Feature:
Sky ride: evoking that
Pleasant feeling of freedom
PILAR, Bohol, Oct 9 (PIA) – What has Pilar, Danao, Loboc and Catigbian own in common?
Ziplines. The latest craze in extreme adventure tourism that gives the adventurer the pleasant feeling of freedom, finally swings its momentum and the building speed appears to draw more town-takers of this thrill ride.
Ziplines come in a many different names.
Pilar calls theirs; the Sky Ride, Danao calls theirs the Suislide, Loboc names theirs, the Zipline while Catigbian calls their ride The mountain Slide.
Beyond that, there is not much of a thread that could sew those four names under one heading.
Except for Pilar and Danao, which both figured out in the life and exploits of a home-grown hero Boholanos commonly call as Francisco Dagohoy.
Both towns share in the golden age of Bohol during the heights of the Francisco Dagohoy uprising in 1744 to 1829.
Francisco Dagohoy earned his nickname from his rare fighting skills lent by an amulet that allows him to waft like the breeze (Dagon sa Hoyohoy) and jump off the cliffs, walk the valleys and forge the Isumod ang Wahig or Pamacsalan Rivers in wild abandon and still live to tell the day he escaped the pursuing Spanish soldiers.
While the cliffs of Magtangtang in Danao provide Dagohoy’s lairs, and its network of caves which provide the perfect hide-aways to fight it out, the plains of Pilar, was a source of provision for the insurgents in their sorties against Spanish fortifications.
Oral traditions in the valleys of Pilar say that one reason the revolution stretched for 85 years was because during rice planting season, there would be “ceasefires.”
This happens accordingly because the warriors would lay down their weapons momentarily to work on their farms. The war continues while the rice is planted and pauses again during harvests.
When Danao hosted the anti-Hispanic rebels, history tells that the remnants of the Dagohoy warriors led by his son Estaca, fled Danao and put up ambushcades, rolling huge boulders along the way to the hills of Sigpit; that stretch of mountains from Pamacsalan to Sierra Bullones.
Slowly feeling subdued, the warriors retreated and scampered off to a cave hide-out in Inaghuban.
The cave, now called Tugpa, is also named after Dagohoy’s trusted right hand man.
Located about a hundred feet from the ground, Tugpa cave can be accessed by climbing the face of the cliff.
A cave with countless other chambers, Tugpa still possesses signs on a possible interesting spelunking destination which presents an estimated kilometer-long walk with enough challenge for the uninitiated explorer.
A very narrow portion of the cave was said to be where Tugpa, the heavily built warrior stuck on their way to the egress. With him blocking the only way and his inability to backtrack due to his size, the rest of the men could not pass through.
History says that the trapped men put up a gallant stand at the mouth of the cave until the pursuing Spaniards built fires at the mouth of the cave and smoke suffocated all the warriors inside.
So when Danao’s main eco tourism activity approximates the extreme adventure exploits of the Boholano warrior during the Spanish era, it would be no wonder why Pilarnons, descendants of the warriors, build their zipline to relive the same experience.
The Pilar Sky Ride starts off tower rising 76 feet above the large impounding. Ride assistants strap the adventurer with the harness to secure him to the roller which would also freely swing him on his zip down the other end of the time about 150 meters away.
Riding the line is safe, even perhaps, without the harness. The height is not as scary and a falling off ends in the water, but Pilarnons know their courtesies.
The zip is only a few seconds but the same feeling of stepping off into full trust of the wonders of technology still sends goosebumps to the first timers.
The ride ends in the islet, and from there, a motorized banca gets one back to the parking lot which ends the thrill.
Now, when Danao has suislide, Pilar’s sky ride wishes to evoke the pleasant feeling of riding the wind. (30)
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Clarin town bursting in tourism potentials for PPP
By: Rey Anthony H. Chiu
CLARIN, Bohol, Oct 9 (PIA) -- Clarin town in Bohol is full of potential sites for tourism development that is best for public and private partnership (PPP).
Clarin’s dropdown menu comes with its raw attractions that range from upland natural beauty, lowland cultural and heritage activities to coastal environment immersions and unique underwater experiences.
