Siquijor -- 2 days in a mystic isle

12 MARCH 2004
FILIPINO BULLETIN
PINOY: THE GLOBAL NOMAD!
Siquijor -- 2 days in a mystic isle
BY RICARDO J. S. CALUEN
I
love my own, my native land, Philippines
my Philippines…so goes the first line of
one of the very first songs I learned
when I was in the grades. Of course, that
was many, many moons ago. I don’t know
if school children in the Philippines are still
taught the song…or sing it…these days. But
I think all Filipino children should be taught
this ditty that reminds us to, well, love our
own native land and appreciate its beauty.
I’ve been fortunate enough to have traveled
quite extensively in the past few years,
visiting some of the world’s great capitals,
soaking in millennia of history and culture,
savoring the joys of travel…sampling cuisine
or simply enjoying the delights of a sidewalk
café (sorry, my budget never allows me to
traipse into a mall and friends are content
with getting cheap souvenir items from my
trips).
Yet, I always long to visit the Philippines,
as often as my budget will allow. Factoring
in the plane fare, all the pasalubongs, and
anticipated expenses in the Philippines, a
trip back home is twice more expensive
than going to Europe. But this does not
stop me from going home for a visit. What
contributes to the excitement and anticipation
is the prospect of new places to discover.
With 7,100 islands, there is always some
nook of the country that I have not been to.
Last year, I finally got to go inland
mysterious Siquijor. I say inland because
I’ve been to the island province in Central
Visayas many times in my childhood but
only hanggang pier, as we say. Thanks to
superferries that regularly ply the inter-island
route, one can now hop from one island to
another in an hour or so where in the past
travel could take entire days. This particular
trip originated from Tagbilaran, Bohol where
I attended my family’s international reunion
last year.
Philippine super-ferries, refurbished
retired European crafts they maybe, are
clean and comfortable, an economical way
of traversing the archipelago. As my ferry
approached Siquijor’s port town of Larena,
memories of voyages past flashed back. The
island sits midway between the Visayas and
Mindanao. Oftentimes, traveling from my
hometown of Iligan to Bohol would find
our boat-laying anchor in Larena to pick up
passengers and cargo. It was in Larena that I
tasted the largest and sweetest duhat. At the
pier, vendors sold common Pinoy travelers’
fare: boiled eggs, “hanging rice” (the pusô,
rice cooked inside mini-coconut frond
baskets), chicken and pork barbecue.
I’ve always wondered what lay beyond the
pantalan. I grew up listening to stories of
aswang, quack doctors, and kulam (barang
in the vernacular) the province was supposed
to be well known for. Were the stories true?
If ever a spell was cast on me, it was my
appreciation for the rugged beauty that
Siquijor’s countryside and beaches offer.
This I discovered as the lapping of
waves woke me up in my comfortable airconditioned cottage at the Coral Cay Resort.
I booked myself for a 2-days’ stay at the
resort a few weeks before I left Toronto.
Located in San Juan town some 30 minutes
drive from Larena, Coral Cay enjoys good
reviews from many foreign visitors (visit
www.coralcayresort.com).
It advertises
itself as an eco-sensitive, environmentally
responsible, low impact resort that blends
with its natural environment and people, a
perfect place to simply relax, unwind, and
chill out. And enjoy the resort I did, for a
mere US$20 a day.
Since it was at the height of the SARS
scare that I visited the island, there were not
too many guests at the resort. But I’m not
one to be affected by quiet and solitude (I
traveled the length and breadth of England
for almost 2 weeks hardly speaking to anyone
unless I needed directions.). What could be
more idyllic than an early morning walk
on the beach, observing a few fishermen
hauling in their catch of the day, the smoke
of breakfast-in-the-making from nearby nipa
huts reminding me that I was no longer in
Toronto. I chatted with two women who
were shucking sea urchins that eventually
ended up on my luncheon plate for the cost
of fifty cents. I paid them the equivalent of
$2.00; think of what you will get for the cost
of a Japanese uni dinner in Toronto!
