Philippine Island Hopping

14 - 29 December 2007

The most talked about topic in Canada is the weather. There is no weather channel here, we just get what we get. We came in December thinking it was the beginning of the dry season. I guess that is true but it still rains almost every day. The tropical rains sometimes come hard but they are seldom long lasting. People carry umbrellas but that is more for their original purpose, to shade them from the sun, which is hot when the clouds clear. That means life for us goes on as usual. We have not had to cancel any activities for rain. We just wait until the shower is over. It doesn’t matter if we are a little late. This is the Philippines after all.

Long Beach was in a holiday spirit all December. Decorations have been made and children have been coming door to door singing Christmas Carols. The local high school is raising money to buy its own sound system so of course we contribute. Rey, our host, is head of the committee organizing the annual town Fiesta on December 28. He hit us up for a donation for prize money awarded to participants in several organized games, including a basketball tournament.

Tablas Island schools were in their last week before closing for Christmas. Ray, I and our fellow CERV volunteer Colette managed to finish painting the Sugod school building we had been assigned. The building we painted had two rooms. One was the joint Head Teacher’s office and Teacher’s lounge. The other was a Grade 2 classroom and an empty space that was supposed to be the library. Obviously there is no library. In fact there are few resources for the students. There are few text books. Grade 2 had one portable blackboard on which the teacher wrote out the lesson. Small pieces, not a whole page, of lined paper were handed out when written work was required. Much of the reading is done out loud, sometimes very loud, but the children were always well behaved. No talking back or lack of respect was shown.

The school gardens, including a pond and a green house, were the most elaborate and well kept I have ever seen. The first 40 minutes of each day is devoted to Life Skills instruction. This includes having the children weed, trim by hand and care for the gardens. They do an excellent job. The children also cooperate in keeping the classrooms tidy. There is no school janitor so the school room is swept and picked up by the students several times a day.

Thursday 20 December was the children’s last day at school. Classes were minimal so there was more time to play their favourite game of Flipper. The playground area was filled with a multitude of this version of baseball. A flip-flop is thrown and kicked instead of a ball and bat. The kids love it.

The teacher’s provided a special Christmas lunch for the children of rice, pancit, a rice noodle dish with slivers of vegetables and meat, spaghetti and orange drinks. The younger children were dismissed after lunch but the Grade 6 class had a dance. The music was mostly rap or modern rock but there were loud squeals if a boy was brave enough to ask a girl to dance, especially if it was a slow number.

The children didn’t go to school Friday but the teachers were there, cleaning up and waiting for their Christmas party in the afternoon. The festivities began when the guests of honour, Colette, Ray and I arrived after 4 PM. Speeches were made thanking us for our work, carols were sung by the staff (all 11 of them including the Head Teacher), and we were instructed in some of the local dances. A full buffet had been prepared by Tess, the acknowledged best cook, and the rest of Colette’s host family. Besides the usual pancit type dish and fried chicken, Tess had prepared her speciality, Fish Relleños. Fresh fish bought that morning had been boned and the flesh taken out with a spoon. The fish was mixed with hard boiled eggs and other spices, stuffed into the skin and deep fried until the skin was crispy. It wasn’t cholesterol free but was delicious. We ended our meal with a Boracay cocktail, which was the local version of home-made Bailey’s. We were certainly impressed by the teacher’s hospitality as well as their ability to accomplish as much as they have for the children with so little.

The waters off Tablas are warm and clear but the beaches are more of the Mediterranean version, pebbly with added pieces of coral. We have swum a few times and it was very pleasant. The Saturday before Christmas was Colette’s last weekend on Tablas. She suggested we hire Typhoon, our trusty tricycle driver to drive us down the coast stopping frequently to photograph the most scenic spots. He was a good tour guide all the way to San Agustin where we called on Scott, another CERV volunteer, and invited him to join us for swimming at the Fish Sanctuary where we planted mangroves. A floating platform is anchored offshore near some good coral beds but the piece de resistance are giant clams that have been transplanted to that area. We saw quite a number of larger sized fish amongst the corals, and a giant clam. It wasn’t huge but it was quite impressive to me.

Preparations for Christmas and the annual Long Beach Fiesta, held on the week between Christmas and December 28 in honour of their patron saint, Señor Santo Niño, the Christ Child, were in full swing. Rey Mores, our host, was chairman of the Fiesta committee as well as an active member of the church. Rey spent hours on his computer making a program for the fiesta and raising funds for prizes for the events leading up to the final dinner on December 28. We contributed P500 which meant we got a full page advertisement in the souvenir program he was preparing. We protested that a one line item was enough but that is not how it is done. Everyone is assigned space according to the size of their contribution.

