tagabungtod

After the war, as soon as the pioneers settled in Nabunturan, they began to clear their lands of forest and trees, particularly in the plains, to give way to agricultural farming. Many of them came in pursuit of abaca as Manila hemp, after World War II, fetched a very lucrative price. To these enterprising pioneers, the promise of a better life was close to reality.

Systematically, the settlers felled the trees with the use of a kortador, which is a saw about eight to twelve feet long, each end pushed and pulled by two operators (jokingly called "imo-akon”). This was the settler’s version of the modern-day chainsaw. Most of the trees were of the hardwood species like yakal, guijo, sambulawan, dao, lawaan, etc. These were processed into lumber and would provide their families and workers with new, safe and permanent homes.

Also, because there was ample supply of lumber, buildings began sprouting which accommodated thriving businesses, commerce and institutions. Later, a sawmill owned by the Guinoos was established in town near the curbada.

After about 60 years only very few of these wooden structures remain. These are landmarks which will soon disappear, together with the rest, as they are by nature suffering from material fatigue and decay. They are our only reminders of how Nabunturan looked like when it was started by these brave pioneers several decades ago. Very, very few are left. Here are some of them today:
Bagaipo Traveller's Inn. Among the Bagaipo children, only Boni and Aida are left to manage the business.
The old Superior Trading. Blue-roofed yellow building was where Insoy was. It is now a bakery. Our family's clinic and drugstore were somewhere in between.
Shanghai Bakery on the far left, now owned by Teresita "Daday" Palay-Daculos. Next to it is where the Monforte's used to reside. They have since sold it to Tony Jao which owns the hardware below. Then the Yu Diets (Koy Lim with a record 19 children) and Tan Sing.