Monthly Archives: April 2003

Puno ng Pandil (Morong, Bataan)

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The next day, Saturday, was family day and what better way to spend than a day of swimming at the beach.  However, the nearby beach was heavily-crowded with Holy Week revelers and so we decided to look for our own secluded spot by hiring a motorized banca for this purpose.  The long stretch of black sand beach was lined with a number of beach resorts, notable of which are the upscale Strand and Waterfront Resort.

Puno ng Pandil

There are also a number of private beachfront residences.  Just when we thought we would never find our own private cove, we espied the picture-perfect and postcard-pretty scene of an unusually white sand beach backed up by a sugar loaf mountain.  Locally called Puno ng Pandil, we finally found our own private nook.  Here, we swam to our heart’s delight with the cool feel of the white sand beneath our feet.  It was truly something worth returning to.

Hike to Pintong Alipi Falls (Morong, Bataan)

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Morong River

We arrived at Sitio Kanawan in Brgy. Binaritan by 11 AM. A very short hike led us to a pastoral scene of the moderately flowing Morong River fringed on both banks by dense forest and crossed by a hanging bridge of wood planks and steel cables.  Two in our party went ahead to prepare lunch at the Aeta Resettlement Area.  We, however, couldn’t and didn’t resist a cool dip at the river’s inviting waters.  That done, we crossed the bridge and proceeded, along a well-marked trail, toward Kanawan, pausing only to rest at Mang Kit’s mango tree farm.  Kanawan’s 147 households have a mixed population of lowlanders or unat (meaning “straight-haired”) and resettled Aetas or kulot (meaning “kinky-haired”).  The Mt. Pinatubo-displaced Aetas were resettled there in 1987 (through Pres. Corazon Aquino’s Proclamation No. 129) and an Aeta kapitana (captain) currently heads the village.  Every 5 May, the Aetas perform a kabikin or marriage ritual.

Hanging bridge

We arrived at the village just in time for a tinolang manok lunch.  This we attacked with gusto, and justly so as we would need the energy to tackle the long hike ahead.  Laden with water containers, we also secured the services of 48-year old Mr. Iglezerdo “Guilling” Alejo of Task Force Kalikasan as our guide.  After a short hike through rice paddies, our band soon entered the cooling shade of the dense forest.  And dense it really was as about 70% of Morong town is included in the SBMA reservation, with 9,694 hectares identified as watershed primary growth forest area.

The trek begins …..

The hike, through an often well-marked trail strewn with dried leaves and rocks, entailed some dry streambed crossings and quite steep and strenuous mountain climbing.  At the end of this very tiring, almost three-hour hike was the rewarding vista of the well-hidden, 80-foot high Pintong Alipi Falls which is fed by numerous springs sweeping along the mountain.  We relaxed our visibly tired bodies at the cool, refreshing waters of the fall’s shallow pool, as well as enjoyed a back massage underneath the falls itself.  It was truly worth the long hike.

Pintong Alipi Falls

Recharged, we began our return trek to Kanawan, meeting two Aetas gathering honey along the way.  We arrived by 5:30 PM.  After a short rest and some sustenance, we groped our way back to our jeep, our path lit by flashlights.  Our progress back to the town was somewhat stalled by the Good Friday parade of carrozas.   Instead of fretting, we just curiously watched the parade pass us by.  Back at Mang Kit’s house, we hungrily gorged ourselves at supper.  I was just too spent to even walk the short distance back to Vener’s house, collapsing instead to a blissful sleep at Mang Kit’s living room sofa.

Bataan’s Vietnamese Connection

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It being Good Friday, we fittingly made plans for a self-imposed, late afternoon Calvary-like hike, up Mt. Agalis, to the remote Pintong Alipi Falls.  Bienvenido “Kit” Nazareno, Vener’s 55-year old uncle, volunteered to drive and accompany us there.  The 30-min. jeepney trip to the jump-off point included passing by the 380-hectare, Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA)-managed Bataan Technology Park in Brgy. Sabang. Now being developed as the “Silicon Valley of the Philippines,” this place used to have a humanitarian beginning, it being the former site of the Refugee Processing Center (PRPC), a refugee processing camp for Vietnamese “boat people.”  

