari of sorts from the manangs to cover her legs before entering the church. I was allowed my short pants since mine were below-the-knee board shorts. Proper church decorum was now required – tourists may still take pictures inside but a few meters away from the altar; too much giggling or talking aloud is prohibited, and visitors are encouraged to say a short prayer instead. We still got to see the Baclayon museum and its old religious artifacts dating as far back as the 1600s, but the statuettes seemed fewer now. What are attracting tourists now are the three images that seemed to appear on the outside walls of the church itself – a side view of Padre Pio who has a full-size statue inside, a figure of Mother Mary and the child Jesus, and a frontview of an adult, soon-to-be-crucified Jesus. Signs like these were normally considered as warnings by religious Filipinos, and visitors and Boholanos alike thought something really bad was going to happen soon. Looking back now, could these have been signs for the big earthquake that would devastate the island province of Bohol? At Loboc Church, we were not allowed in for some reason that it was closed. We also didn’t get to see its museum or hear the Loboc Chidren’s Choir practice. Of course, I have to explain to Toni why the belltower was so far from the church proper, and why there is a ghastly unfinished bridge ruining the skyline. After all these years, no one has thought of simply removing that eyesore. Maybe they want it as a reminder of how foolish some government officials can be. But now, as an afterthought, I was hoping that it should’ve been the one completely destroyed by the earthquake instead of the heavily damaged Loboc Church to save everyone the trouble. So after a few snapshots taken outside, we headed across the river to ride the famed riverboat cruise. The whole system of getting passengers now seem more orderly with fees being paid to the agents who arrange for which boat you will ride. The boats now seemed sturdier and safer, of about uniform size to accommodate a reasonable number of customers with no fear of capsizing due to overcrowding or overloading. I could now leisurely eat my buffet lunch while enjoying the on-board music, now also a standard entertainment provided on the cruise. In between, we pass by large rafts with locals doing their own version of musical entertainment complete with song-and-dance routines. The foreigners absolutely love this kind of attraction – what with the performers colourful costumes and obvious talent, this brings back the times when Filipinos were really proud of their cultural traditions and loved showing off for guests. I was told the groups are actually locals representing different barangays near the river. The attraction was both an incentive and a means of livelihood for the communities. Kudos then to the local officials who thought of this. To cap off a heavy meal, there is now the popular ice cream shop nearby where you can try unique ice cream flavors made from products of the Bohol Bee Farm. Though a visit to the Bohol Bee Farm is now one the recommended tours, one can have a taste of its products just as you get off the boat. Popular fruits ranging from coconut, mango, and pineapple, to exotic avocado, ube and pandan, were combined with our truly Filipino flavors of cheese, mantikado, and halo-halo, all utilizing the locally-made honey as natural sweetener. Another highlight of Loboc is its newly-established adventure park. The still unfinished facility is already being visited in droves by tourists who want some physical excitement. While its zipline is nowhere near as long as Dahilayan’s in Bukidnon, or as deep as the one in Lake Sebu, it’s short run still gives one an amazing view of the Loboc river, its mini waterfalls, and its outlet to the sea. We were told that over those same forests and hills, are the natural habitat of the mini-marsupials, the very cute tarsiers of Bohol. We then proceeded to the other usual tourist “haunts” – the Bilar man-made forest and the Chocolate Hills. Toni found these nature treasures of Bohol quite fascinating. We risked causing heavy traffic in Bilar just so we could take picturesque shots of the trees. At Carmen, being much younger and limber than I am, Toni effortlessly climbed the steps. I never knew then that those pictures of her at the viewing deck, beside the bell or the wishing well, would preserve for posterity our memories of Bohol; because less than a year later, the earthquake would damage this overlook site to an almost unrecognizable state. On the way back, we dropped by another latest spot on the tourist rounds – the so-called “ShipHaus”. Seen from the highway itself, this residence of a longtime boat captain was constructed to look like the exterior and interior of a ship. The balcony was designed to look like the bow, an anchor dangling from its side down to the garden below. Inside, rooms are furnished like cabins, with the grandest being the captain’s quarters. However, this attraction is more fun for kids rather than for adults who have been on-board actual boats and ships. Being the probinsyana that she is, Toni has a true affinity for “wide, open spaces” like me and quite a penchant for various flora and fauna. So it was imperative that she gets to see the tarsiers and meet Prony, the famous python of Bohol. At the Tarsier Conservation site, Toni again had the advantage of being physically fit. Constructed over the hills and its usual vegetation, tarsiers are now more comfortable and less stressed. No direct contact means no petting or close-up fotos; there is no longer insect-feeding unlike before. Photography with flash is still prohibited. But tarsiers here are now more numerous; they are of different ages and are now coded and named. This still gives one a more “personal” connection with them. The briefing at the start of the tour, complete with flyers and a short video, is also quite helpful; it is more “professionalized” such that visitors are compelled to “behave”. Being nocturnal animals, tarsiers sleep during the day when most tourists come to visit, and the noise with all the excitement bothers these poor creatures, not to mention people’s insistence on touching the animals. Upon visiting Prony, who was bigger than ever, I also noticed that the entire enclosure has been expanded. There is now more space for moving around and animals’ cages are better arranged. There are more local birds on display, including chickens and ducks, that an entire aviary of its own can now be made. Lesser known Philippine wildlife can now be seen and I bet to the delight of kids; there are iguanas and monitor lizards, local civet cats we call “alamid” and “musang”. Yet Prony and her caretaker “tranny” are still the “superstars” here. Marimar is an all-out transgender now, who sometimes dons a bikini made from Prony’s molted skin. I was also glad to have visited Prony one last time, because a few months before the big quake, Prony would follow Lolong, the giant crocodile of Agusan, who died earlier in the year. For Toni and me, that Bohol trip was like a bridge between the past and present. I desperately wanted her to see the beauty of Bohol as I had known it and I am glad she got to see most of its treasurers before the earthquake. Taking Toni along on my travels was both an opportunity for us to get to know each other deeper, and to discover new places and experience new things together as we made our own memories.

