Monthly Archives: July 2011

Enchanted with Cagbalete Island (Mauban, Quezon)

Posted on by — Leave a reply
Cagbalete Island

Come morning and after breakfast at the Mayor’s house, Bernard and I decided to do some more sightseeing.  Omar, Baby and Dax left earlier to cover the unveiling of the historical marker at Rizal Hill Park.  To burn some of our excess calories, we visited, on foot, a number of the town’s old ancestral houses (Alquiros Residence, Quintana Residence, Pansacola Residence and Taino Residence) and the monument to native son Fr. Horacio V. de la Costa.  By 10 AM, all of us met up at the municipal hall as we were slated to go on a day tour of the 1,640.48 sq. km. Cagbalete Island, one of Mauban’s top tourist draws.

Taino Ancestral House

We boarded to tricycles to get to the port at Brgy. Daungan as we were hoping to still catch the morning trip (10 AM) to the island and leave the island on the afternoon boat (1:30 PM).  At the port, we were met by Mr. Romano “Roman” Balatbat, the former barangay captain of Brgy. Cagbalete 1 (now headed by his wife), one of the island’s 2 barangays (the other being Cagbalete 2).  Mang Roman is a Visayan migrant to the island, just like most of the island’s inhabitants.  Our huge motorized outrigger boat left the port by 10:45 AM and the 6 km. trip took all of 45 mins..  Along the way, we passed the the 440 MW, coal-powered Quezon Power Project.  Built in 2000, it is the first privately built, owned, and operated power generating facility in the Philippines.

Quezon Power Project

We were within sight of the island’s beach by 11:30 AM but we had to transfer to a smaller, flat-bottomed boat to get to shore as we were anchored some distance away, it being low tide.  Just the same, I had to raise my pant legs and remove my shoes and socks to wade ashore.  Mang Roman first invited us to his house where a simple but filling lunch of fried chicken, fish and soft drinks was prepared for  us.  After lunch, we walked along the barangay’s narrow pathways and, after that, the beach itself to get to the island’s other side  where the island’s white sand beaches are less populated and at their most beautiful.  

Cagbalete Beach

Naturally, there were a number of resorts located along this beautiful stretch of white sand and we spent a substantial amount of time at the quaint Pansacola Beach Resort.  The resort has rustic fan-cooled, 8-10-pax nipa huts with common toilets and bath (rented for PhP2,000) and 12-20-pax houses with private toilets and bath (rented for PhP4,000).  Open beach huts are rented for  PhP1,000.  Other resorts located on the island, all in Brgy. Cagbalete 1, include Little Prince, MVT Sto. Nino and Villa Cleofas, said to be the best on the island.   

Pansacola Beach Resort

Our enchantment with the beautiful beach, where we did some “leaping” photo ops, made us forget about the time and, realizing this, we soon thanked the resort caretaker and quickened our pace to make it back to the landing area.  Too late.  We were still some distance away when we espied our boat already leaving the beach and us for that matter.  Luckily for us, there were still other, smaller motorized boats around, the barangay being a fishing community, and Mang Roman made arrangements for a boat to bring us back to the port.  The trip back took a little longer, it being a smaller boat, and there was to be no roof to shade us from the hot afternoon sun.  Still, we were thankful that we made it back to town as we had to depart for Manila in the late afternoon.  

The Public Bath

Back at the port, we thanked our gracious host and savior Mang Roman and met up with his wife (now barangay captain of Cagbalete 1).  Then, we returned to the municipal hall to inform the Tourism Office of our safe arrival.  Later, we left  it laden with bottles of nipanog wine, parting gifts courtesy of Mayor Llamas.  Before leaving the town, we visited the parents of Lee at their Mauban home (and again left it laden with additional 4-gallon bottles filled with nipanog wine for us and Lee)  and the town’s Public Baths at the end of San Buenaventura St. (cor. Mabini St.), between Brgys. Daungan and Mabato.  Built in 1725 by Kapitan Luis de la Cruz, it has 2 compartments, boys on the left and girls on the right.  The baths used to be supplied with overflow water from the town’s reservoir.  Now they’re dry.  Mauban is the only municipality in the country to have such a structure.

