BAHANDI

The Bahandi is a neighborhood organization known as the Baclayon Ancestral Homes Association. The association is composed of home-owners of Spanish colonial houses in Baclayon who banded together to spare their homes from demolition in a province-wide road-widening project sometime in 2002.

In Visayan, the local dialect, the word “Bahandi” means “treasure”. There are over 67 ancestral houses in Baclayon and some have offered their homes to the public as “homestays” where guests can avail of bed and breakfast for a day or longer.

Ancestral houses, some constructed as early as 1853, are within walking distance of each other and the Baclayon Church. The “homestay” program adopted by the owners help them to earn their keep which is generally geared towards the preservation of these heritage homes.

The homestay program seeks to provide visitors with accommodations and food; a place where one can work and live with a Boholano family and get to know firsthand the Boholano lifestyle and culture. Likewise, with foreign visitors, Boholanos can learn about foreign culture and form international friendships.

Read more @ bohol-philippines.com

Experiencing and reminiscing on Baclayon

You will read on this blog not just my reminiscences of the time spent in Baclayon but also other people’s experiences of their visit to my hometown.

Baclayon Experience

When I started this blog I said upfront that I will borrow articles and blogposts written by other people. I will then re-post it on this blog duly acknowledged.

Sharing other people’s experience of Baclayon neutralizes my own biased views as well as enriches my readers’ knowledge of my hometown.

I have already started re-posting other people’s Baclayon experience.

If you notice, I copied and pasted (and made some minor changes for aesthetic reasons) verbatim, part of the original blogpost or article and then redirect you (readers) to the whole blogpost in the original author's blog.

I hope the bloggers that I featured here are cool to this idea, which I adopted from Bohol Blog. That blog featured a few of my blogposts from my Bohol On My Mind blog.

So, if you wish to read tales about other people’s stay and visit to my hometown, just look for the label Baclayon experience.

Also, if you come across this blog and you want to share your Baclayon experience here then please let me know and I will gladly feature it on this blog.

Reminiscence

I have blogged about my reminiscences of the time I spent in my home province of Bohol.

Since some of it involves my stay and visits to my hometown Baclayon, I have re-posted them on this blog (with a note to its original posting).

I spent part of my childhood in Baclayon, which resulted in many wonderful memories that are still quite vivid even until now.

My family went back and lived for good in Baclayon in the 1990s. However, by that time I was in university in Cebu and later off to carve my own niche in this world in other places of the country.

I still regularly go home to Baclayon and visit my parents and relatives during the time I was still in the Philippines.

All my reminiscent stories are labelled Reminiscence, in case you are interested to read about them.

Baclayon Church’s pipe organ

Text and photo: BEZO Initiatives

The 185-year old pipe organ of Baclayon Church was restored in 2008.

In a previous blogpost, Baclayon Church, the full article from bohol-philippines.com mentioned that the church’s pipe organ was in a state of disrepair. Not anymore!

The Baclayon pipe organ is thought to be the third oldest pipe organ in the Philippines. Built in 1824, it had been modified only once, in 1902. However, the changes were of poor quality and mostly unnecessary.

The pipe organ was last played in the early 1940s, when it fell into neglect and disrepair.

That explains why, in all the time that I have been hearing Mass in Baclayon Church since I was a wee boy, I have not heard it played! Nor am I surprised if my father (born in late 1930s) have not, as well.

Before its restoration in early 2008, the pipe organ was left covered in thick layers of dust, with several parts missing or damaged.

This musical instrument was carefully taken apart and shipped to Parañaque (Metro Manila) for extensive repair by Diego Cera Organbuilders, a group of Europe-trained pipe organ specialists.

The next time I visit my hometown Baclayon (hopefully next year) I will bring my family to the church to hear Mass and hear the beautiful music coming out from the pipe organ again.

If you are interested to read more about the pipe organ’s restoration, visit the BEZO Initiatives website.

Staying in Baclayon

Stay in Baclayon if you are visiting Bohol.

If you are planning to go to Bohol and is looking for alternative to Tagbilaran and Panglao, then choose Baclayon.

Still quite a quaint old town, Baclayon is rich in history, being the first town established by the Spanish in Bohol.