Later at night, I sampled the American
cuisine the resort boasts (the resort owners
are an American expat and his Cebuano
See Siquijor on Page 32
32 MARCH 2004
FILIPINO BULLETIN
PINOY: THE GLOBAL NOMAD!
ADVENTURES OF A FOODIE BY RICARDO J. S. CALUEN
GOOD FRIDAY FARE
Pretty soon it will be Good Friday, a
time when traditional Catholics will obey
the prescription of fast and abstinence.
Abstinence basically means refraining from
eating meat, while fasting means practically
not eating at all. In this day and age the
practice will sound absurd, unless one is a
vegetarian or has found abstinence medically
sound. Popular historian Ambeth Ocampo
recently wrote an interesting piece relating
how the Philippines was spared from
following the European practice of going
meatless all Fridays of the year, excepting
Good Friday. He elaborated on the socioeconomic realities at the time when Catholics
started the practice where depriving oneself
of something meant a lot.
If Mr. Ocampo went a little further with
his investigation, he will also discover that
there are philosophical underpinnings in
the practice of fasting and abstinence. It is
that with a renewed pervading influence of
Greek thought just around the Middle Ages,
the body was believed to be entrapping the
soul that needed to be liberated. Thus, the
more the body is punished and deprived of
earthly pleasures, the purer the soul became.
This is where you get the origins of selfflagellation (whipping oneself) and of clerics
wearing sack cloth or undershirts with nails
underneath their habits (the late Paul VI was
known to observe the latter).
But even if Filipinos were to abstain from
meat on Good Friday, we won’t exactly be left
with dull and unexciting fare. Gilda CorderoFernando, writing in her book Philippine
Food and Life, describes what Filipinos of a
generation ago use to cook during the Lenten
season. Remember the good ol’ combination
of mongo gisado and paksiw na isda? In
Laguna, the folks would fry fish (presumably
from the lake) and prepare laksa, a dish of
Malayan influence consisting of banana heart,
stringbeans, eggplants, sigarillas, bataw and
lima beans, and some sotanghon noodles
cooked in coconut milk. One can actually go
to an Asian grocery in Toronto’s Chinatown
and get a packet of laksa mix, an Indonesian
product bearing the same label. In the Filipino
version, flavoring is provided by large-headed
river shrimps with tiny pincers that turn red
when cooked, according to Ms. Fernando.
Siquijor from Page12
wife). It was definitely far better fare than
what I had to suffer in Havana. I capped
my evening with cognac (the resort has a
well-stocked bar) and a Cohiba. The sight
of a small Pinoy smoking a stogie intrigued
another tourist who complimented me on
my choice of cigar. Sorry, but I was just
in no mood to socialize and cut short the
small talk. Once in a while we do have to
withdraw from the world to enjoy life in
peace and quiet.
Not much of a swimmer nor a beach bum,
I soon found my way around the island the
following day just to soak in the local flavor.
It does not take long to go around Siquijor
and its six municipalities. It was easy cruising
for me, thanks to the driver I hired, Clyde of
Clyde’s EZ Ride Service. For around C$50,
Clyde can show you around to enjoy the
island’s rugged topography of limestone rock
material, mangroves, white sandy beaches
and, if you dive, coral reefs. Along the way,
we dropped by a Swiss inn that served a lot
of what you’ll find in a regular European
menu. As a footnote, I checked out an art
gallery just at the outskirts of Larena called
Isla de Fuego, the old name of Siquijor.
Visiting the website www.mysiquijor.com
recently, I just learned that it’s artist/owner
is none other than a painter whose I career
I helped launch when I used to curate the
Galeria de Iligan years back!
Life in Siquijor could be a little tough
for the natives because of its topography.