Street beautification projects were in progress. Long Beach is one long street parallel to the ocean. The entire length was strung with streamers. Pepsi provided streamers of small advertisements interspersed with white flags. Other sections had streamers of small white or coloured plastic bags that billowed like small balloons in the breeze. Workmen painted bamboo stars that were set up along the road over Happy Fiesta signs. Rey had a very ambitious project going on at his house. The church needed a suitable Christmas decoration. Rey and other members of his family used bamboo poles to construct a wedding cake tree. Each layer was covered with pieces of yellow rice sacking and then each layer was painted with a circle of red poinsettias. The tree was strung with Christmas lights and a red star was placed on top. It was impressive both in the daytime and lit up at night.

The house was filling with relatives coming for the holidays, two of Sally’s Aunts and Mycel’s brother came before Christmas. We had no plans to paint or plant mangroves. The timing was perfect to go to Romblon, use the internet and have a small holiday. We would return in time for Christmas Eve with the family.

Sunday we took a tricycle to San Augustine and the 8 AM boat to Romblon town. Rey Mores had suggested we try a new resort owned by the Plaza Hotel, where we stayed for a night last visit. Transportation to Punta Corazon Resort was included so we agreed to try it out.

We sat in the back of a small pickup truck and headed out of town past numerous marble cutting shops. We had understood it was only 2 km out of town but it was longer than that over the worst access road to date. At a fork in the road the truck took the right fork instead of following the sign pointing to the left. Our route, good only at low tide, took us on the beach past a dump, through mangrove trees and across a basketball court. The alternate route at high tide is up a steep hill on an incredibly bad road, then down to the beach again. The truck parked on the beach and the driver and assistant walked with us farther along the beach to a 30 M stairway leading to the top of a hill. The resort, with just seven rooms, was on the opposite side of a point from the beach, down another set of stairs, closer to the water. Our room was on the bottom floor of a three story building with a nice balcony from which to enjoy the view. A main office building had a restaurant and bar area facing a large concrete tidal pool that filled at high tide. We swam out from the tidal pool using our fins and snorkels to see the fish amongst the corals. We were the only guests. I have to think the difficult access is the reason. I challenge anyone less fit than we are or carrying luggage to make the same trip. If remoteness and quiet is what you crave, this is the place.

On our return to Romblon Town Monday morning met Scott, a co-worker with CERV, at the internet. He had had quite an experience getting to Romblon that morning. Part way across to Romblon one of the outriggers on the boat broke. The crew tied the outrigger and started off again. They didn’t get very far before the outrigger completely fell off and was lost. With only one outrigger the boat was in danger of capsizing. Somehow the boat managed to make it to an island offshore from Romblon where they were picked up by another boat that had left from Long Beach and taken the rest of the way to Romblon. With that story we took a larger ferry back to San Agustin later that morning.

The parishioners worship at their small village chapel at 6 PM for the nine days before Christmas. The priest, Father Nelson Motia, is based in Carmen 5 KM away but has responsibility for eight chapels. He would be in Long Beach twice that week to lead the service. We had promised to attend on Christmas Eve. We arrived just in time for the service and squeezed into the packed church. It was a candlelight service, more from necessity than aesthetics. The power went out soon after the service began. With all those people packed into a small place the temperature quickly rose. I was lucky. A woman sitting next to me whipped out her fan and vigorously cooled both me and the lady sitting on the other side of her.

Our entire host family are members of the choir and Sally plays the guitar. The choir do not perform solos, rather they lead the rest of the congregation, who obviously know and enjoy the selections. There was one English carol and the rest of the carols and the service were in Filipino. Of course we didn’t understand any of it but we could follow enough to stand up and sit down at the right times.

We weren’t sure what to expect on Christmas Day but it turned out to be a busy time with hordes of relatives, friends and neighbours coming to pay their respects. Everyone was offered food and drinks and the children of close relatives were given small gifts. We took this opportunity to exchange gifts with the family. They seemed to appreciate our Canadian souvenirs plus gifts we had purchased in Boracay and we were pleased with our gift made of Romblon marble.