Homestay

Some of the heritage houses found in Poblacion, which dates back to the Spanish colonial period, are open to visitors as homestays.

According to AllWords.com, a homestay is a "house primarily as the residence of the owner but with the business of accommodating paying guests."

Owners of these heritage houses have formed an organisation, the Baclayon Ancestral Homes Association, which is also known as Bahandi (Visayan word for treasure). Some member houses are open as homestays.

Hotel and Resort

If, however, you are after a more modern and pampering accommodation, there are a few hotels and resorts I have come across in the worldwide web.

A high end hotel resort is located in barangay Laya, the Peacock Garden Luxury Resort and Spa.

Also in Laya is the Bohol Coconut Palms Resort, which is more affordable by most tourists.

And if privacy is more to your liking, then head on to Baclayon Bed and Breakfast in barangay Guiwanon.

Labels

I will write about these tourist accommodations in Baclayon in future blogposts. I will create labels for them - Homestay and Hotel and Resort, for ease of reference.

More than anything else, (Baclayon) Bohol

You asked me what brought me to Bohol?

I don’t think I have the ready answers to this. Instead, I will tell you how I spent the first nights in Baclayon.

It was an uneasy mix. Diverse at one point and contented on another. On a Sunday, when memories of home raced through mind, I was struck by the repeated peals of the bells of Baclayon Church. I buried my head between two pillows until the sounds dissipated. The altar boy- in-charge tasked to pull down the ropes of the bells must be so strong he wouldn’t stop nary a second. He did a good job. The sounds were constant. The parishioners have gone home to rest from the wrappings of the recent Masses and the reminders were heard all over Baclayon.

This form of quietude is Bohol’s enviable trait alongside laidback principles steeped in pious activities.

Read more @ Manila Bulletin Lifestyle

At home in Baclayon

It has been raining a lot in Manila. The other day and the day before was a really strong downpour in the afternoon, then yesterday was a really frightening thunderstorm. Today was rain and rain and more rain from morning to afternoon.

Well, it is the rainy season.

But it was different in Bohol, at least in Baclayon where we stayed. The rain is not as violent - sometimes in the early morning, sometimes in the middle of the day, but not like an endless river as here in Manila.

The sound of the rain is also different, because in Baclayon there is more soil and foliage, the rain falls on soft surface and not concretized ground. Many houses are also made of wood or nipa and thus the rain falls on soft roofs rather than galvanized iron sheets. The sound of rain pouring at sea also has its strange comforting sound, a bit frightening in he beginning because the sound seemed to amplify the sound of the wind.

I have learned to love the sound of rain in Manila. I have even learned to love the endless pouring, not of drops, but of buckets and buckets of rain. As a child, I also found it fun and exciting whenever it rained really hard and flooded the house. Luckily, floods didn’t turn life-threatening.

The wind in Baclayon can be quite strong. I remember during my stay in the convento the evening wind would come in from the sea. Our friend Evelyn advises that if you stay in a nipa house to keep the windows open in the event of a typhoon lest the winds carry your house away!

Read more at Fats, Vitamins and Minerals

A typical day in Baclayon

Continuing my account of our stay in Baclayon, while memories are still fresh in my mind …

Our homestay, owned by Trini and Dan Dawson, has a beautiful garden. What a surprise when Maylene came into the kitchen with bunches of bananas and a pineapple - all from the garden! Trevor spotted a beetle, a very small one so it was quite difficult to take a photo (above). I must say that it is probably the most colorful beetle I’ve ever seen.

One evening, I managed to take another photo of the tuko (spotted gecko). This one probably measures at least a foot long. Trevor and I happen to like house lizards a lot and we really love the sounds that they make, for example the “tu-tu-tu-tu — tuko, tuko, tuko…” of the tuko and the “tsk-tsk-tsk-tsk-tsk-tsk” of the smaller house lizard, so we don’t really mind having them around.

Here is the Baclayon Municipal Hall which we pass each day when we go to the baluarte. It is quite a lovely little building. Behind it is the health center, a small DSWD (Department of Social Welfare and Development) building, and the municipal hall extension further back. There are also rest houses being constructed in the area. According to our friend Kimo from Pamilacan Island, the rest houses are especially for children from Pamilacan Island who go to the mainland (Baclayon town) school and get stranded on the mainland in the event of typhoon or other causes.