Clarin municipal planning officer Pedrito Tupas said the town has seven coastal and 17 upland and lowland barangays that are naturally blessed with waterfalls, springs and unmolested caves.
Located in the northwest of Bohol, Clarin is 61 kilometers from Tagbilaran City or 1:15 minutes ride from the nearest airport in Bohol; 10 minutes away from the commercial port in Tubigon and less than an hour from Cebu by fast craft
Tupas boasts that the town has three uninhabited islets that are perfect for theme parks and island resort development and fish holes attractive to scuba diving enthusiasts.
The islets are highly rated marine protected area that has been listed in the global network of marine parks and a wide ground of aquarium fish industry, added Tupas.
Already identified potential sites for tourism enterprise development are Clarin Heights, Binaliw Falls, Tangub Spring, Bogtongbod Cave, Majigpit islet and marine sanctuary; Mangrove Boardwalks, coastal community life tours and village immersions; island hopping and water sports activities.
It has the perfect and breathtaking viewpoint for tourists to shift into the mood for slowing down and relaxing with the splendid view of the vast lowlands specked with rice fields, the blue expanse of Bohol Strait and the distant Cebu.
Its potential developments include a view-deck that also offers light to specialty ‘Bohol-themed-food’ and sweets; souvenir shops, health and wellness centers including massage clinics; acoustic folk music, theatrical performances, lodging accommodations and home stays.
Next in the menu is the most interesting view of the Binaliw Falls
Located just a little more than a kilometer away from the barangay proper, 5 km away from Clarin Wharf , and 14 km from Tubigon Wharf , Binaliw Falls
The Falls is a cool and relaxing experience of thick, lush forests and gorgeous limestone gorges. It has interesting rock formations and age-old trees with hanging roots.
While one treks and gets into a stress melting walks to the walls, innocent and curious birds serenade the trekkers.
It is accessible by basic transportation. The hypnotic roar of the falls is enough to lull one into a resting mode enhanced with the entry of community based activities like the traditional hilot using herbal and folk medicines.
Another experience is the Tangub Spring that is located at the foot of Clarin Heights
Tangub Spring is accessible to all means of land transportation but a few meters stroll before reaching the spring proper.
It is the right place to relax and unwind while bathing in the cool, fresh waters of the natural pool near the Cave opening.
It has sustained the local agriculture industry as it waters wide areas of the surrounding rice fields. Here, one could marvel at the strong current of water at the spring’s source inside Tangub Cave
Possible development includes picnic grounds, pools and rest rooms, native-themed hut for overnight or longer stays.
Another cave experience in Clarin is a peek into the twilight pitch-black world of Bogtongbod Cave
Pregnant with folk tales and lore of the mystical world of the other kind, the Bogtongbod cave is the perfect portals for folk and cultural interactions.
It is a community venue for storytelling, poetry and artistic renditions of folk songs and verses; literary arts, folk medicine and rituals; including scientific and educational tours guided by locals.
Bogtongbod cave offers an array of marvelous beauty of the subterranean world with its stalactites, stalagmites, columns, drapes, flowstones, candle, eerie and grotesque formations as well as the mystical six (6) natural pools.
Another ‘must experience’ tour in Clarin is the Majigpit Islet and fish sanctuary located within the outer ends of the Danajon Double Barrier Reef, better known as the “Islet of Gentle Touch,” for its abundance of sea urchins.
This uninhabited islet is one of the three isles drifting sand bars and shallow reefs as seen from the Clarin wharf.
The islet offers a wide array of soft and hard corals, sea grasses, tide flats and a huge variety of tropical fish population.
Already listed in the international global network of marine protected areas, Majigpit Islet is accessible by boat, 10 minutes from the town wharf and is best visited in the early morning when schools of fish are just as visible from an above-the-surface observer.
The islet also has a wonder hole, a deep fish hole that is inhabited by a variety of tropical reef dwellers, fishes and other marine creatures that choose to stay in the hole which becomes a an aquamarine lake separated by the sea during low tides.
Tourism development potential includes anchor stations for island hopping, boat rentals for group educational tours, snorkel, skin dive, and scuba dives.