A Vietnamese relic at Bataan Technology Park

It was said that the PRPC was among the most comfortable refugee camps in the world.  No barbwire fences and no border soldiers to accost the refugees coming in and out of the camp.  Set up in 1979 under the United States Repatriation Program, it served as a temporary home and transit center for the relocation of Indo-Chinese refugees (Vietnamese, Khmers and Laotians) victimized by the American war in Southeast Asia.  Here, they were trained in English, American history and vocational skills.  The center housed 18,000 refugees at one time and more than 100,000 have passed through here.

Remains of the first Vietnamese refugee boat

Today, the PRPC is no more as it was closed in 1994.  All we saw during transit was a shrine and the rotting remains of the first refugee boat to arrive there.  Vietnamese cuisine, however, has left an imprint in the town.  Near the town hall is a store serving hu-thieu, a soup concoction consisting of sotanghon noodles, sliced hard-boiled eggs, spices and bean sprouts.  We sample this before we departed Morong for Manila.  We, however, missed out on the bun-mi, another Vietnamese-inspired favorite which consists of grilled bun stuffed with pipino, tomatoes, onions and sliced meat with spices, mustard and mayonnaise added.

Holy Week in Morong (Bataan)

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Napot Point

After our Dambana ng Kagitingan pilgrimage, it was back to my car again for the final drive to Morong. Along the final 23-km. stretch from Bagac to Morong, we passed the controversial Bataan Nuclear Power Plant, situated 18 m. above sea level at Napot Point.  Morong was the chosen site for this “white elephant,” which was supposed to be the first nuclear power plant in the country.

Begun in 1977, it was constructed by Westinghouse (allegedly under a “conspiracy of corruption”) and was expected to generate 620 MW of electricity when completed.  After much delays (construction was stopped in June 1979 due to the Three Mile Island incident in the U.S.), it was finally completed in 1985 at a cost of US$1.95 billion (its initial budget was US$1.1 billion).  However, cause-oriented groups staged a number of “No Nukes” rallies.

They protested its potential to life and property, and its being built on a major earthquake fault line.  The Chernobyl nuclear plant accident in the former Soviet Union in 1986 was the final nail in its coffin as Pres. Corazon Aquino ordered it mothballed that same year.  To this day, it has not been decided what to do with this overpriced but unsafe complex and the sophisticated equipment already installed there.  In the meantime, the country is left with the problem and an incurred US$2.2 billion debt.

Sunset at Morong

We finally reached Morong late in the afternoon and stayed at Vener’s house, located near the town’s Spanish-era church and a few hundred meters from the beach.  A soothing and well-deserved cool afternoon dip at the beach, augmented by a beautiful fiery sunset, relaxed our tired bodies. Early morning of the next day, Good Friday, provided an opportunity to observe, up close, the countrywide Holy Week ritual of self-flagellation.  I first encountered this shocking and bloody ritual when I was still living in Malibay (Pasay City).  Here in Morong it is called pagbubulyos.   This is performed mostly by men, both young and old, who wish to fulfill a panata (vow) of public atonement for one’s sins.  This panata is done for a minimum of 10 successive years and is reflected in the bulyos, a whip consisting of bamboo strips tied to sturdy cord.   Each strip represents one year of atonement, its number being reduced every succeeding year until he completes his panata.  Each strip should be secured properly.  If one is detached during his rounds, another strip (and another year) is added to his bulyos.

Before the actual flagellation, the flagellant’s back is prepared by beating with stick and paddles until swollen and numb.  Numerous small cuts on the back are then made with razors, with vinegar or salt sometimes applied to the cuts.   Only then is the raw back whipped continuously by the bulyos.  The flagellants, most with heads covered, walk barefoot along the town’s streets, stopping by the church to pray, then continuing on until they reach the sea where a healing noontime dip awaits them.

Dambana ng Kagitingan (Pilar, Bataan)

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The Memorial Cross

Come Holy Week, I was invited by Jandy’s teacher Ms. Veneriza “Vener” Trillo to vacation at their home at Morong in Bataan.  That being the case, I also planned to make a stopover at the Dambana ng Kagitingan in Pilar.  Its giant cross, on the 553-m. high Mt. Samat, stands as a mute symbol of the heroic World War II resistance put up by Filipino-American forces against the invading Japanese 60 years ago.  A visit to Bataan is certainly meaningless without seeing it.  On this pilgrimage, I brought along my son Jandy, his classmate Jeff Agtonong, teachers Mr. Erwin Vizcarra and Mr. Ronnie Boy Lansangan plus Ms. Marianne de Guzman,  Ronnie’s friend. 