A Walking Tour of Mauban (Quezon)

Posted on by — 1 Comment ↓
The Municipal Hall

We finally arrived at Mauban, at the midst of its Maubanog Festival, by 4 PM and we made a stopover at the municipal hall were we all dropped by the Municipal Tourism Office and paid a courtesy call on Mayor Fernando Q. Llamas, the uncle of our good friend Lee Llamas.  Prominently displayed outside the municipal hall is an old cannon, 1 of 3 (the other 2 are at the Museo ng Mauban) bestowed by Spanish Gov.-Gen. Rafael Maria Aguilar to the town as a reward for the rescue efforts done for the Spanish friars captured by Moro pirates. The cannon were later used against the Spanish to effect the surrender of Tayabas to the revolutionaries in 1898.  All 3 were  restored on April 16, 2004.  

Traditional Mauban products

After our courtesy call on the Mayor, we  all dropped by the Mauban Product Development Office, beside the municipal hall, to check out the town’s traditional products such as finely-crafted nilala woven hats, baskets, slippers, wallets, bags, boxes, caddies, etc.;  delicacies such as pinangat, binalawan, pinais, tikoy, kalamay, pastillas, botarts, mazapan, suspiro, etc.; and nipanog, wine made with sasa (toddy palm nectar) instead of coconut and available in different flavors such as liputi, katmon, guyabano, mango, pineapple, guava, jackfruit, kalamias, tamarind and santol. Being a fiesta, booths selling these products, and more, were found in front of the municipal hall as well as along the major streets. 

Church of St. Bonaventure

While they were checking out the products, I took time out to visit the town’s present, modern Church of St. Bonaventure (the town’s patron saint).   This church underwent a lot of rebuilding since it was first built in 1647 and demolished in 1769.  The second structure, built in 1773, was badly damaged during the 1830 earthquake and rebuilt between 1836 and 1845.  The church collapsed during the July 1880 earthquake and the present church was built in 1891.  The bell tower, built in 1773, was seriously damaged during the 1880 earthquake and the portion that remained was partially destroyed again during the August 20, 1937 earthquake. 

Gat Uban Park

With the sun still up, we still had time to make a walking tour to Gat Uban Park, at the end of Gomez St., along the sea wall.  The park has a seaward facing statue the legendary Dumagat warrior and leader Gat Pangil who defended the town against ruthless Moro attacks.  Gat Pangil was also known as Gat Uban because of his gray hair (uban).  Accordingly, the town was named after the fact.  The well-lighted promenade area, with its gentle sea breeze, is a favorite meeting place for Maubanons. 

View from Rizal Hill Park

It was near sunset when we dropped by Rizal Hill Park (locally called Calvario Hill), along San Buenaventura St. in Brgy. Rizaliana.  To get to the top, we had a  choice of taking the shorter route (climbing a steep concrete stairway) or the longer route via a winding ramp skirting the hill.  Of course, we chose the latter.  At the top of the hill is a statue of National Hero Jose Rizal, erected on December 1912 by the Mauban Circle Association of Students.  The  park offers a panoramic view of the whole town.  In olden times, the hill was used as a sentinel post and a place for religious activities during the Spanish era, as headquarters by American troops, as an outpost by the Philippine Constabulary during the Japanese Occupation and, after the war, by the Civilian Emergency Administration.

Rizal Hill Park

Soon after our arrival,  Mr. Ludovico Badoy and Ms. Carminda R. Arevalo, Executive Director  and Officer-in-Charge (NHCP Research, Publications and Heraldry Division), respectively, of the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP), formerly the National Historical Institute (NHI), also arrived.  They supervised the installation of a historical marker recognizing the hill for its historical significance.  The marker was to be unveiled the next day, with Mayor Llamas and Mr. Badoy leading the ceremony.  It was now evening when we left the hill and, after dinner at the house of Mayor Llamas, we were billeted for the night at the nearby Llamas ancestral house.

