Stories from Bolobadiangan Islands

"Each affects the other, and the other affects the next, and the world is full of stories,

but the stories are all one."

-- Mitch Albom, The Five People You Meet in Heaven

10AM. The tides finally rolled back in. The motor boat that was once stranded on the sand had to be anchored properly now to keep it from floating away. Mang Sonny walked us to it and told us that Mang Mode (pronounced as Moh-dë) and another boatman (that I have regretfully forgotten the name) will take us to the other islands. The island tour will cost us PHP1,000. And, I am hoping that it will be worth it. We hopped onto the boat, more confidently now and more relaxed than the first time we were in it. While our two boatmen were busy maneuvering it away from the shore using long bamboo sticks as lever, I was giving my husband the "Yehey! this is it" look.... He knew I was excited...... I can't help it.... Watching these raised masses of earth scattered all around, I can't help but ask --

 "What's the story over there?"

Meet Pulo Piña. The closest neighbor of Sandbar island. It is one of the biggest islands at Bolobadiangan. The people here takes pride with the fact that the famous Edu Manzano (an actor who ran for vice presidency) and his family are from here. As you circle around the island, rows of houses sat on its rocky shores. It must have been hard building those homes from scratch. I can imagine a pump boat filled with window panes, glasses, timbers, steel, sinks, toilet bowls, septic tanks, pipes, cement, gravel and roofs among other things; threading through the sea back and forth from the town proper to this place.

Pulo Pina, Concepcion, Iloilo

I was more impressed when I saw a modern bungalow peeping over the trees a few meters higher than those houses on the rocks. Mang Mode told us that a foreigner lives there with his Filipina wife. He said most people were able to build or improved their homes because a family member was able to find work abroad. "Mga OFW" (Overseas Filipino Workers), he said. Fishing has not been good these past few years. Despite the fact that the islands are obviously not running low of seawater, fishes have become scarce. Most fishermen have to go away for days to seek for new fishing grounds. Some seek other opportunities abroad. Overfishing? Coral bleaching? Maybe. Nobody can really pinpoint the answer.

Danaw Danaw, Concepcion, Iloilo

Danaw Danaw is the long island right of Pulo Piña. Mang Mode said the island is known for the overwhelming number of kids around. The reason for this unusual surge in population? there are teens as young as 14 already getting pregnant or have already given birth. There are 30 something people who are already grandparents. I wondered how they'd react if I told them that I'm already 30, married, with no kids. In this place, we are definitely the odd one out. I asked if there's a school in the island and if the kids go to school there but I didn't get a clear answer. Not knowing how to speak the native dialect, I have to believe that I missed the answer our boatman gave me or maybe it got lost in translation.
I didn't push on the subject.

Agoho Island, Concepcion Island

 Agoho is a privately-owned island. One needs to pay PHP300 to be able to dock on its shores and explore it. It has fine off-white sands similar to that of Sandbar Island. However, it looks unmaintained. I wish I can say more about the place but since it's a private property, I have no right.  All I want to know are these two things: (1) who the owner is and (2) how much did he pay for this piece of paradise. 

What a lucky guy.

Sipol Island, Concepcion Iloilo

Sipol island is one of the uninhabited islands of Concepcion but clearly, many have been here. There is a makeshift table and bench. It probably was made for fishermen who seeks a little bit of rest from the sea. There is a small beach that sinks when the tide is at its highest. It has the same off-white sand of the Sandbar. And, even if there are trashes (mostly plastics) scattered around, it doesn't take away the island's raw beauty. 

Sipol Island, Concepcion

Pan de Azucar is another island worth visiting. Mighty Mt. Manaphag sits quietly on it, rumored to be a dormant volcano, it is about 7,184 ft. high making it the 2nd highest peak in all of Panay and actually one of the steepest mountain in the whole country. This big piece of nature already claimed two lives so it is definitely not for the inexperienced climbers. We hired a local guide to take us to Hampangan rock, a famous vantage point. It's a 20-30 minutes hike. There is a public toilet here, a school and a health care center. Our guide (whom I have forgotten the name) is a 19 year old girl who tells us the story of how she and her family (aunt, grandmother, parents) moved from the foot of a hill to a more populous area and how the hills been turned to farms and planted with root crops. She said if they were not able to catch any fish, that is what they'll eat at the end of the day. Surprisingly though, she owns a cellphone, which she told me is her lifeline to her seaman boyfriend. I teased her about it and ask if she's gonna get married anytime soon but she just giggled back. She also told us that she wanted to go to college but it is too expensive for her family. 

We went down the hills and gave her a PHP100 tip.

Mt. Manaphag, Pan de Azucar Island, Bolobodiangan group of Islands

Mangalabang Island is also one of the most complete communities around here. It also has its own school, sari-sari store and a health center. Walking into the narrow streets, you can see that people are pretty much busy with their everyday lives here. There are crab traps being sold at one house, people mending fishnets, teachers and children off to their homes after school and people just walking by to go some place else. Mang Mode asked us if we want to buy "daing" or dried fish. It seems like there are plenty of those around here. We politely declined his offer.

Mangalabang Island, Concepcion, Iloilo

Mangalabang also has one of the longest beaches at Bolobadiangan. It is ideal for swimming since the tides are just right, not too strong and not too quiet. The only sad part of our trip here is our camera must have read our minds and took a dive in its clear waters. We brought it to a shop to have it looked at after our trip but they told us that it will cost us more to have it fixed and it would be better if we just buy a new one. So, we decided to buy a new camera and let our old one retire in peace.

RIP Olympus. It's been one hell of a journey.

One of the last pictures we took using our camera -- Mangalabang beach, Concepcion, Iloilo 

We went back to Sandbar Island with these pockets of stories in our memories. I wasn't sure what to do with them. I haven't figured it all out yet. I reckon I'd just share them and let each one of us draw our very own conclusions from them. Maybe learn from them (if we want to). In a way, all of us have our very own stories to tell. The details might be a little different from one another but the lines and dialogues are mostly the same. They are stories of our communities and families, of hardships and sacrifices, needs and desires, of things that makes us happy or sad, the what/who/why/how we love or hate, our goals and dreams, our failures and successes. And I guess, I want to believe that overtime, these beautiful tiny stories that we share, will leave these strands of invisible threads in our minds and hearts that will help us learn and understand ourselves and one another. Letting us connect to others in the most humane level as we possibly could.
So how about it, what's your story ? Tell me. I'd love to hear it.