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Palapag...from
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patag”, meaning
“plain” until it was renamed “Palpag” during the
Spanish times and now, “Palapag”.
From the province’s capital in Catarman, it was
half an hour’s drive to the Rawis River where
the only means to get to Palapag was via a
45-minute motorboat ride. It sounds too long a
ride, but with a backdrop like nipa huts in
stilts selling seafood, bamboo-bordered fish and
crab pens and the occasional boatmen passing by,
the soothing drift (except for the noisy motor)
was an opportune time to take in as much fresh
air and glimpses of the rural life as I could.
Palapag is a remote town that looks like it
hasn’t been tainted with commercialism. Parish
priest Fr. Potenciano Dulay hints that the town
could very well be one of the oldest towns of
the province with 407 years of history behind
it. Records show that Palapag was established as
a Spanish pueblo as early as 1585. Because of
its geographic location, Palapag also served as
a service and repair station during the
Manila-Acapulco galleon trade. And as if the
town is not yet overflowing with history,
Palapag was also the initial site of the Sumuroy
Rebellion in 1649 when Juan Agustin Sumuroy
rebelled against the Spaniards.
Today, a visual reminder of
Palapag’s rich history lay in the ruins of its
old church. Built in 1610, its partly crumbled
masonry remains bear witness to centuries of
ravage caused by wars and natural disasters.
Beside its fragmented grandeur stands a light
blue new church. Inside, a 203-year old La Luz
painting believed to have existed during the
Spanish times and a bronze tabernacle are on
display at the church’s altar, a reminder of
Palapag as a cradle of the early Spaniard
colonizers.
Efforts by the church and expat Adrian Perry are
on the way to halt the further deterioration of
the old church, its bell tower and fortress
walls says Fr. Dulay. “If the church disappears,
there would be nothing to hold on to the past,
and the future of it depends on the sincerity of
our people,” he adds, saying that as much as
they have all these high hopes for their
church’s restoration, they could only do so much with scarce financial resources.
Apart from a historical
itinerary, visitors can marvel at the
eco-tourist sites scattered in the different
barangays of the town. The local Palapag Sierra
Club, a mountaineering group, has identified
trekking lanes and view areas, making hidden
springs and the virgin forests with trailing
wild animals in it a lot more accessible for the
public. Then there’s the Tripod of High Rocks,
the Guinpandayan natural rock formations and
small caves of Barangay Cabatuan; the waterfalls
of Sangay; the deep lagoons and Cansapot
Waterfalls of Matambag; the Canonghan, Can-irib
and Magtugmok Waterfalls and Kagtabon caves of
Osmeņa; and the Manganino Waterfalls of Bagacay.
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Although I wasn’t able to go around all of the
sites, I managed to visit the long beaches of
Monbon, Talolora and Mapno. The grey volcanic
sand seashore and the gushing cold waters are
like a secret backyard recreational spot for the
locals who live nearby. You wouldn’t think such
a thing exists when you’re just whizzing along
the main road. So riding on the back of the
habal-habal or motorbike, we went past farmlands
and dusted up the quiet neighborhood until we
reached these Palapag’s hidden paradise.
Surprisingly for a remote fifth class municipality in a province,
the town has good roads. “From 30 percent, we
managed to make Palapag 99 percent accessible
with only one of the 32 barangays not yet
paved,” Mayor Ricardo Daiz says proudly.
From the Mapno beach, we sighted the orange beach Palihon
Island. It would take another ten-minute
motorized banca to get there but since it was
already dusk, I could only view it from afar.
Well, I guess that would give me a reason to
come back to Palapag.
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Statue of Waray warrior
Juan Sumuroy |
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The old bell |
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The old (foreground) and
the new church (background) |
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Children playing along the Mapno
Beach |
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Rows of
nipat huts line the roads of Palapag |
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On the
way to Palapag via motorboat |
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The crumbled
ruins of the church |
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A nipa hut along the road |
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Mayor Ricardo Daiz |
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Pub in the
Barrio
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A pub
in the middle of a barrio. That in a
sentence describes Cobadonga. But no
matter how odd that sounds, the
two-storey structure artfully fits in
with the general feel of rustic
historical Palapag. Built and owned by
Englishman Adrian Perry, the
three-bedroom lodging serves as both a
transient residence of visiting
foreigners to their local loved ones and
a watering hole for Adrian and his
friends.
Two years into the business, the place is as English a pub as
you can get. From the floral |
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berately do not
have karaoke.”
Adrian is the only foreigner living in
Palapag and he has tons of experiences
to share. Having lived in different
countries like South Africa, Hong Kong,
Thailand, Taiwan and Iraq for 25 years,
he says that Palapag certainly fits the
bill of places “which aren’t very easy
to live in”. Even so, he is committed to
telling everyone that Palapag is teeming
with so much potential. He is presently
very involved in promoting Palapag’s
“wealth of |
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wallpaper down to the
cushioned seats, Cobadonga evokes an old
world charm. True eye candy, it helps in
the authentic feel that almost
everything in sight: ashtray, timepiece,
bottle openers, plaques, wall decors and
paintings all came from Adrian’s native
England. “He wants to feel |
Lerma Perry mixing
drinks
inside
Cobadonga’s pub |
history”, and through his efforts—both
on the old church’s restoration and the
pub accommodation—he hopes that this
would set a precedent to other expats to
contribute to the Philippines.
He hopes that plans for a bridge that would connect Palapag to the |
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as if
he’s not missing
England,” wife Lerma, a Palapag local
says. The furnishings, however, are
Philippine-made, built from narra with
capiz window highlights. “Like
everything we do, we try to fuse the
best of both cultures together,” Adrian
says.
The food is exquisite. And as Adrian
explains, “It is much more of a food pub
than a drinkers pub, and we deli- |
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capital Catarman would take off the
ground. Until then, he’s enjoying the
rusticity of traveling there via boat as
he has always been doing for 14 years.
“We suffer from virtually no pollution
here, crime is low and the Palapaganons
are very friendly and I have never felt
unwelcomed,” he gushes of the place that
he has called home for more than seven
years now. |
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