• Inabanga’s odd case
of tourism
• Charice wants to live in Bohol!
Wake-uppers:
Scene: The Mines and
Geosciences Bureau (MGB) recommends immediate relocation and evacuation of
residents with houses near the newly developed sinkhole in Purok 7, Barangay
Poblacion 1, Tagbilaran City. The landslide susceptibility rating is very high.
Barangay Captain Arlene Karaan conducted an emergency general assembly to
inform the residents of the findings of MGB. The sinkhole in Poblacion 1 is one
of the 50 sinkholes in Tagbilaran City which emerged after the 7.2 magnitude
earthquake that hit Bohol last Oct. 15.
 |
| Madonna and Child appears in Calape, Bohol Photo by Leo Udtohan |
Scene: An image of the “Madonna
and Child” reportedly appeared on the floor of the multi-purpose hall at Calape
Central Elementary School in barangay Sta. Cruz in Calape town. The
multi-purpose hall is used as an evacuation center. People from neighboring
towns have started to flock to the school to get a glimpse and pray before the
image. Rev. Fr. Aurelio Luzon, Jr., parish priest of St. Vincent Ferrer, clarified
that it will take a while before they can verify if the image is indeed an
apparition. “People visit the place because of curiosity,” said Fr. Luzon. “Let's
keep praying. There's nothing wrong with the floor or the apparition, what
matter is our faith."
Scene: LGU Loboc banned
Loboc Riverwatch from taking off and
barred guests from riding the floating resto of Tessie Labunog-Sumampong last
Oct. 25. “Kita mo naguba among docking port so duha lang
nag-operate, so si Miss Tessie nakahibaw na siya nga karun nga paagi
turno-turno pa. Wala man siya mo-coordinate sa LGU. So ako siya giingnan nga
it’s an order nga dili ka makaoperate ogma para walay gubot unya imong mga
bisita dili mauwawan,” Loboc Mayor Helen
Alaba told reporters. However, Tessie denied that she received a suspension
order from the Mayor. “Walay order. Wala mi kadawat order or advice, wala man.
As usual lang among operation pero nananghid gihapun mi.” The mayor’s brother, ex-Mayor Leon Calipusan,
was there at the Complex to drive away tourists. One tourist Rachel Acedo
complained saying, “This is our choice, you can’t dictate the guests where we
want to eat ...ginamit ang issue ng earthquake na kesyo nasira ang docking
area...dapat take turns. Why allowed us to get inside the boat and we have our
lunch and we will wait for our turn to cruise?”
Scene:
Bangon Bohol posted on Facebook that a
network of local artists, musicians, photographers/videographers, writers, is
currently doing a video documentary and a music album and a new Awit sa Bohol
music video. Bb. Pilipinas 2006 Anna Maris Igpit also shared that their group
“SugBohol” is planning an all-star "Balik sa Bohol" music video to
promote Bohol tourism.
***
Down-trodden
by the tragedy, singing sensation Charice Pempengco will hold a benefit concert
for the earthquake victims and survivors in Bohol. Dubbed as "One
Voice," the said event will be held on November 5 (Tuesday) at the Newport
Performing Arts Theater in Resorts World Manila.
 |
|
Charice and her Bohol connection: Her “One Voice” benefit
concert for Bohol quake victims is on Nov. 5. Courtesy:
Charice
|
When
asked why she considers Bohol as the beneficiary, Charice told reporters in a
presscon last Tuesday that she had developed a connection with the place.
Charice
and her girlfriend Alyssa Quijano visited Bohol one week before the earthquake
for their first anniversary.
“First
time ko po sa Bohol nu’n. Three days po kami ro’n and then, naging espesyal
siya sa akin kasi pinaka-touched talaga ako sa mga tao.” Charice told
reporters.
She said unlike other places, Boholanos never judged her gender preference and accepted her with open arms.
She said unlike other places, Boholanos never judged her gender preference and accepted her with open arms.
“Kasi,
sorry to say, pero alam naman natin na may mga tao, like sa Manila, na medyo
tagilid ang mga ugali. Pero doon, sobrang totoo sila, alam n’yo po ’yun?
Sobrang friendly and marespeto. Grabe po talaga. First night ko pa lang,
nagustuhan ko na talaga sila. Na-touch ako the way they treated me. Hindi ko
sila kakilala pero sobrang parang close ko na agad sila,” added Charice.
“Doon
ko po na-realize na gusto kong tumira sa Bohol, maski na nagkaroon ng
earthquake, e, mauudlot ang plano ko. Kaya ko po gagawin ang concert na ito
kasi gusto ko pong makatulong para mapabilis ‘yung pag-recovery nila,” said
Charice.
Charice
said that she wanted to live in Bohol than to settle down in the United States.
***
Inabanga
has been garnering major media mileage as the home of the “faultline.” It was
Gerwin Yudelmo, a youth leader of Inabanga, who informed me about the five
kilometer ground rupture in barangay Anonang.
 |
|
The
surface rupture (faultline) which appeared after the killer quake in barangay
Anonang, Inabanga town invites tourists to explore nature. Courtesy:
Gerwin Yudelmo
|
“It’s now a tourist attraction,” said Gerwin.
