Catanduanes is an
inverted lung-shaped island province in Luzon in the Bicol Region, Philippines,
situated at 13.3 to 14.1 degrees north latitudes and between 124.1 to
124.3 degrees east longitudes
"Isla de Cobos" was
Catanduanes' first name, given by Spanish conquistadores during the early part
of 1573 when came upon several tribes living in the thatched huts called cobos
or “kubo” in the dialect.
‘Catanduanes, is a hispanized term
derived from the word tandu”, a specie of a click beetle (Stenagostus
rufus) “and the samdong tree,
which were both found in abundance throughout the island. The common reference to
"katanduan" or "kasamdongan", meaning a place where the
tandu or the samdong tree thrives in abundance, led to the coining of the word
Catanduanes (Wikipedia).”
My paternal ancestry is deeply
rooted in the Province, having descended from the Masagca and Arcilla Clans on
my paternal grandfather side, and from the Vargas, Talan and Sarmiento Clans of
my paternal grandmother.
My personal travels to the island
province are mostly purely to be lost in the solace offered by the almost
deserted pristine beaches, and of course to keep family ties alive.
Lately, these travels have become but
rare after the Legazpi to Virac flight was discontinued, that the only means of
transportation is by taking the four (4) hours boat trip from Tabaco City to
Virac, the capital town, or two and a half (2 ½) hours to San Andres, a coastal
town on the west side.
Perhaps little is known of the
province other than it is a major reference point for tropical storm tracking.
A major weather observatory of the
Philippine government is in the hills of Barangay Buenavista in the
municipality of Bato, Catanduanes has a lot more to offer other than its usual uncrowded
unspoiled beaches, numerous waterfalls, mountains to climb, clear blue waters
to dive, fresh sea produce or perhaps for the “muy loco en la cabeza”, surfing
in the killer waves of Puraran in the town of Baras.
It has its rich share of history,
legends, and distinct faith that it is a great honor and prestige for a family
to have a kin following the religious life. This spares not my own family where my great
grandfather was a priest in the 19th century and the late Bishop
Arnulfo Arcilla on my grandfather's side.
I’ve been asking my father how some
people visiting us are close relatives.
It was only shortly before his demise that he told me that his
grandfather on the maternal side was a priest.
It was a great family scandal that he was disowned and my grandmother
was not allowed to carry the Sarmiento family name. But “blood is still thicker than water”, as
they say that family ties have remained to be strong.
My paternal grandfather had once hoped
that I will also become one. The reason perhaps why he lived to be a
centenarian in waiting if ever I too would be a man of the cloth.
Just very recently I had this
opportunity to be back, taking the first boat trip of the day with officemates
for official business. But in the
Philippines, no business can really be purely official considering the kind of
Philippine hospitality.
Even before the ferry boat set sail
the experience is exhilarating, with the imposing Mayon volcano nearby as if
watching over the ships that enter the bay.
 |
Tabaco City Port. The jump-off point to Catanduanes |
As the coastline of Tabaco City
gradually recedes, the poetic relationship of the three volcanoes, Mayon Volcano, Mount Masaraga
and Mount Malinao (the last two are extinct) becomes more defined, as if three
maidens contemplating on the calm blue sea of Lagonoy Gulf.
 |
The receding coastline of mainland Albay |
A few minutes out to
sea, before the island of San Miguel, is a sandbar known as “Natunawan” which
in the Bikol dialect means where something has melted or was vaporized.
 |
Natunawan Island |
It probably got its
name after a strong typhoon in the 1950’s wiped out the entire community,
killing everyone except some inhabitants who were at that time at the Tabaco
town proper.
Now the islet serves as a resting place for some fishermen.
BATONG PALUWAY
Near the Port of San
Andres, earlier known as Calolbon, is a village called Batong Paluway, maybe
for obvious reasons attendant to the image of Our Lady of Sorrows imprinted on
a river stone.
 |
Close up of the image on the stone |
The phenomenon of the
image is least known outside of Catanduanes, except perhaps for some visitors,
maybe because of skepticism.