Much of the island is made up of limestone,
the interior hilly and mountainous, making
Seniors celebrate Valentine’s Day
The United Filipino Ethnic Community Association had a successful Valentines Day 2004
celebration last February 28 at the Haven Town Hall. Emcee Precy Beltran kept the party
going, including the selection of this year’s Mrs. Valentine, Cristy Belisario, center. UFECA
president Josie Mirabueno (left of Ms. Belisario) did her part, ensuring that everybody had fun
and took to the dancefloor. Part of the proceeds of UFECA fundraisers are donated to worthy
causes like the Hospicio De San Jose, an orphanage in Manila run by nuns.
Other popular Friday dishes include pipian
dalag, a dish akin to kari-kari with its sauce
of toasted, pounded rice and peanuts, without
the vegetables. Of course, there is the easy
to prepare bulanglang, newly picked garden
vegetables boiled with a fish or sliced raddish
sautéed in shrimps. In Mindanao, we would
first broil the fish before adding it to what is a
very soupy dish to Bisayans.
On Good Friday itself different regions
have varying food preparations. Pagsanjan
folks are known to cook binging baboy
(literally, deaf pig) consisting of jackfruit
buds cooked in coconut milk with a fish to
flavor it. In more interior parts of the country
with bodies of fresh water, some would cook
tinolang daing na dalag (dried fish cooked in
a soup with vegetables), or simply prepare
sinalab ng dalag or inihaw na hito, or broiled
mudfish and catfish, respectively. Perhaps
across the archipelago fried lumpia, sans pork
of course, would be a popular dish.
In Bisaya homes like mine, tabirak, or
ginataan, would be a common item on the table.
But I have never really particularly enjoyed
having ginataan (jackfruit, ripe bananas, ube,
etc.) as the only meal on Good Friday. Any
fish dish would obviously do for me. For some
reason, among traditional Bisaya families, fish
may be cooked in any way on Good Friday
except by broiling or grilling it. For some
reason, it is taboo to cook fish in a manner that
blackens it. Now, I still have to find out the
philosophical import of this practice.
Have a meaningful observance of Lent.
farming difficult. It is perhaps because
of this that many Siquijodnons migrate
to neighboring provinces in search of the
proverbial greener pastures. The local
folks are of a hardy stock known for their
religiosity, sincerity, industry and hospitality.
When I visited the provincial capitol to ask
for tourism materials, someone readily
helped me with photocopying a few pages.
Recalling his name plate on my out, it turned
out that he is a Provincial Prosecutor and not
just any admin guy.
Siquijor is one province in the country
where there seems to be a big number of
foreign nationals calling it their new home.
This is a testament to the allure of the
island and its people. One such fellow is a
gentleman who I befriended on the internet
as I prepared to visit Siquijor. He calls
himself Siquijor Gary. He is an American
from Indiana (now, I don’t know if he
lives in Gary). Gary so loves the place he
maintains a website that offers an extensive
network of links on Siquijor. Check out
www.mysiquijor.com The website also
hosts some of the photos I took of my visit
to Siquijor. Gary has his own story to tell
elsewhere in this issue.
I could have stayed longer in Siquijor but
the Banaue Rice Terraces were beckoning.
And it would be quite a trip to get to
Northern Luzon from the Visayas. I was
glad I finally fulfilled a childhood dream
of exploring Siquijor on my own. And
the only thing spooky at the time was the
thought that I could have brought SARS to
the island since I was feverish the night I
arrived in Larena.
Roaring for 10 years
Toronto Golden Vision Lions Club celebrated its 10th Charter Anniversary Night on March
6 at the Capitol Banquet Centre. The Lions were all dressed to the nines for the occasion as
if to impress the elegant guest speaker of the evening, Consul Indhira Banares. Lions all over
the world aim to make a difference in the lives of people in their respective communities.
The Toronto Golden Vision Lions Club has been extending assistance to various causes in
the Philippines like the Elsie Gaches Village and the Ladies’ Association of Charity in Cebu.
The groups has sent medicine and hospital supplies to hospitals in San Miguel, Bulacan;
Ibaan, Batangas; Capiz, etc. As club president, Mariano Ben Matugas has been effectively
encouraging his members to work harder to meet goals set for 2004.