A surprise for us was the arrival of gangs of small children who came to door asking for candy or small coins, just as they do at home for Halloween. Rey had told us he saves up P5 coins to give and we had bought a small bag of candy that we added to his collection. Even this large amount wasn’t enough. I think Rey’s reputation for generosity is well known and at least a hundred children were given treats. At the end all the small coins in the house were gathered and thrown into the street to the glee of the last group of children.

Christmas afternoon was the time for the 3^rd Birthday celebration of Typhoon’s son, Cedrick. He arrived to take us to his home for the party. He said the road was too steep for both Ray and I to ride with him on a single motorcycle so he had enlisted a friend to help transport us. It was a long steep road up the side of a mountain to a point north of Long Beach. It would have been easier had the road been paved all the way but one section was very rough. Road repair is almost non-existent in the Romblons. Typhoon parked in front of a house by the side of the road and led us the rest of the way, downhill for ½ km through the jungle.

Typhoon’s family and several neighbouring families were waiting for our return to start serving the Birthday meal. There is no electricity or running water at Typhoon’s house but the family managed to put together a veritable feast for their guests. We had a toy motorcycle for boy and some souvenir stickers and pens for his two sisters, Carmel and Cathlyn, even though it is not the custom for every guest to bring a birthday present. I was surprised that many of the neighbours left soon after eating. Another neighbour was celebrating a 65^th birthday the same day and they didn’t want to miss a celebration. Typhoon insisted on walking back to the road with us but we chose to walk the 2 km back to our house on our own. The route downhill was pleasant with views of the ocean and some of the neighbouring islands.

 Sally and Mycel had organized a team of women to compete in a street dancing competition as part of the Fiesta. I had helped copy several folk dances onto a CD and Sally drilled the group in the street in front of the house. Food is a big part of the celebrations and pork is the meat of choice. A large pig was purchased and taken to the back of Sally and Rey’s house to be slaughtered. I couldn’t get over the contrast in activities between the merry dance tunes played while the women practised in the front of the house and the squeals of the pig behind the house. Filipinos know this is just part of life.

Thursday morning December 27, the second to last day of the fiesta, started with a church service when the statue of Señor Santo Niño was blessed by the priest. At the end of the service the parishioners assembled for a procession through the village and down to the beach. Three boys, carrying a cross and candles led the way behind Señor Santo Niño who was carried on a platform by four men. The street dance groups followed behind, dancing to music played on a portable CD player and blasted out over a loud speaker carried on a tricycle. I thought Sally’s group was the best dressed. They all had straw hats banded with a yellow bow and black t-shirts and slacks with a colourful sarong tied on as an overskirt. The procession halted on the beach in front of three pump boats, the kind that service the route between Tablas Island and Romblon. The boats were festooned with streamers and children were climbing aboard. We were invited to go for a ride too so we climbed the gangplank just in time to take off. We circled the bay seven times, commemorating an attempt by the Spaniards centuries ago to take the original statue of Señor Santo Niño from Cebu, the capital at the time, to San Agustin. Fierce storms forced the return of the statue to Cebu that time but it eventually made its way to San Agustin safely. We made the voyage safely despite recurrent rain showers when everyone took refuge in the small cabin.

Later in the day there were games for the children and a volleyball tournament for the women; Mycel’s team won handily. The most popular was a version of the Mexican piñata. Candies and coins were places in a clay pot, one for the adults and one for the children, and suspended from each of the basketball hoops at the community center. Contestants were blindfolded and pointed towards the pot of goodies. One after the other they tried to break the pot with a long stick, until finally one person was successful and all the children scrambled to gather the treats.

Friday, the last day of the festival was a day of basketball games and visitors. Overnight guests had been arriving at the house all week and copious amounts of food were prepared. Family groups from neighbouring bangays (villages) came, paid their respects, ate and left all day. It was even busier than Christmas Day.

The final ceremonies and dance were held on the basketball court at the community center. In the late afternoon the showers began and we feared for the party. Fortunately the Gods were listening. The ceremonies were delayed but the crowds arrived and the fun began. Miss Long Beach, chosen in part for her ability to raise funds for the fiesta, and the two runners up paraded in with their escorts to preside over the festivities. Beer was consumed and the participants, including young children, danced the night away.

The fiesta was a success; a fitting end to our time in Long Beach. We left on the ferry the next day to explore more of the Philippine islands. We will not soon forget the hospitality of the people and especially our host family, Sally and Rey Mores and Mycel, Caren and Roseleer.