Traditions have it
that two boys were herding carabaos (water buffalo) one late morning in a
ricefield a few meters from the town. After racking up their carabaos to graze,
one of the boys, named Pacio Socao, climbed a bilimbi tree (averrhoa bilimbi),
locally known as “iba” or “kamias, to
rest from the hot sun.
From the tree top, his
attention was drawn to a gleaming object, reflecting light from 10:00
o’clock in the morning sun. He picked the object and saw a picture of a fascinating
woman imprinted in a river stone. He showed it to his companion who remarked
that it might be an “aswang (witch)” or some evil spirit, so Pacio threw the
stone and it landed near in carabao mud puddle, or la-bugan, that is surrounded by thick bushes and guava trees.
For a moment, the incident
was forgotten by two boys but before they left for home in the afternoon, Pacio
again went near the bilimbi tree and there he again saw the stone with the
imprint of a beautiful woman’s face. He
picked up the stone and placed it inside his pocket.
When he got home he
tucked the picture up between the nipa (palm leaves) shingles roof of their
house. Early in the evening, his mother
was surprised to see iridescent light emanating from the roof. She called her son to see what the light was.
Pacio obeyed and
found out that it was the stone he inserted. His mother, Maria commonly known
as Bengge, kept the image inside their “baul” or wooden chest used to store clothes
and valuables.
At this point, Bengge
remembered that while harvesting rice in the morning, she and other people
heard a loud ringing of church bells from nowhere. This she believed was when her son found the
image.
A few minutes later,
they started to smell a rare sweet odor, a fragrance that is
not similar nor equal to the sweetest scent of blooming flowers in the morning.
They later discovered that the sweet odor was emanating from the trunk where the
image was kept.
They put out the
image and enthroned her on their altar. The picture started to radiate more
beautifully, with her forehead prominently and partly covered by a blue and white
veil. A mole is sometimes seen on the forehead and many have seen the image
wink. The lady has long eyelashes which made her even prettier.
But actually a mole
is now clearly visible on the image’s right fore-finger.
The people while
accepting the apparition were reluctant to openly manifest it, were it not for
the coming of the first wave of pilgrims from the coastal towns of Albay and
Camarines Sur.
They came in sailboats known as “parao”. With them were sick people who believed that
they can only be healed by a woman named Maria.
They knew of this when a middle-aged woman, nicknamed “Bengge” came to
their houses to ask for alms and many form of material aid so she can start
building a chapel in honor of “Our Lady of Sorrows” (Nuestra Senora de
Dolor).
This surprised the natives for never had Bengge traveled
far to reach the mainland, except in the places within the confines of
Calolbon.
When the venerated
miraculous image of Our Lady of Sorrows was enshrined there another miracle
happened. At the base of the Iba tree (at the foot of the altar), flowed out a spring of clear water. At that time, the Iba tree was almost dead down to its
deepest roots and leaves from the people getting its parts for medicine.
The water from the
spring was curative. There were instances of miracles experienced by those who
came to the place where the miraculous picture was enshrined.
For so many months,
many sick people went there and donations poured in that as days passed there
is now enough money to build a chapel on the spot where the miraculous picture
was found. The place was at that time called Culapnit (now part of Batong
Paloway).
With the waves of pilgrims bringing with them offerings
of rice, oil, and animals for food the family who found the image lived in
abundance. They had trays of coins and baskets of donations. Unfortunately,
their wealth and abundance became their obsession and they spent the donations
on luxury, even defying the orders of the local priest.
The priest was
furious and ordered that the image be brought to the town and enshrined in the
town’s parish church.
Another miracle
witnessed was when the image was brought to the town and presented to the
priest in the convent. From nowhere water flowed from the image of Our Lady of
Sorrows forming a cross.
The picture of Our
Lady of Sorrows seems to be painted on a flat hard river stone, about 2 ½ ” x 3 ½ ” in size. It appears to be freshly painted and
laminated by synthetic glossy material but the reverse is of coarse texture
though also flat.
Light seems to
emanate from within rather than be reflected.