Morning of Baclayon Market Day (Wednesday), the quiet market is transformed into a lively atmosphere where all sorts of goods are sold - from vegetables, fish and meat, to clothes, jewelry and shoes. Outside near the creek are people buying and selling piglets and chickens.


Read more at Fats, Vitamins and Minerals

Broas (Ladyfingers)

The broas (ladyfingers) from Osang’s somewhere behind the Baclayon Church in Bohol are simply spectacular. Broas are my number one favorite locally baked sweet crunchy snack. It’s a kid thing. Growing up I used to get dragged to my mother’s ancestral summer home in Bohol and on the arduous jeepney or minibus ride there we would stop at her suki where she would chat with the old lady while the ENTIRE jeepney or minibus waited patiently and we would pick up a few packs of broas to take with us on the trip. At this early stage, she would also place orders for several cans (huge cans) of broas for us to take back to Manila on our way home. Last year I went back to Osang’s and it has barely changed in the past 30 years in between my last visit. Many people make broas in Bohol, but Osang’s is it for Marketman.

Broas are nothing new, they are in fact a local version of well-known ladyfingers or similar cookies in the west. What makes the Bohol ones so good is half fond childhood memories and half an incredible attention to craftsmanship. The recipe is a secret mix of whole eggs (not egg whites as most would assume), flour and sugar. My sister once spent a day at Osang’s to figure out how to make them but she recalls mostly that they were slowly mixed by hand in wooden bowls. The slow mix yields a different consistency from an aerated mix in an electric mixer. They still mix the ingredients by hand today. Also unique is they oven where charcoal is beneath the cookies and charcoal is also place above the cookies so that they are crisp and cooked just right all over. You would think after selling their 7 millionth broas they could get an oven but that isn’t the point. How nice that someone still makes this the old-fashioned way! Considering how humid the Philippines is, the fact that these cookies remain crunchy for several days or weeks if properly stored is a miracle in and of itself.

Read more at Market Man

Feeling at home in Baclayon

We were met with lousy weather when our plane touched down in Tagbilaran city, the capital of Bohol. By the time we retrieved our luggage, the rains were coming down hard and I was sticky from the humidity. I started to fret that this would ruin our weekend, but quickly resolved to make the most of it. It was just rain, after all, it doesn’t bother me much. Two years in London had taken care of that.

My friend’s uncle kindly arranged for us to be picked-up at the airport and dropped-off at the Bohol Narra Homestay in the town of Baclayon, some 10 minutes from the capital. We opted for a place on the mainland instead of on Panglao island because of the nature of our trip (our main objective was to do a heritage homes/historic churches tour). The homestay was recommended by my friends who are getting married in Bohol in September. This is where they stay each time they come over to take care of wedding preparations so I knew it was clean and decent at the very least.

Clean and decent, it sure was. But more than that, our hosts were a very pleasant bunch! The rooms they rent out are separate from the main house within the family compound which is located by along the national road with a mangrove for a backyard. I’ve never been a guest at a homestay before and I have to say that it made our trip even more special.

Read more at Ramblings from a Gypsy soul

Baclayon Museum

Photo: StoicPassion

The Baclayon Museum is another attraction of Baclayon. Aside from the centuries old Baclayon Church which is deluged by tourists almost daily, the museum is likewise a tourist destination. In fact, a visit to the church is not complete without a stopover at the museum.

The museum lies inside the Baclayon Church premises about 6-7 kilometers from Tagbilaran City. One can hardly miss the dark and imposing structure of the church since it is along the national road; very accessible by bus, hired van or private ride.

The museum is housed inside the old convent which lies alongside the back portion of the church. Adjoining it is the Immaculate Conception Academy and a wide open space at its front that can serve as a parking area for vehicles.

The museum charges a minimal entrance fee of P25 per person to cover maintenance costs. Picture taking is not allowed inside the museum; however, guests can freely take pictures of the church’s interiors. Due to previous thefts of many of its artifacts, the curia of Baclayon is now cautious in allowing people to take pictures of them.

Before entering the museum, guests can first have a look at the interior of Baclayon Church, especially of its majestic altar and the frescoes above it. There are many items of note inside the church which also dates back to the 16th century such as the statues, carved seats and intricate designs.