Mt. Samat

We left Manila very early in the morning (4 AM) of April 17 (Holy Thursday), taking the longer (150.40 kms. from the Balintawak flyover) route along Bataan’s east coast instead of the shorter Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) route.  Normally it would take 3 hrs. tops to travel the said distance, but hey, this is Holy Week and heavy traffic is the rule and not the exception.  It was everywhere, from the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX), then being widened, all the way up to Lubao in Pampanga.  The Lubao section (then being rehabilitated) was the worst, with over an hour wasted.  After Lubao, it was smooth driving all the way as we entered Bataan, the Roman Superhighway and the Angel Linao Highway, to Pilar town. Along the way, we passed the entrance to Dunsolan Falls, located along Mt. Samat’s western slope, and Mt. Samat Inn.  Upon reaching the Mt. Samat turn-off, it was a steep drive up a 7-km. long winding asphalt road.  We finally reached the shrine by 10 AM.

The colonnade of Dambana ng Kagitingan

The shrine, at the end of the road, is located just 70 m. below the mountain’s peak.  It was built at a cost of PhP7 million (including access roads) and was opened on April 9, 1974, the anniversary of Bataan’s fall (Araw ng Kagitingan).  Our pilgrimage to the shrine was done nearly 30 years after the fact. Today, the Araw ng Kagitingan held at the shrine usually features wreath-laying ceremonies, remembrance of the Death March and tributes to World War II veterans, whether dead or still living. 

The base of the cross

Immediately above us, reached by a long flight of stairs, is the shrine’s marble-capped colonnade.  It has an altar, an esplanade and a museum.  The shrine’s 12 relief columns, done in marble, depict historical events and important battles that took place in Bataan. The altar, used for religious services, has a stained-glass mural behind it. There are also statues of war heroes, two bronze urns (symbolic of the Eternal Flame of Freedom) and 18 bronze insignias and flagpoles with colors of USAFFE division units.  What struck the eye; however, were the two huge panels on the north and south walls inscribed with accounts of the Battle of Bataan in relief.   The colonnade’s basement museum, reached by a spiral stairway, displays an array of authentic World War II American and Japanese weapons (rifles, machine guns, mortars, shells, bayonets, etc.), uniforms (helmets, boots, belts, etc.), old photos, news clippings and, in the center of the dimly-lit hall, a scaled 3-D model of the Bataan peninsula indicating important battle sites.

The museum

Upon finishing our museum tour, we crammed our necks up to look at our ultimate destination: the towering Memorial Cross.  From the colonnade, we made the long but leisurely walk up the 14-flight zigzagging footpath (paved with bloodstones from Corregidor Island) on the mountain slope to the cross.  Once up, I found out that we could have drove all the way up to a parking lot beside it.  Some exercise (in futility?) it turned out to be as I later walked down the winding road to fetch the car.  The cross was huge, 91.8 m. high to be exact. Built in 1968 with steel and reinforced concrete, it stands on an 11 meter high platform capped with nabiag na bato slabs sculpted with bas reliefs depicting significant battles and historical events.  Above this base, the cross is finished with chipped granolithic marble. Its 30 m. wide arms (15 m. on each arm) rise 74 m. from the base and can be reached by an elevator. 

View of the shrine from the Memorial Cross
We failed to make it to the last morning trip up the viewing gallery at the cross’ arms as it was now lunchtime.  We had to wait another hour, becoming the second batch up that afternoon.  The 18-ft. by 90-ft. viewing gallery has a 7-ft. high clearance. It was pleasantly cool and windy up there, quite a different scenario from 6 decades ago when the area reeked with smell of death and the intense heat of battle. The views, nevertheless, were spectacular.  From the gallery, we could view the sea, mountains, forests (somewhat denuded at certain areas) and distant Manila, located 126.34 kms. northeast.  The cross is finished with luminous material and can be seen on a clear night as far away as Manila across Manila Bay.    

Biak-na-Bato National Park (Bulacan)

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Biak-na-Bato National Park

I got an invitation from Jesu-Mariae School (JMS), my son Jandy’s school, to join an outbound education demonstration tour for teachers at Biak-na-Bato National Park in Bulacan sponsored by Lakbay Kalikasan and I promptly accepted.  Five JMS teachers were to accompany me – Ms. Ofelia “Openg” E. Bermas, Ms. Maritess H. Dimaranan, Mr. Robert V. “Rob” Castañeda, Mr. Joel P. Fatlaunag and Mr. Ronnie Boy R. Lansangan.   

