Ibiza in Mactan

The historic island of Mactan has always provided wonderful memories for this beachcomber, although now I can’t recall exactly when and how our first touchdown was made.

It must have been in the late 1960s — when fellow poets Eman Lacaba, Donel Pacis and I hopped over from Dumaguete where we had made friends with Cebuano writers at the Silliman workshop. We accepted Linda Faigao’s invite to spend some time in Cebu City. She had offered playwright Al Evangelio’s place for lodging.

Thus did we get to reconvene with some of our 1968 workshop batchmates, among them Rene Estella Amper, a poet-doctor who became mayor of Boljoon. We also met Resil Mojares, then a brilliant young fiction writer, who would become one of our country’s most eminent scholar-authors.

Drank a lot of beer and gin, partied late into the night, hit a beach or two. One in Mactan might have been in that picture. Or it could have been a few months later when I met up with “Mom” Edith L. Tiempo and her daughter Rowena at the Magellan Hotel downtown. Mom Edith was keynoting some conference. I escorted Wen to dinner. And I could’ve crossed the strait to Mactan by myself when they left the next day.

Flash forward. What now stands as vivid earliest memory of Mactan’s seashore comes from a trip to Cebu in the early 1980s with fellow PLAC (Philippine Literary Arts Council) poets Cirilo Bautista, Jimmy Abad, Freddie Salanga and Ric de Ungria. We were invited to conduct poetry readings in University of San Carlos, UP in Cebu, and at a radio station, where we were also interviewed.

The journalists Arlene Babst, now Vokey, and Baboo Mondoñedo were in our party. At some point the sterling poet Simeon “Jun” Dumdum, now a distinguished judge, took us to a seaside resto to swoon over the fresh sea urchin roe that was simply dipped in vinegar.

In the next decades, media fam tours and other invites kept us relishing Mactan’s delights: at Maribago Bluewater resort, Shangri-La Mactan, Portofino, Costabella … A relatively recent media familiarization jaunt included a stay at the then Mactan Hilton, where a wine-and-dine experience at Manny O. Tapas and Wines Bar, replete with a lively lecture from the man himself, turned out to be the start of a beautiful friendship. Heh heh.

This fellow Manny Osmeña (not related to the political clan) is something else. Not only has he become fabulously knowledgeable about wines, which he has turned into a lifetime advocacy. He can lecture at length on the subject, citing vintage years, particular provenance, geographical features, chemical processes. And he has turned all that knowledge and passion into a burgeoning business with his Manny O. wines, which are on their way to passing the hundred-mark in terms of international awards in just six years!

He expects the 100th merit sometime soon, so that he’s already planning to host a super bash at the NBC Tent in The Fort by January. If the party he orchestrated a couple of weekends ago in what is now Mövenpick Mactan is any harbinger, then we can already envision the kind of gratifying socialization that await us early next year.

The former Mactan Hilton had changed management over a year ago, when Manny Osmeña decided to rely on Swiss expertise. But he didn’t stop there. Five months ago Mövenpick Mactan underwent a “transformation” to the tune of P500 million. All the suites, rooms and common features were upgraded and/or restyled. The major addition and enhancement was the creation of a wooden deck on that side of the beachfront that led to the Manny O.’s Tapas and Wines Bar kiosk that jutted out over the waters.

Named the Ibiza Beach Club, this elongated, curvilinear, stylish promenade and deck is intended to become a prime sun-blessed spot for obtaining a deep Mactan tan — as well as a humdinger party place when the sun goes down and internationally renowned deejays from the original Ibiza pull out all the stops on their thumping house music.

The club had its soft launch on Dec. 15. As Manny O. recounted in his welcome spiel at the launch, despite all the challenges of the past five months when the hotel had to temporarily, his prayerful appeals to the Divine met with positive results. Supertyphoon Pablo came and hardly did any damage in Cebu. Till the last minute, the resort place looked like one big construction area, with workers applying the finishing touches.

But came the day of the hotel re-launch and Ibiza Beach Club launch, what do you know? Overcast skies met the hundreds of guests as they primed for the party, and rains fell in the afternoon, aborting the planned Ibiza launch out in the open.

The welcome cocktails at sundown had to be moved to the hotel lobby, capacious and elegant as it is. Manny said his Lord had sent the usual sign, of yet another trial, but one that would also lift soon. True enough, soon after everyone had partaken of champagne, wine, and a grand buffet, the skies cleared, and the music equipment could be transferred safely back to the DJ tent at the al fresco Ibiza deck.

Broadcaster Anthony Pangilinan and Maricel Laxa emceed the rest of the proceedings. Also in attendance were Sen. Kiko Pangilinan and the stellar showbiz mother-daughter team of Sharon and KC. Media attendees included fellow Star writers Christine Dayrit and Tim Yap, together with Em Guevarra of Manila Bulletin and an ABS-CBN video crew.

A troop of fire dancers did their thing on the white-sand beach as conga drummers pounded an infectious beat and guests filled up the seaside deck. The small rock island that stood as a cove sentry had its torches shooting up towering flames. And the party went on till way past midnight.

The next morning, it was all sun. Manny’s God had just teased him a bit. Now his Ibiza edition, Mactan-style, could be tailored to a complete finish, along with that circular kiosk that will still serve as centerpiece and endpoint of the jetty that would surely become the throbbing party place in the blessed South.

Taking a morning swim thence soaking in the comfort of a mid-December sun, out there on the beach facing that jetty, we could envision how day will transform into night in the months ahead.

Behind us were novel white fiberglass cubes dotting the lawn leading to the spa, looking intriguingly much like alien droppings even as they serve as comfy seats. They were imported from Alicante in Spain where Manny also gets the precious grapes for some of his wines. Just like the Ferrari “sails” that put a signature all over the lobby and Ibiza deck, these European touches make a statement: that Mövenpick Mactan is a W. 

In the evening, these same translucent cubes of various forms take on a different cast, at least the ones floating on the illuminated pool. Ethereal is the look as their colors change by virtue of underwater lights — from lilac to blue to pink and what other pastel you have.

At sundown one can either take in the splendor from the Ibiza Club area or repair back to a suite where a balcony shares a commanding view, all the way to Punta Engaño, Mactan’s northernmost point.

Love this island. Especially when it reeks of a lifestyle that’s not really so lavish, but lush, as provider of lasting memories.