In fact, the Baclayon Church is a museum in itself minus the vestments, the hymnals covered with animal skins and the like.

Read more at bohol-philippines.com

A history of Baclayon

Baclayon played a prominent role in the history of Bohol since it was the first municipality ever to be established in the island by the Spaniards.

Baclayon then encompasses its present territory as well as those belonging now to the towns Corella, Sikatuna, Alburquerque, Balilihan and the City of Tagbilaran.


On November 17, 1595, two Jesuit priests, Fr. Juan de Torres and Fr. Gabriel Sanchez, left Cebu for Bohol to start the conversion of the villagers of Baclayon. Through hard work, patience and perseverance, the duo succeeded in winning the natives' confidence. With the people’s help, they built a big church, like a fort, with a belfry that served as a watchtower for spying the coming of the Muslim (Moro) raiders who used to come and wreck havoc on the people.

Baclayon, then being the residence of the Jesuit Superior General, was the “Residencia” or center of the Bohol missions. However, on October 26, 1600, Baclayon was raided by some 300 Maguindanao Moros in 50 war boats led by Datu Sali and Datu Sirongan. Fortunately, their coming was sighted through the belfry, and when the raiders arrived 3 to 4 hours later, the people were nowhere to be found except for 3 old women and an old man. The four were killed and then the raiders sailed away.

For fear of more raids, the “Residencia” was transferred to Loboc. Life in the settlement went on as usual and in a few years time, the population grew. In 1717, the settlement was raised to the status of a parish and construction of a new and sturdier church began. Through forced labor, 200 natives worked on the church until its completion in 1727.

Baclayon then became a thriving settlement with 1,600 taxpayers. Due to the very large area covered by Baclayon, the priests and Spanish officials find it hard to impose a tax-census and control the activities of the inhabitants. Also the natives who go to confession went over 8,000 and can no longer be accommodated inside the church premises.

Read more at bohol-philippines.com

Baclayon Church

The Church of Immaculada Concepcion in Baclayon is considered to be one of the oldest in the Philippines.

Construction began in 1717 where some 200 native forced laborers (obras pias) cut and dragged coral blocks from the sea, using only bamboos in moving and lifting the stones in position.

Millions of white eggs were said to have been used as cement. The current building was completed in 1727.

In the 19th century, the Augustinian Recollects added a new facade- pictured here- and a number of stone buildings that now surround the church.

Old broken glasses no longer can be replaced. The colored panes locally available now are different- pattern is limited only to the basic quatrefoil "florentine" patterns and color choices are only 3: amber, green and blue.

The original ones which date back to 16th century are thicker and deeper in color.

The Church of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception in Baclayon is one of the oldest stone churches in the Philippines and is located in Bohol, in the Visayas region.

The construction was started by the Jesuits in 1596. As is happening in most grand historical structures in the country, the church is in partial disrepair.

Read more at bohol-philippines.com

Osang’s Pastries

I have written about Osang’s in Baclayon before, previous post here. Several more posts on this blog have featured their broas, which I consider to be the best that I have ever tasted. But of course, you might say I am biased since I first tasted these delicious broas over four decades ago! Over the last 40 years, I have probably eaten THOUSANDS of Osang’s broas! And as far as I can tell from this recent trip, besides the addition of an electric mixer, they are made and baked in exactly the same way they were baked 40 years ago. And while I can wax poetic about the broas, I haven’t really eaten many of Osang’s other offerings, the extensive line-up which includes pastel (photo above) and some plain cookies. Yup, that’s about it, a focused product line of less than half a dozen!

Osang’s is a home based business that is located behind or on the side of the Baclayon church in Bohol. I think they have been in the same spot for the last 40 years, though they may have moved once in that period. They used to hand mix all of their batters, the slow mixing motion a key to the consistency of their baked goods… but today they have a commercial looking mixer that they use on (and this is one of their secrets) very small batches of dough, using a maximum of only 6 eggs at a time! They can make up to 30 batches or so of dough on a given morning and only bake up until lunchtime, after which the goods are wrapped then picked up by those who previously placed orders. They don’t cook that much if there are no big orders, so visiting them unannounced can lead to a huge disappointment if they have nothing to sell you.