The Clarin Mangrove Boardwalk is another easy tourist access to the mangrove environment. It is just a few meters from the Clarin town hall. The Bohol Island State University
Said to be the biggest sea creature banks offering the perfect environment for spawning, juvenile fish sanctuary and the haven for the famed seashells, this mangrove environment carries a wide variety of 26 species of true mangroves common in the island.
Learning venue for marine environment students, the boardwalk allows one to get as close to bakauans, bantiguis, tangals, malatangals, pototans, culasis, piapi, api-api, pagatpat, tabigi and still an interesting three dimensional experience of walking amid a chest of herbal solutions for body ailments from the mangroves.
The core of the forest where the boardwalk goes showcases century-old mangrove species in the inner portion of the mangrove forest.
Future development plans include a Recreational Fishing Area, Restaurant, Function Rooms, kayaking, snorkeling and diving tours to Majigpit Islet and Fish Sanctuary.
The last tourist development potential in Clarin is the Tangaran Shell Garden
The shell garden is good for snorkeling, scuba and skin diving to get as close to a wide variety of local and endemic shell fishes.
Potential partnership for tourism development of the Tangaran Shell garden includes tours from the Tangaran landing using community guides; group and individual tours; home stays and overnight lodging accommodations; community immersions; scuba, snorkel equipment rentals and cuisine immersions are also probable PPP ventures. (PIA-Bohol/rahc)
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Feature…
SEA-K’s P5K bingkahan
Cooks a family’s future
By: Rey Anthony Chiu
Seemingly set in a tight situation of economic hardship and with schooling children, Hermegias Perocho has to get moving or the vicious cycle of poverty and hopelessness takes a grip in his children too.
Accessing a Self Employment Assistance-Kaunlaran (SEA-K) no-interest livelihood loan for a proposed Bingkahan Project as a primary means of livelihood, the Perochos have promised to work hard instead of sulk at their lot.
Now at 49 years old, and for the mild mannered father who has worked as a city blue guard, the decision has kept him from the grueling task of graveyard shifts and a pay that could hardly sustain a family of 6 kids in the city.
Finally deciding to come home to his town in Pilar for better chances of survival, Perocho has worked odd jobs, tended a garden and still faced a bleak like. Until a brother taught him how to bake oven bake ricecakes in 1997 when the futire started to make a decipherable shape.
A resident of Poblacion 7 which is also a beneficiary barangay of the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s (DSWD) livelihood assistance funds under SEA-K, Perocho succeeded in tapping the cash boost to start off his family’s business with a new oven and some ingredients for the bingkahan.
Perocho is just one of the 25 SEA-K beneficiaries who each have tapped P5000.00 no interest loans for identified various livelihood projects aimed at conquering poverty and elevating their economic conditions.
At first, we were using crude tools to grind the rice as the main ingredient, now we have a small machine that performs two tasks at the same time. One grinds the rice and the other grates the coconut for our baking requirements, to save on the gas fuel, he excitedly shares.
Their improvement can best be pictured by the bicycle for deliveries they used then to a motorbike now, so they could serve five neighboring towns of Carmen, Sierra Bullones, Pilar, Alicia and Ubay.
“We now grind 10 kilos of rice daily for our baking requirement,” because it is not the peak season.
In peak times, and by that he means harvest season in this rice growing communities, the Perochos grind at least half a sack of rice for their cakes.
Once living on a small hut, Perochos have slowly started to repair their house using the meager income from the bingka, he shared.
Now working on repairs, he said a few more jobs and it will make the house fully comfortable.
We have to stop working on the repairs due to our two college kids and a high school student who is graduating this year, he added.
Perocho’s bingkahan (rice cakes bakery using crude ovens) would need two tin ovens, which deteriorate after about 4 months of continuous daily baking, he said.
One oven is heated more to produce the tempting cracks in the cake, while the other is on a constant low fire, to make sure each cake of a dozen per feed cooks just right, according to him during a chance interview.
Contented now but seeing that he still has more problems to go when his senior high school student graduates this year, Perocho openly dreams of converting his fuel source to biogas.
If the government would listen to us and offer more help, we could use up more funds. We have shown we can be trusted, he said.
As far as I know, raising about six hogs can generate enough methane for the ovens and assure us another income source, he added. (30)