The Balaong River

We left Manila fittingly on April 9, Araw ng Kagitingan, and were picked up, by 5 AM, at the EDSA Shrine by a Lakbay Kalikasan-chartered airconditioned tourist bus.  In all, there were 48 of us from different schools.  Our Lakbay Kalikasan hosts were Ms. Rosa-Vina S. Prudente (Team Leader and Lecturer), Mr. Ryan Viado (Team Leader 1), Mr. Roger Quizol (Team Leader 2), Ms. Hanna Garcia, Mr. Bobby Estrebillo and Mr. Joel Garalde.  We arrived at Biak-na-Bato by 9 AM after a 3-hr. trip (including waiting for latecomers, a stopover for breakfast and calls of nature) via the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX), exiting at Sta. Rita/Baliwag Exit.  Then, from the National Highway, we headed towards Plaridel and Baliwag. At a Y intersection 7 kms. from San Ildefonso, we took the road to the right then,  about 1 km farther, another right at another intersection leading straight to Biak na Bato.

Yungib 2 Cave

This 2,117-hectare National Park, site of Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo’s Biak-na-Bato Republic, covers a large part of San Miguel de Mayumo and parts of San Idelfonso and Doña Remedios Trinidad (DRT).  Its attractions are its series of 16 major caves, some unexplored, that lies at the rocky foothills of the Sierra Madre Mountains. The park is bordered by a small mountain range (the 432-m. high Mt. Nabio, the 422-m. high Mt. Susong Dalaga and the 380-m. high Mt. Silid) in the east and the Balaong River in the west.   It also has low, 140-m. high, rolling hill lands.  Also within the park are Brgys. Biak-na-Bato, Kalawakan and Sibul. The park has two areas: the easily accessible Front Country and the undeveloped and hard to reach Back Country.  

Yungib 3 Cave

It seemed that we weren’t literally going for a walk in the park as our bus entered the Back Country. There are 3 trails leading to the Back Country and its rarely-visited caves.  The trail we chose was well-marked. It starts directly across the Balaong River from the park entrance and proceeds over hills towards Mt. Silid.  We are to explore several semi-caves and at least one pit cave.  From a trail branch to the top of Bahay Paniki Cave, we can also explore 2 more caves without spelunking gear.

Yungib 1 Cave

Reality meets history at this trail as we were going to walk under the blazing heat of the sun through an unpaved, poorly shaded and dusty trail as our Katipunero ancestors did over a century ago.  No pain, no gain.  However,we had the luxury of doing some stretching exercises before our hike. Accompanying us was park guide Mr. Patricio Garcenilla.  Our nostalgic 2-hr. trek took us to 4 caves – Yungib 2, Yungib 3, Tangapan Cave and Yungib 1. The first 3 were naturally lighted and all had at least 2 entrances.  In every cave, we were given a historical overview of what each cave served.  Yungib 2, the so-called Pagamutan (“infirmary”), was, in the past, the nearest cave from the battlefield. Here, in this makeshift hospital, our Katipunero ancestors sought medical help for battle wounds.  Yungib 3, on the other hand, served as the Katipuneros’ storage for weapons, food and other war necessities.

Tangapan Cave

Tangapan (“meeting place”) Cave, near the third trail’s start, was where Gen. Aguinaldo first made contact with other revolutionaries.  Its well-lit main chamber is accessed by a front and back entrance.  A small tunnel, leading to the river, requires the use of helmets and lights for exploring.  Our final destination, Yungib 1, was the longest and the darkest of the four.  Called the “Ambush Cave,” here our Katipunero ancestors would lie in ambush as they waited for pursuing Spanish soldiers.  They escaped via a rear entrance.  We also made our “escape” via the same route, watching our heads as we groped in the dark.  In all 4 caves, we all said a prayer dedicated to our brave ancestors prior to departing. 

Gen. Aguinaldo Cave

After this nostalgic travel through time, it was back to our bus for a short drive to the developed Front Country.  The parking area before the entrance was filled with food stalls selling just about anything from snacks, maps and even souvenirs made from Biak-na-Bato limestone.  This time, we hiked along paved trails straddling the river to our designated picnic area.  Along the way, we passed (but didn’t explore) the Gen. Aguinaldo Cave and Cuarto-Cuarto Cave. Gen. Aguinaldo Cave, also called Biak-na-Bato Cave, was Aguinaldo’s headquarters in 1897 and site of the republic. The Pact of Biak-na-Bato was also signed here.