Read more at Market Manila

Philippine Republic Act No. 4408

REPUBLIC ACT NO. 4408 - AN ACT CREATING CERTAIN BARRIOS IN THE MUNICIPALITY OF BACLAYON, PROVINCE OF BOHOL

SECTION 1. The following sitios in the Municipality of Baclayon, Province of Bohol, are hereby constituted into barrios thereof as follows:

1. The sitios of Campatoc and Canguining in the barrio of Guiwanon, Municipality of Baclayon, Province of Bohol, are separated from said barrio, and constituted into a distinct and independent barrio of said municipality, to be known as the barrio of Libertad;

2. The sitio of Pooc in the barrio of Guiwanon, Municipality of Baclayon, Province of Bohol, is separated from said barrio and constituted into a distinct and independent barrio of said municipality, to be known as the barrio of Santa Cruz;

3. The sitios of Upper Candapog and Lower Candapog in the barrio of Taguihon, and the sitios of Moto, Boho and Central Tanday in the barrio of Tanday in the Municipality of Baclayon, Province of Bohol, are separated from said barrios and constituted into a distinct and independent barrio of said municipality, to be known as the barrio of Dasitam; and

4. The sitios of Tunga and Cambanac in the barrio of Laya, Municipality of Baclayon, Province of Bohol, are separated from said barrio and constituted into a distinct and independent barrio, to be known as the barrio of San Juan Buenaventura.

SECTION 2. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

Approved: June 19, 1965

Source: Chan Robles Virtual Law Library

Walking to school

I spent my first three years of primary school in a public school in Baclayon, my father's hometown. It was an experience I thoroughly enjoyed, especially the school walks. I still cannot forget that surreal walks past the huge balite tree situated between my school and our house. That tree was said to be enchanted so it always feels a bit scary everytime we pass by it especially in the afternoons even though it is found beside the national highway. I now forgot the time of the year when this tree sheds its leaves. During this time, it was a surreal experience walking past the balite tree while yellow green leaves rained on me from above the high branches. It reminded me of those slow motion scenes in recent Chinese martial arts movies where multicoloured leaves are flying.

The above text is part of my blogpost "School walk," which first appeared in Bohol On My Mind on 12 January 2008. You can read the whole blogpost here.

Baclayon native cooking

I first read this news feature in June where the writer was invited to judge a cooking contest in my hometown last summer. The contest, "Lutong Inato - Ato Jud Ni" featured heirloom recipes from some of the town residents.

I wish I was there to experience the event. I am no cook but I sure know how to taste good food when I try one. And besides, I miss native cooking. However, what I am more interested in is that each heirloom recipe submitted for this contest was accompanied by some narrative of the source or history of the recipe. Talk about feeding both body and brain! You are eating great tasting food and at the same time ingesting the story they tell.

Fifty-two dishes were served for the judges to rate in the following categories - Meat, Poultry, Seafood, Soups, Vegetables, Dessert and Merienda. An example mentioned of a recipe with a story to tell is the dessert "sangkuga." It became popular at a time when coconut trees were attacked by insects and young coconuts fell from the trees. The people made use of the young coconuts and scraped the soft inner shell and cooked this in coconut milk with muscovado sugar. This was then served with freshly grated mature coconut meat.

I remember as a child that our "utan bisaya" always has Bago leaves as an essential ingredient. We use to have these leaves bought in a public market like the one in Baclayon or picked from a neighbour's tree. These leaves figured prominently in some of the soups and vegetable dishes served during the contest.

Some of the recipe mentioned by the writer I am familiar with and have even tried them. Reading this article made me hungry that I longed to try them again. But writing this blog post is torture to my stomach, which right now is threatening to erupt like a volcano if I will not feed it. Food break!

Right, to go on with the torture. "Humba nangka," made from coconut milk, sili (pepper) and unripe mature fruit of nangka (jackfruit) is a worthy alternative to pork humba. Another delight mentioned was the soup made with "supsup," a conical shell where the end is cut off to ease the sucking of the meat from the opening, hence the name. The soup is delicious with or without coconut milk and lots of kamunggay (horse radish).