Bohol's Churches and Museums

Bohol’s Churches and Museums The next time I visited Bohol, it was with some senior citizens because of my official work with DSWD. While we took in some of the usual tourist spots, we steered clear of the ones which required too much walking or climbing around. Thus, I discovered the other historic sites of Bohol worth visiting – its churches and museums. By the time I returned to Bohol with my family, I made sure my senior citizen Mom and my sisters also saw the old churches. Being from the Ilocos region, my family and I were reminded of our own Augustinian-designed churches in Ilocos Sur. It may sound stereotypical, but my Mom enjoyed looking at the churches so much we stayed quite a while. In fact, she noted that Bohol could be a perfect Holy Week get-away; the sheer number of churches and their accessibility would make the minimum 7-parishes Visita Iglesia quite easy.

Thus we discovered that Dauis church actually has a well-spring underneath its altar flooring and its waters are said to have healing powers. Baclayon church, on the other hand, has its own museum with quite a collection of ancient relics and artifacts. They date back to the time when statuettes of angels and saints had heads and hands of pure ivory, while priestly vestments were ornate and made of expensive material. A little known fact about Baclayon is that it actually has a dungeon where Boholanos deemed to be violating certain rules of the church were tortured once upon a time.

Meanwhile, Loboc church also has some of the old features of parishes then. Heavy wooden pews, confessionals, pulpits built high up on one of the pillars, plus a bamboo organ to accompany the choir in their Sunday singing. It is actually beside its museum area where the famous Loboc children’s choir practice. I noted some markers on a side wall of the church – two lines which indicate how high the flood waters reached when the Loboc river overflowed during two recent typhoons. Meanwhile, in Tagbilaran City is the St. Joseph the Worker church. Situated in the city proper, it is one of those originally established by the Jesuits in the 1700s before being turned over to the Recollects. From a church made from simple materials, it was expanded and reconstructed in the 1800s until additions like its convent and belltower were put up. Unfortunately, it does not have that “old world look or feel” to it anymore since much of its design is already quite modern, most especially its facade. Now referred to as Tagbilaran’s Cathedral, the only remaining ancient aspect to it is its location. Another heritage site that also lost its unique historical flavour is the ancestral home of former Philippine President Carlos P. Garcia. This little known museum was rarely visited by tourists who would rather explore Bohol’s natural treasures rather than travel down memory lane. Besides family heirlooms and Presidential memorabilia, the old Garcia home also displayed some strange archeological finds within the islands. I remember the Chinese porcelain and clay pottery presumably carried by traders on their Chinese junks, some heavy silver, religious relics and artifacts to parts of cannons loaded on Spanish galleons. There were a variety of seashells which can be found in the beaches of Bohol and the skeletal remains of some ancient Boholano who happens to be a prehistoric female. The great thing about coming back to Bohol is that each time there is always something new to do. At the Chocolates Hills, senior citizens who could no longer climb up to the viewing deck opted instead to have half-body massages offered by some enterprising locals at the waiting area-pavilion. At the tarsier enclosure, flies and other insects attached on long sticks were offered for “feeding” the cute marsupials. And Prony, the python, was now being introduced by its caretaker – a transgender nicknamed Marimar after the popular telenovela, who will even perform a song-and-dance number for additional donations. Because my sister desperately wanted to go dolphin-watching as well, we discovered an affordable beach resort along the famous white sand beaches in Panglao island. Dumaluan beach with its even even coastline and pristine waters was comparable to Alona beach and could give Boracay a run for its money. I would keep coming back to this place either for overnights or daytrips just to get a taste of Bohol’s picture-perfect beaches. In the next few years, I would be back in Bohol with colleagues, family members and new lovers. I would see many changes to Bohol as it transformed into the truly eco-tourism destination it aimed to be. The tarsiers would finally be moved to a conservation area with a bigger space and more like their natural forest habitat. Prony, the python now had a few other animal friends, species that are also endemic to Bohol like birds and lizards. The municipality of Loboc would now have its own zipline that will fly across a panoramic view of the river. There’s the Extreme Adventure Tour (EAT) in Danao town which features a zipline, a “plunge”, wall-climbing, rappelling, river-tubing and kayaking among others. And yes, as time passes, many things change. Bohol held many reminders for me, from successfully accomplished tasks, opportunities lost or taken advantaged of, loved ones who are no longer in my life. It would have been quite painful to have such reminiscings while visiting Bohol again. But I always believed that even with the same old places, what is important is that new memories should still be made – sort of “exorcising” the past. And so, I kept doing just that. I had always loved Bohol and it held too many good memories for me not to share its beauty with someone significant in my life.