Cruisin' onboard the Bandong

CEBU, Philippines - Bohol never fails to amaze me. With local government units that continue to entice buildup of public interest in ecological tourism, the empowerment of community tour guides and community theatres called “cultural collectives” are the recent developments in line with community-based sustainable tourism envisioned to be the economic driver in the municipalities of Cortes, Maribojoc, Antequera, Balilihan and Catigbian.

These component LGUs grouped themselves in order to sustainably manage the abundance of Abatan River (term stands for “converging/meeting place”; stress on second syllable) which led to the creation of the Abatan River Development Management Council, currently chaired by Catigbian Mayor Roberto Salinas. Initial achievement is the formulation of the Abatan River Code that serves as guide in the drafting and polishing of policies and regulatory measures in river management and development.

Bohol Governor Edgar Chatto is so pleased with the development that he reminded stakeholders, in his speech, “the river cruise which carries the brand name Nature Experience and Community Life Tour is not geared at competing with character of similar destination, as Abatan has a different story. Palanggaon nato kay source of life and livelihood opportunities ni nato.”

Onboard the bandong (sampan is a pseudonym), we cruised upstream on Abatan’s 13.5-kilometer stretch from Barangay Salvador in Cortes to Kawasan Falls (meaning to “go down”) and the Dagook Falls (which means “rumbling”) in Catigbian last June 23 in time for the launch of the Abatan River Community Life Tour.  

The launch opened with a “palina” (smoke ritual) and a short program at the Main Ecotourism Village Center in Cortes town with Chatto, Department of Tourism Secretary Joseph “Ace” Durano, former Governor Erico Aumentado, members of the Abatan River management council, media representatives from Bohol, Cebu and Manila; security details, and rescue groups; various cooperatives and people’s organizations, and townsfolk.

The first stop in Salvador is located 10-15 minutes from downtown Tagbilaran City and serves as the main reception and docking facility for the tour. The area has an information center and LGU stalls where each municipality gets the opportunity to display certain products and offer assistance to tourists. Two bandongs (local river boat), which has a carrying capacity of 20 passengers each, took the participants to the other four stopovers – Maribojoc (in Barangay Lincod), Antequera (Barangay Sto. Rosario), Balilihan (Barangay Cabad) and Catigbian (Barangay Poblacion West) each with its own satellite ecotourism village center that serves as docking station and performance hall for cultural dances and drama. It was a sad note though that some butterflies suffered during the launch as they died while kept in folded bond paper supposedly for the ceremonial freeing of butterflies. It’s really violation of animal rights, and an awful thing to do right at the launch of something supposedly life-sustaining; thus, should not take a repeat!

However, the rest of the trip went on smoothly and was marred only by the rain at past 3 p.m. We refused to be pissed off by the situation as we remember we had this Oratio Imperata for rains; good thing that finally the downpour has refreshed the earth.

Back to the bandongs, tour interpreter Marianito Luspo with the help of community tour guide who goes by the name Melaluna, identified various species of endemic trees like the bagtikan; and mangroves, as well as explained the production of nipa shingles in Maribojoc where nipa palms thrive because of its brackish water. They educated us on various bamboo species and specific uses; other raw materials from plants utilized in cottage industries like the sig-id, nito, buri and sagisi. And while on our hop from sat-village center to the next, we savored innovations in food preparation as with the camote lumpia (you would love the texture of this in your mouth); the gabi pie with coconut meat wrapped in young coconut leaves (resembles the “puso”); and the most delicious cassava cake (ever!) offered in Catigbian. 

At each stop along the tour, a five to 10-minute cultural show, unique to each eco village center, were performed by the Cultural Collectives. Through dance drama, barrio folks retold the story of the early river settlements from the time of the Eskaya people (a tribe from Sumatra which settled in Bohol) to that of Tamblot, great babaylan of the Boholanos turned revolutionary leader in 1621 against Spanish conquistadores.

These community-based cultural organizations were formed under the auspices of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts through the Lihok Bisaya Community-Based Creative Indulgences Program.

Before and after the performances, tour participants got the opportunity to view exhibits and displays about the natural and cultural heritage of the host Abatan River community, and its varied products.

As of this writing, improvements on toilet facilities are ongoing. The DOT staff also listened to suggestions from participants for further improvements. Our group suggested that aside from the usual lecture-type format, tour guides may input snippets on history with the use of folk songs for quick retention of information. Another is to improve on the docking facility and allow tourists, who might not want to join the entire cruise considering the number of stops, to explore a particular area of interest through alternative/optional local tours, like that one at the Postan Mangrove Forest in Maribojoc.

    Overall, the trip showed that folks have now taken a deeper interest in the cultural affairs of their own place. The call for community participation has rekindled desire among people in the recapturing of cultural pride and identity and in serving as vital players in activities geared towards the empowering of local economy.

These people were referred to by the Antequera Cultural Collective through a sayawit as the “katawhan sa tampi ning suba.” ?