That soup evoked in me childhood summer memories that involved a lot of panginhas (shell gleaning) and panuwaki (gathering edible sea urchins) during hunasan (low tide). One time, as we are heading back home after panginhas and panuwaki, I and some cousins got waylaid by the presence of a lot of edible shells including the supsup. We gathered a lot for supper later that night. It was a delight for us city kids as we ate the fruits of our labour. We've broken sweat (or is it just seawater?) to gather them, you know.

Although cooking the supsup soup (no pun intended) is relatively easy, preparing the shells is quite laborious. The gathering of the shells is more fun provided you got lucky to find them in bulk in a small area. The hardest bit is the cutting of the pointed ends. These shells are small and you literally need 50-100 shells to feed a good number of people. Of course, if you don't have the time you can always run over quickly to the public market to but a "caltex"-ful, instead.

Back to contest, I am glad this happened. It is a good start towards preserving Baclayon's heritage on native cooking. What the article did not say, however, is what happened next after the contest. I am interested to know if a recipe book had been made that will be made widely available both in Baclayon and the rest of the province. Is this contest just a one-off or are there plans to continue it as a sort of an annual food festival held every summer? This activity for sure will attract many local and foreign tourists alike.

What about a restaurant in Baclayon showcasing not just the award winning recipes but all the recipes that were entered? Bohol is very well known for its fiestas and Baclayon is no exception. How about integrating this contest/program in both the town and barangay fiestas?

If you want to read the sourced article please click here.

(Note: This post first appeared in Bohol On My Mind blog on 22 August 2008.)

Barangay Santa Cruz

My parents still lives in barangay Santa Cruz although they also travel to Cebu City and stay with my elder brother's family. But we always consider this barangay as home. It used to be known as Pooc, a former sitio of neighbouring barangay Guiwanon. In fact, it is still popularly referred to as Pooc by the locals in the barangay and in Baclayon. It is not surprising to hear people refer to it as Santa Cruz Pooc or Pooc Santa Cruz.

Santa Cruz is one of the 17 barangays of Baclayon, Bohol. As at 2007, it has a population of 1,399 and is classified as a rural barangay. If you are coming from Tagbilaran going eastwards, it is the first barangay of Baclayon that you passed by.

I already knew it was once known as Pooc and a former sitio of Guiwanon and recently, that it was founded in the month of June. But imagine my amazement one day when I did a search on it. I found the text of the very law that founded it, Republic Act (RA) 4408 - An Act Creating Certain Barrios in the Municipality of Baclayon, Province of Bohol.

Section 1.2 of the Act states that "The sitio of Pooc in the barrio* of Guiwanon, Municipality of Baclayon, Province of Bohol, is separated from said barrio and constituted into a distinct and independent barrio of said municipality, to be known as the barrio of Santa Cruz."

Other new barrios created by this Act includes Libertad, Dasitam and San Juan Buenaventura. It sets the founding date as June 19, 1965. This means that these barangays will turn 44 this year. Click here for the full text of RA 4408.

* the term barrio had been replaced with the term barangay; both terms are still used interchangeably to mean the same thing, it is the smallest political unit in Philippine politics.

(Note: This post first appeared in Bohol On My Mind on 13 April 2009.)

Early development of Baclayon

Baclayon is in the eastern part of Bohol.

It is the first municipality to be established in Bohol by the Spaniards and formerly comprised its present territory and those belonging now to Corella, Sikatuna, Alburquerque and Balilihan. This municipality was originally called Bacayan because travellers used to detour (bacay) around a rocky cliff along the shore about half kilometer from the municipal building in order to avoid going over the top of the cliff.

The town was founded in 1595 by two Jesuit priests, Fr. Juan de Torres and Fr. Gabriel Sanchez who also built a stone church which is now considered as the oldest stone church in the country. In 1879, Baclayon had a population of 11,142.

Source: Official website of Bohol

Biyahe Baclayon

Baclayon is no longer about visiting Baclayon Church, if you are a tourist!

BEZO Initiatives, an organisation which aims to provide sustainable socio-economic programs through eco-tourism have teamed up with the local government to come up with a program that lets you experience a different Baclayon.

One such program is Byahe Baclayon. It is composed of three tours designed for visitors who want to explore Baclayon's natural wonders and heritage and cultural sites.

