tagabungtod

Mainit: 43 Years Ago

I was rummaging through some of the photo albums we have and I came across this B&W picture which showed how Mainit looked like. I would place the year this was taken as either 1965 or 1966 since my father is shown here (sitting on a rock at the background while my mother is standing near him). This may have been his last visit there. He died in November 23, 1966. Fr. Kosnik, then assistant parish priest, is in the foreground (walay laing merkano). Some other recognizable faces are Goring Echavez, Andring Secuya and children Victor, Flora and Corazon, Anastacio and Anita Secuya and their daughters Teodora and Badette, Jaime Lopez, an ACN teacher, convent boys Paulino Hilot and Cris Ausan. I cannot trust my aging eyes to speculate on who the others are. These happy tagabungtods in the picture, I believe, are only part of a bigger parish group that went there that day.

You can see that those were the days when one can literally dive and swim in the natural "pools" of Mainit. These were not man-made. In fact it makes one wonder how those pools were naturally created for everybody to enjoy. On one part, we had one teeth-chattering, cold and deep pool (murag gitunaw nga ice ang katugnaw was our simplistic way of describing it) and in another part, a pool where the confluence of cold and hot streams provided us with a very enjoyable, relaxing and pleasurable swim and dip. I am sometimes mystified and awed at how God provides His creatures a special place where they can enjoy his creation --- just like these pools did.

But, alas, from the same picture you can also glean, from the huge logs washed downriver, how God's creatures, instead of paying obeisance and gratitude to what Nature has provided them, have rather chosen to be destructive. Instead of trying to help protect and preserve their environment, they destroy it. This is what happened to Mainit.

Now the natural swimming pools are gone. The crystal clear water currents are gone. The trees are almost gone. The peaceful and reverential silence of the place is gone. The kalaws (Great Hornbills) that faithfully remind us the time of day---perhaps knowing we are immersed in either our revelry or reverie while wading and wallowing in the water ---are gone.

This is what's left:

3 Leave Your Comments:

1. rod Says: September 1, 2008 3:44 PM  

   like everybody else who grew up in nabunturan,i miss mainit as i know it many many years ago. will its former beauty come back? like the child in us, nope, it wont. this makes me yearn more of the yesteryears of our lives. when things and people were very simple and uncomplicated. but maybe, in the river of time, someone will deliver us away from all this wanton destruction of our place.

2. Nestor Says: September 8, 2008 12:52 AM  

   Good blog Trino!
   
   Is this what's left of Mainit? Sad, and unfortunately this is the case almost everywhere.
   
   I am back in the Philippines after 23 years! I plan to share my expertise here in Energy and Environmental Design. I plan to go to Nabunturan and explore ways on how I can make a positive difference in Nabunturan's sustainable development.
   
   I hope to see you there soon!
   
   Nestor Arabejo -a balik-tagabuntod

3. mariloupmaglana Says: December 14, 2008 8:16 PM  

   manong trin, i just knew of your blog recently. malipayon ako nga naa ka usa ka tagabuntod nga nagimprinta sa atong istorya (past, present). Hopefully with this knowledge we would have a better future nga harmonious ug integrated ang progress sa atong lungsod ug ang pag-amping sa atong kinaiyahn. I am sure a lot of tagabungtod mibati gyod sa ilang pagka-taganabunturan!!!

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