Skeptics may say that it was painted by some local artist. But the
quality and luminosity had remained constant through the years and with the least
protection from the elements.
 |
The image in its recent frame, changed three times to accommodate the growing image |
T
To this, I can attest
as when I first saw the image some twenty-five years ago the details can only
be seen clearly through a magnifying lens that can be conveniently borrowed in
a store across the chapel.
Now even the mole on
the Lady’s right forefinger can be clearly seen.
One interesting thing
I have noted in the image is the serenity and calmness of expression of the
Lady, similar to that in Michelangelo’s “Pieta”, where “the portrayal of pain
had been connected with the idea of redemption”.
Stories are told that
the Lady at times refuses to be photographed, especially by people of impure
hearts.
I might be lucky to
have taken a clear photograph of the image for the first time, using then an SLR
camera, under unfavorable lighting conditions.
The image was enshrined
at the town’s church and was returned only during the term of Rev. Fr. Andres Tablizo
in 1938-1941 upon the appeal of the natives of Batong Paloway. These people were insistent on getting back
their patroness, the Our Lady of Sorrows, for they experienced and witnessed
bright rays of light coming from the altar at their chapel happening usually
after six in the evening. These signs were enough to strengthen the natives’
rights to claim as their own patroness.
 |
Recently added at the main altar is a mural depicting Christ's Crucifixion, with the Lady of Sorrows and St. John the Apostle |
Despite the absence
of documented events and experiences of the miracles and favors granted to the
faithful, still devotees flock to the place where she resides. Friday is the
special day preferred for it was the day when the stone was found. (With
excerpts from the write-up posted in the Batong Paluway Chapel).
LUYANG CAVE
Along the San Andres
to Virac Highway, at the Sitio of Lictin, is Luyang Cave which is a mute
witness to a bloodless massacre of the natives who fled from the marauding
Moro pirates in the 17th century.
Tales say that in the 17th
century it was the cave that is used as a refuge by the natives from the
marauding Moro pirates.
To be warned early of
the arrival of Moro pirates, lookout towers were built in coastal areas. Thus the natives at Palawig, a village on the
cost, had the head-time to take refuge in the cave up in the mountain. One time the marauders were however able to
follow them to the mouth of Luyang Cave because of the gains of rice that trailed
as they fled.
Afraid to enter the
caves, the Moros instead heaped on the cave’s entrance sili (Capsicum annuum) plants that grow
abundantly in the area and set it on fire, thereby suffocating the refugees.
A requiem mass is
celebrated in the grotto inside the cave on April 26 of each year in memory of
the massacre.
Even in modern times, there are still tales of unexplained occurrences in the area attributed to the
restless souls of the victims.
HOLY CROSS OF BATALAY
Batalay is a coastal
village in the town of Bato in Catanduanes which may be a side trip on the way to the surfing area of Puraran, Baras.
Recently unveiled and
blessed is a marker dedicated to Fray Diego de Herrera, the Augustinian
missionary martyr whose remains are buried at the Shrine of the Holy Cross in
Batalay, Bato.
The marker is mounted
on a big boulder unearthed at the mountainside at the back of the shrine. A map
of Catanduanes is drawn underneath the marker, with a drawing of a cross
alongside it. The rock serves as a symbol of the Catholic Church, the Rock that
is St. Peter.
 |
| Marker at the Shrine of the Holy Cross |
The unveiling of the
marker comes 438 years to the day after the Spanish galleon Espiritu Santo,
where Fray Herrera and nine other companions had embarked in Mexico, but were shipwrecked
at the reef of Nagngangang Buaya (crocodile with gaping mouth) point in Bato
town in the year 1576.
Fray Herrera, a
missionary from Toledo, Spain, belonged
to the Order of Saint Augustine and was known to have been one of the members
of the expedition of Miguel Lopez de Legaspi. He first came to Manila between
1571 and 1572, said the first mass and became the founder of the Monastery of
San Agustin, the oldest church in the country.
“According to Rev.
Isacio Rodriguez, all the Augustinians perished, with all survivors speared by
the natives of the island. But witness Marion Goyena del Prado said that the
survivors were stranded in Batalay, a native “balangay” where they were given
shelter and provisions by the ruling datu.