Bahay Paniki Cave

Once at the picnic area, we pigged out, kamayan style, on a feast of pork adobo, inihaw na talong (eggplant), tokwa (tofu), rice, and a salad of diced tomatoes, onions and salted eggs, all washed down with soft drinks or bottled water. Just when we felt like dozing off, a whistle blew signaling the start of more trekking.  Whatever we ate seemed to disappear as we traversed the paved, up-and-down (mostly up) trail to Bahay Paniki (“House of Bats”) Cave.  This easy-to-explore and well-lit cave is located upstream from the river.  Probably the largest cave in the area, it has a rather deep natural indoor swimming pool fed by an underground stream.  Thousands of fruit bats fly in and out from dawn and dusk.  The presence of these bats also meant the presence of guano (bat droppings), a sure source of income for the inhabitants.  However, it was a cause of concern for those of us who wanted to swim.  What the heck!  A number of us (including me), with or without life vests, dove in and enjoyed the cool waters.

Lakbay Kalikasan: G/F Balai Lakbay, 2 Alondras St., Mira-Nila Homes, Tandang Sora Ave., Quezon City, Metro Manila.  Tel: (632) 932-7818 to 19.  Mobile number: (0917) 500-4796. Website: www.lakbaykalikasan.com.

Trek to Sto. Kalbaryo (Dolores, Quezon)

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Pointing to heaven

Finally, we were cleansed enough to climb up Sto. Kalbaryo (Durungawan II to mountaineers), a bare, lava rock-filled mountain located just below Mt. Cristobal.  The highest mountain in Complex 1, it is so called because, during Holy Week, hundreds of pilgrims trace Christ’s supposed ascent from Dolores to the summit, re-enacting Christ’s passion and death.    We were to do ours two weeks early. The hot afternoon sun was still shining brightly up in the sky as we clambered our way, thirsty and sweating profusely, through a well-marked trail, up the treeless and rocky mountain.

The author with Rob and Ely

Throughout my trek, I also felt the mystique and magic of Mt. Banahaw and Mt. Cristobal around me, more so when we reached the top where 3 wooden crosses were strategically planted to recreate the actual crucifixion scene. By tradition, on Good Friday, the summit is deserted, as mystics believe that only God the Father may bear witness to His Son’s death.  It is also said that on that same day, an enkanto (spirit) opens a hidden cave near the crosses which acts as a pathway to the netherworld.  Anyone at the summit, at this time, will be forced to enter it and never return.  Reaching the summit of a mountain was a first for many of my companions. For me, it brought me 2,400 ft. nearer to Heaven and my Creator.    Thus, it was with deep regret and a heavy heart that I had to make the shorter but more difficult descent down the mountain and back to earth.  For me, my climb up that mountain has been well worth it as this most jaded of travelers has left it purer in heart.

Lakbay Kalikasan: G/F Balai Lakbay, 2 Alondras St., Mira-Nila Homes, Tandang Sora Ave., Quezon City, Metro Manila.  Tel: (632) 932-7818 to 19.  Mobile number: (0917) 500-4796. Website: www.lakbaykalikasan.com.

Sto. Lucia Complex (Dolores, Quezon)

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Lakbay Kalikasan, Southeast Asia’s first and premier outbound education outfitter, embarked on a series of outbound education demonstration tours for teachers from other schools willing to try out their outbound education programs and they invited me to cover one of these tours that promote appreciation of the living remnants of a pre-Hispanic tradition which is still being practiced today in Mt. Banahaw, that of worshiping nature (rivers, mountains, old trees and fields) in the belief that such natural objects were the habitats of spirits. Jesu-Mariae School, my son Jandy’s school, joined the tour and they were represented by Robert “Rob” V. Castañeda and Eleser “Ely” Borero.  

Hiking up Calvario

Our destination was Mt. Banahaw’s Brgy. Sta. Lucia Complex 1 in Dolores (Quezon), one of Banahaw’s 4 complexes – the others being Kinabuhayan (Resurrection), Durungawan (Window) and Ilalim (Crater), which lies at the foot of the 1,470-m. high Mt. Cristobal.  We left the EDSA Shrine (our assembly place) by 5:30 AM, April 9 (Bataan Day), on board one of two vans. Joining us were 16 other teachers from 6 Metro Manila schools (Augustinian Abbey School, Madre Pia, Miriam College, Olivarez College, St. Benedict and Santa Catalina High School).  Our Lakbay Kalikasan hosts were Mr. Ramon Jocson (Corps Director), Mr. Ronaldo Dalofin (Team Leader/Lecturer 2), Mr. Roger Quizol (Team Leader 2), Mr. Oscar Orbe (Team Leader 3) and Ms. Billy de la Cruz (Facilitator 3).   The trip to Dolores was to take all of 3 hours.