Heritage Walk aims to promote Baclayon's culture by bringing visitors to the town's delicacy shops that sell unique Baclayon food such as broas (lady fingers), tableyas (local chocolate tablets) and ube kinampay (local root crop), and to workshops where crafts and souvenir items are designed and manufactured.

Adventure Trail covers almost the entire town of Baclayon. It includes hiking trails and trails for mountain bikes, dirt bikes and quads. The routes have been designed to pass by lakes, caves, springs and deep sinkholes. Several stops and points along the trail offer panoramic views of the town. Aside from these trails, there is a plan to offer kayaking in the lakes and to install zip lines for extreme adventurers.


Whale/dolphin watching and Pamilacan island tour involves an early morning boat ride from Baclayon town centre to the island of Pamilacan. The body of water between Baclayon and Pamilacan is frequented by butandings (whale sharks), dolphins and manta rays. Upon reaching Pamilacan, guest may opt to visit diving sites, swim in the beach or have a massage from the women members of the local cooperative.

When our family next go home to Bohol, we will surely give serious thought about doing the Biyahe Baclayon tours. This is certainly great for our children for them to know more about their Bol-anon roots.

If you are interested to try the Biyahe Baclayon experience, you can visit BEZO Initiatives website (www.bezo.org.ph).

Photos: Inday Guapa blog, BEZO Initiatives
Text: BEZO Initiatives

(This blogpost first appeared in Bohol On My Mind blog on 28 October 2009)

Itinerant Bol-anon

You have heard about the enterprising Bol-anon. There is another equally famous trait Bol-anons are known for; oftentimes, it goes together with their being enterprising. Bol-anons are known for being itinerant. Mention any place in the Philippines, especially in the Visayas and Mindanao, and chances are you will find us there. Where usually? In the town markets doing business selling just about anything.

Let me cite my father’s family as an example of showing both traits of an itinerant and enterprising Bol-anon. He said the Sisicans are originally from the coastal town of Baclayon, Bohol. His father who is an artisanal fisherman is locally famous for his expertise in catching the iito (marine catfish). My grandfather has relatives who are also fishermen who have migrated and settled in the towns of Toboso and Calatrava, Negros Oriental. Some relatives have settled in Davao City and neighbouring towns as well.

I was once a team member in a UP project on municipal development in Lopez Jaena, Misamis Occidental. During the pre-project workshop I was surprised when approached by one of the barangay secretaries who introduced himself as a Sisican whose origin is from the neighbouring barangay of Guiwanon in Baclayon.

Although not closely related to them, imagine my amazement and deep appreciation to their wonderful hospitality when I went to their barangay the next day during one of the assessment workshops we held. Several of them greeted me when I arrived and obviously quite thrilled to find a relative. We exchange few stories about each other’s side of the clan.

After the workshop, as we are readying ourselves back to our quarters in Poblacion my relative (barangay secretary) came up to me and gave me a chicken as a gift. I was thrilled and thanked him profusely for it! Not to be outdone, however, was another team member who is from Dauis, Bohol. He, too, have relatives in Lopez Jaena to which he already knew. But he was still greatly surprised to be given a goat as present!

Going back to my family, one of my uncles was an astute businessman. It was he who started a successful business that led to their family partly relocating in Pagadian, Zamboanga del Sur. The whole family was involved which eventually led to some of them permanently settling there. My father used to live there for awhile. There he met my mother and four of us older siblings were born in the city.

I still have lots of close relatives in Pagadian and nearby towns. In fact, my older brother is living in Ipil, Zamboanga Sibugay after marrying a local lass. They have two young children. Itinerant that we are, my generation have gone international. Some of us are working and living in Europe, USA, Middle East and South Korea.

I always thought that a major reason why the Bol-anon emigrates is economic. Yes, Bohol is idyllically beautiful but it does not really provide a lot of economic opportunities during my father’s time. In my case, I was convinced that if I want to make it in life it has to be outside of Bohol. I went to university in Cebu and then worked for several years in Metro Manila, parts of Mindanao and Palawan. And now I am in the United Kingdom still trying to make it in life. Still, I long for the day I will go back to Bohol and contribute to its development starting by just living there. But that will not be soon, I suspect.

(Note: This blogpost first appeared in Bohol On My Mind blog on 7 March 2008.)