‘This is close to the
belief that Fray Diego de Herrera lived for some time in Batalay but suffered
martyrdom at the hands of the natives when he tried to introduce religion.
Legend has it that when the missionary’s companion planted a wooden cross on
his burial site, a spring of clear water suddenly burst forth, which the
natives regarded as an unusual phenomenon. The natives were later punished by a
school of swordfish which attacked and killed many of them.
‘The story goes that
between 1840 and 1860, Bishop Grijalvo of Nueva Caceres ordered a monument
constructed over the grave of Fray Diego but it could not be located. Many
attempts to plant a cross on what they believed to be the right spot failed as
the cross would not stand. When the cross did remain standing, the natives dug
beneath it and found a human skeleton, supposedly the remains of the martyr.
 |
Water that flows from the spring at the grave of Fr. Diego de Herrera. The Augustinian missionary's tomb beneath the church's altar used to be accessible at any time to the public. Now the water from the miraculous spring has been piped out for the public after the grave has been enclosed in iron grills. |
‘Pilgrims placed the
bones on the painful parts of their bodies while some cut off parts of the
cross, with many more bringing empty bottles to be filled with the supposed miraculous
water from the spring. To prevent the cross from being reduced further, it was
encased with hardwood and now rests on the altar of the shrine.
 |
The still-to-be-finished church of Batalay |
 |
National Historical Commission Marker in Memory of Fr, Diego de Herrera |
It is not in the
write-ups but it is widely known that as punishment for the murder of Fray
Herrera and other missionaries, the village of Batalay was attacked by a school
of swordfish. Old folks say that there
was no way of running away as the land where the fishes landed had become part
of the sea. Some took cover behind
banana trunks where the swordfish got stuck.
But those who ate the stuck fishes nonetheless still died of poisoning.
My mother said that
travelers to Catanduanes in the early part of the 19th century can
still see underwater the houses that were taken by the sea as the swordfishes
attacked.
During my first
visit, the irregular contour of the coastline along Batalay suggests this
phenomenon. But this is no longer so
noticeable with the new houses built near the coastline.
BEACHES, SURFS, AND FALLS
Island provinces are inexistent without beaches to boast
of. Catanduanes has many affordable and accessible beaches, that one can even
have a beach all of his own even in the summer months and melancholically watch
the big red sun sinks in the west.
The best beaches are those that line the southern base of
the island province, where the sea is calm.
The eastern coast to the Pacific Ocean is more for surfing, and the
western coast is not ideal because of the sea current swell in the Maqueda
channel
Foremost is Twin Rock Beach Resort at Bgy. Igang, and
other resorts all the way to Magnesia, Mamangal and Palawig.
 |
Twin Rock Beach Resort in Igang, Virac, Catanduanes |
 |
Surfing for the neophytes |
 |
Even in peak summer months, one can still have a beach all for himself to contemplate of life's blessings and regain one's sanity. |
Virac,
the capital town of Catanduanes has it own share of progress through the years,
give or take the frequent electric power outages. But it has kept itself clean even in remote villages.
 |
Virac covered court, structurally and aesthetically beautiful by a lady Engineer to withstand Bicol's traditional typhoons. |
Maybe
this is the cost of clean energy, as the province dominantly sources its energy
requirements from hydropower plants. I
wonder if the Province will still pursue its plans of tapping wind energy.
 |
Virac Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception with its recently added dome. |
One thing that is admirable of Catanduanganons is how they keep family ties alive and the cohesiveness of its people, politically or culturally like the Ilocanos and the Visayans.
Perhaps
in the entire Bicol Region, it is the only Province with the most family or clan
re-unions held every summer months, and clans from Catanduanes even have their
own accounts in popular social networking sites.
I
for myself though have not grown in the Province, my family name is enough for
me to be warmly called a Catandunganon.
It
however always brings a smile to my lips when people upon knowing my family name
would ask if I am also good in the arts --- what seems to be characteristic of
the Masagca and Arcilla clans.
Truly
I am at home here…