“From a disaster to a blessing!”
Last Wednesday, Liza Macalandag, Jocelyn
Pilayre, and yours truly, decided to
visit the place after we visited barangay Maitum, Catigbian town for a stress
debriefing
The
entry point to Anonang is Bogtong Market. Along the way, we delved into the
tastes of the place as we experienced Anonang with its breathtaking rolling hills
and foliage.
“The
place is enchanting,” gushed Jocelyn, who like us, visited the place for the
first time.
After
the killer quake, there are new discoveries in Bohol. Watch for it!
***
Here’s
“Is There Still A Way Out?” from Ana Liza Abao of Loboc who is sharing VRS
readers her thoughts on the quake which hit Bohol and Someone who’s mighty up
there. Here it is:
A week after the 7.2
trembling earthquake hit Bohol, I found myself alone in a room of my aunt’s
home in Burgos St. Tagbilaran City trying to exercise total silence and
contemplation, bringing my head down to my knees as I used to, hoping that it
can prevent me from any distraction. I started to reflect why these have had to
happen. Bohol – the heart of the islands is now bleeding and even the deafening
silence of the hills from town to town cried out to the wilderness. For a
moment, Boholano senses have refused to believe that it had happened in just a
click.
Yes it was. October 15
had been a day to remember, an unimaginable disaster ever realized by every
Boholano and other neighboring inhabitants in the region as well. Each has his
or her own story to tell.
As I wanted to look
back across that terrifying day, I was awakened at almost 8:00 in the morning
trying to be obedient to the call of nature but decided to roll back in bed as
it was the first week of semestral break in one of the universities in Cebu
City.
My co-boarders most of
whom are Bol-anons were still in bed trying to enjoy the two week vacation.
Putting my head set on, as my way of making myself back to sleep and off to
wonderland, I closed my two round eyes and started to listen to the song “Ikaw
ang among Gabayan” by Sheryn Regis when in an instant my bed shook and my
senses told me that it’s an earthquake. I didn’t move at once in the hope that
it will eventually stop.
Alas, to my disbelief
it continued to shake like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour and I
could hear the audible running steps from my co-boarders and joining them, we
run as fast as we could outside from the three-storey building we rented in.
While running, I wondered why it lasted for several seconds and my feeble mind
told me that woe to us as it was God’s wrath. Mighty goodness, God wanted His
presence felt at that moment.
As my fourth time to
experience an earthquake, the mental prayer taught by my late mother who passed
away 2 months ago on the same date had been my instant refuge and uttering the
words “Yes Lord You Exist”, it halted for a moment. Only did I realize that I
went out barefooted.
My sister who lives in
Inabanga with her family called me at once and to my surprise that tremor hit
Bohol and Cebu at the same time.
My co-boarders who are
residents of Loon, Carmen and Batuan were also busy with their phones trying to
connect with their beloved families. And the rest were followed by various
destructions of homes and heritage churches including my home town’s St. Peter’s
Parish Church in Loboc.
Two days after, my
co-boarder and I went home to quake-torn Bohol and it was a heartbreaking scene
before my very eyes. Bohol bleeds.
I went to my hometown
Loboc and the church where I was baptized was no longer the same two weeks
before the tremor occurred when I went there capturing different views and
angles inside the beautiful and famous Loboc church hoping that I can use those
photos for my photojournalism class.
I supposed that I was the last Lobocanon who
had different shots from its ceiling to the ground including the museum before
that destructive quake happened and forever will it be saved in my file much
more to my memory.
Had it not been on a
non-working day, it would be a different story. Had it been on a Sunday, it
would be Bohol’s most fatal day.
In an instant our
lives are threatened that seems dark ahead but God in His supreme greatness
still spared us from His mighty wrath. Just as God’s ways are beyond
imagination and His reasons are not ours to complain, we have to face it in
faith that we are indeed blessed in some way or another.
This passing life is a
labyrinth of darkness and uncertainty and how many of us have ever asked if
there is still a way out.
The deafening
‘bang-bang’ of guns in Zamboanga faction, the never-ending bloody and floody
areas in Metro Manila, the pork barrel sequel, violence, name it, we all have
it.
Rich and poor alike we
can never escape from these human and natural disasters while we are still on
this earthly journey.
Like a river that
flows ever onward toward the sea truly it is certain that the current of daily
life moves ever onward the Day of Judgment.
Knowing that most of
us are all united in prayers before the living God, I unite myself to God’s
holy angels in deep adoration before the throne of the Highest. May the praise
that is sung in heaven resound in the heart of every Boholano particularly
those who are deeply affected.
I came out of that
prayer time knowing that God loved us so much amidst our human frailties. It
was an hour of total silence. No asking. No intercessions. No habitual prayer.
Absolutely nothing. Just silence.
Now that my ears are
closer to my chest I can feel the shaking of the bed that surely confirms that
another aftershock occurs. And there is no way out.
Truly, God wanted His
Presence felt. Anytime. Anywhere. “Yes Lord, You Exist”!
***
Thanks for your letters, all will be answered.
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