Municipal Tourism Office – Municipal Hall, Poblacion, Mauban, Quezon.  Tel: (042) 784-1205 and 713-0314.  E-mail: gat_uban@yahoo.com.

Stopover at Tayabas (Quezon)

Posted on by — Leave a reply
Minor Basilica of St. Michael the Archangel

Last July 13-14, I,  together with fellow travel writer Bernard Supetran, were invited by photographer friend Lee Llamas to cover the Maubanog Festival in Lee’s hometown of Mauban in Quezon. Bernard and I met up at Starbucks Magallanes were we were picked up, around 11 AM, by a chartered Nissan Urvan.  Joining us were Lee’s photographer friends Ms. Baby de la Cruz (a just returned overseas contract worker from Kuwait), Mr. Dax Cruz (a balikbayan from Canada) and Dr. Omar Cacabelos (a dentist).  All, including Lee, are members of Gruppo i4i (eye for eye), a band of professional photographers who offer a wide range of services to clients.  We were in for a long haul, the trip to Mauban taking all of 190 kms.  Along the way, we made stopovers for toilet breaks, lunch at Chowking and a photo ops at Tayabas City.

The church’s beautiful interiors

This wasn’t my first visit to this city, the first being during a Holy Week break in 1999 when Tayabas was still a municipality (it only became a component city in 2007).  Still an eye opener was its 103-m. long Minor Basilica (it became such on October 18, 1988) of St. Michael the Archangel, the best preserved and the most beautifully-decorated church complex in the province.  It is also the longest Spanish colonial church in the country and also one of the oldest.   Its bell tower contains an 18th century clock (the only one of its kind in the country) that chimes every 30 minutes.  The church interior has seven altars, all done in the Neo-Classical style, an antique organ at the choir loft, a balcony below the beautiful dome and beautiful trompe l’oeil ceiling paintings.  The adjacent convent was used as a Japanese garrison during World War II.  This beautiful church is now listed, by the National Museum, as one of 26 National Cultural Treasures.

The Casa Communidad de Tayabas

Nearby is the Casa de Communidad, the biggest stone house ever restored by the National Historical Institute. It was first built in 1776 as a tribunal  by gobernadorcillo Francisco Lopez and made into a lavish edifice from 1831 to 1837 by then gobernadorcillo Don Diego Enriquez.  Apolinario dela Cruz (a.k.a. Hermano Pule) was hastily tried and sentenced to death here in 1841 by a Spanish court for leading a revolt. It was later used as a Spanish Armed Forces headquarters (May 29, 1898), as the Central High School Building (March 12, 1901), as the Tayabas Provincial Hospital (1941) and the Japanese Army headquarters until it was burned by American bombing on March 15, 1945.  In 1950, it was used as the Central School Building No. 2.  The building was renovated in 1973 (Exec. Order No. 2601) and 1974 (Exec. Order No. 3750) and was declared a National Historical Landmark on June 1, 1978. It now houses a museum, municipal library, art and culture center, and tourism office.   The building was in a sorry state of disrepair when we arrived and is currently being restored again. 

The Spanish-era Malagunlong Bridge

Back on the road to Mauban (now just 14 kms. away), we gain made a short photo op, 2.4 kms. outside of Tayabas City, at a modern, girder-type concrete bridge along the highway to view, at the upstream side, the Malagunlong Bridge, the oldest in the province and one of the few remaining Spanish colonial, arch-type bridges in the country.  The bridge, now unused, was built of adobe stone, limestone and molasses and started  by Spanish Franciscan parish priest Fr. Antonio Mateus in 1840 and completed 10 years later.  It is 445 ft. long and has five spans.  About 230 m. after this bridge, we arrived at the junction going to Mauban.

Gruppo i4i: Suite 609, Angelica Manor, San Antonio Village, Ortigas Center, Pasig City. Tel: (632) 775-6017.  Mobile number: (0919) 427-0754.  Website: www.gruppoi4i.com
City Mayor’s Office:  City Hall,J.P. Rizal St., Tayabas City, Quezon.  Website: http://tayabas.ph.