Upon arrival at Sta. Lucia, we visited the compound of the Suprema Iglesia del Ciudad Mystica del Dios, Inc.  (Supreme Church of the Mystic City of God), the largest of Banahaw’s 66 to 88 registered colorums, entering it via a huge 20-foot high stainless steel gate.   The word colorum is derived from the Latin Mass invocation in saecula saeculorum.  These esoteric folk Christian religious communities, varying in size from several thousand members to a few adherents, believed that Mt. Banahaw is the site of the Holy Land and that Christ walked in the area.  They also share an intense nationalism and reverence for National Hero Jose Rizal who is considered a demigod or the Tagalog Jesus Christ.  Many sects also believe in the ascendancy of the female (Ciudad Mystica included) and women, rather than men, perform the priestly functions. These religious sects around Dolores resent the kulto (cult) connotation insinuated by non-believers. 

Piedra Mental

Mt. Banahaw is full of sacred natural shrines locally called puwestos (places), all said to have been discovered by Katipunero Agripino Lontok, and one of our objectives was to undergo and relive the pre-Hispanic tradition of pamumuwesto (spiritual pilgrimage) by hiking, crossing rivers and entering caves, all sacred destinations with deep historical and symbolical meanings, communing with the spirits for paglilinaw (discernment) and paglilinis ng loob (inner cleansing) so that we may take the challenges ahead.  Along the way, lectures and meditations are intermittently given and, in all puwestos, candles are always lit.

My baptism

We descended, down a gorge, to Sta. Lucia Falls, fed by the cool Lagnas (or Kinabuhayan) River, and Piedra Mental, a stone altar where pilgrims pray for mental discernment as they go through the pamumuwesto. At the stream which courses down Banahaw (also called Ilog ng Jordan, alluding to John the Baptist’s baptism of Christ), we “cleansed” or “purified” (water is a universal archetype for cleansing) ourselves and drank the sulfuric waters of the falls 3 times (symbolic of the Triune God – the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit) prior to our entering the sacred caves (kuweba), the pilgrim’s church.  After our ritual baptism, we we then climbed up the steep gorge. 

One of many caves in Sta. Lucia Complex

At the huge boulder of Kaban ni San Isidro, the gate to the entire complex of Sto. Kalbaryo, we lighted candles and said a short prayer for safety and guidance, while at the book-shaped boulder called Aklat ng Buhay (the Book of Life said to contain our names, date of birth and even date of death) at Prisintahan , we imaginatively “register” our names and those of our loved ones. A real hurdle was the 40-m. long Santong Husgado (Holy Judge), one of the caves at Ina ng Awa revered by the religious sects and given Biblical names.  Said to test the purity of those who enter, it is believed that when you get out of this cave, 7 years of your sins will be forgiven but, if you are not completely malinis (cleansed), you will be trapped inside. 

Santong Husgado

We had to hike, barefoot, from Ina ng Awa to the cave opening (with lit candles strategically placed along the cave), carrying just the clothes on our back.  The ladies,  with their small frames, decided to go in first.  I was the last to enter this “cave” which was more of a rabbit hole.  All the while, I was figuring out how to get my 5’-10,” 188-pound frame inside that hole. Ready and willing for this test of faith (pagsubok), I kept remembering the familiar Biblical proverb “I can do anything through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13).  Crawling through it entailed a lot of body contorting as well as decision-making. “Should I enter head or feet first?”  “Should I do it on my stomach or on my back?” Finally, after what seemed like an eternity of struggle, I finally made it out to Ina ng Awa. Now I know how a worm feels.   I, together with the others, were all mud-splattered yet, surprisingly, our habit-cladded sister colleague from Madre Pia was still spotlessly clean.  Could it be divine intervention?  I wonder.   

Lakbay Kalikasan: G/F Balai Lakbay, 2 Alondras St., Mira-Nila Homes, Tandang Sora Ave., Quezon City, Metro Manila.  Tel: (632) 932-7818 to 19.  Mobile number: (0917) 500-4796. Website: www.lakbaykalikasan.com.