Place: Punta Bay, Maribojoc, Bohol, Philippines

These kids are just about ready to take a dip at Punta Bay, Maribojoc, where the famous Punta Cruz watch tower is just nearby. The beach is okay for swimming and because waves can be bigger compared to the beaches in Panglao, it adds to the fun.

Little kids and toddlers may not like to get splashed over their heads though so they should just stay near the shore.

The beach is a bit rocky but the rocks are relatively smooth so they are not so much of a hassle.

Punta Bay is an alternative beach area with a smaller crowd because it is less known compared to the beaches in Panglao. I also suspect the reef area might be a good dive spot but haven’t tried diving there yet.

Once in a while, Boholanos get lucky and popular performers hold concerts in the province. Last February, as a Valentine treat, Ogie Alcasid and Regine Velasquez held a very enjoyable concert that included some standup comedy from Ogie.

The Verdant Pavillion at Panglao Island Nature Resort is a favorite venue for concerts like this. It is also a very good venue for wedding reception, by the way.

The crowd is easily more than a few thousand and probably a bit shy for the performers. Ogie complained though that the ladies kissing him are “matronas” or mothers on the more mature end. Some of the audience drew applause when they participated in a sing-along with Ogie.

Regine sang a very funny song that sounded like Korean but actually had Filipino lyrics. She then reminded everyone that we watch too much Koreanovelas (Korean soap operas) that we start to understand the language already.

Looking forward to another concert at the Verdant Pavillion.

The swimming pool at the Bohol Tropics Resort in Tagbilaran City is one of the better designed and maintained in the city.

We spent an afternoon way back in June 2009 at this resort and the kids enjoyed it very much. There is a kiddie pool but the pool for adults have a large shallow area where kids can still jump about and have fun. Of course, they should be supervised all the time.

We didn’t mind the very bright sun at 2PM but we made sure to have enough sun block to avoid sun burn.

This resort is highly recommended for those who prefer to stay in the city and yet enjoy resort facilities. This allows tourists to have a wide array of choices for food entertainment while a quiet haven is just nearby.

Once in a while, mother nature can suprise you just when you need it.  I was driving going to Talibon for 1.5 hours already and we were in Buenavista approaching the next town Getafe (or Jetafe to some people).  The late afternoon drive was making me drowsy.

But everyone on board the car got so excited to see, as we approached a curve, a beautiful rainbow that looked so majestic and grand!  Good thing I bring along my camera most of the time so I took several shots.

The mother walking along the highway and carrying a baby with her other child along her side was the perfect accent to the frame.

We talked about the sight for a while until we reached Talibon. No one was drowsy the rest of the way.

As we reached home and I downloaded the pictures to the computer, we found another surprise! There was another rainbow just above the main one and it wasn’t obvious with the naked eye.

In 2004, we attempted to get into the floral supply business.  It never took off due to the preference of florists to use mums rather than zinnias.  Our zinnia garden in Poblacion Vieja, Batuan, Bohol, however, was a joy to watch when the flowers where in full bloom.

This particular shot was taken in May 2004 using my Sony DSC 1megapixel camera.  It was a nice camera but didn’t survive too long.

The sun was actually quite bright yet and it was a bit difficult to see what was ahead on the highway… a perfect excuse to be able to take this shot.  My 3.2megapixel 10x optical zoom Canon digital camera was handy for this shot.

A little editing with GIMP was done to darken the image a little bit to emphasize the silhouette of the coconut trees lining up along the newly built highway, one of the ’sementado’ projects by our governor.

Mid-morning Wonder

My mobile phone can be charged using a computer’s USB port and it is a very convenient feature for me who works most of the day in front of a computer.  When I plug in my phone into the USB port, it usually opens the phone’s 1GB flash memory card as a directory on the computer also.  So today, I browsed through the pictures I took on this tiny phone and discovered a picture I shot more than a year ago.

It is one of those rare times when the mid-morning sunlight breaks through the thick foliage at our backyard at just the right angle.  Our gardener Victor was burning some leaves to rid the mosquitoes plaguing him while rearranging my mother’s flower pots.  The light smoke and the rays of the sun formed a wonderful effect, something like what you would see when a teleserye (a soap opera) portrays a miraculous event.

My gear was a video camera with a still camera feature, not the best for this kind of shot.  But what the heck.  My ever reliable second hand green Revo raised a cloud of dust as I came to a stop on the dirt shoulder.  I looked for my sunset but where I was parked, a large campaign banner of a candidate for governor blocked the view.  The banner itself was also interesting because if you read  it from afar, the candidate is already the governor.  The word ‘former vice-’ was printed in a very small font.

A few digital shutter sounds later, my  sunset for the day became 1.2megapixel masterpieces.

Sunset at San Miguel

Sunset at San Miguel (2)

Alien ship?

I should get myself a better camera for the next shot.

By: Dr. Jes B. Tirol, Ph.D.
Historian

Proem
On July 3, 1768 the Royal Order that expelled the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) from all Spanish dominion was implemented in Bohol. At the time when the Jesuits left, the following were the towns existing in Bohol:

1.Baclayon	5. Inabanga	9. Malabohoc
2.Dauis	6. Loay	10. Tagbilaran
3.Dimiao	7. Loboc	11. Talibon
4.Hagna	8. Loon

It can be noticed that in 1768 the town of Guindulman did not exist yet. In fact it was only the fourth town established by the Augustinian Recollects in Bohol. The Augustinian Recollects was the religious order that replaced the Jesuits in Bohol.

Date of Creation
Guindulman, Bohol was once part of Jagna, Bohol. It was established as a town by Royal approval on May 1797. Since it was a Royal approval, it can be construed that the approval was only for the civil aspect of the town. It was only the following year, 1798, Guindulman became ecclesiastically separate from Jagna. The parish was advocated to Nuestra Señora de la Consolacion (Our Lady of Consolation/Comfort). The first parish priest is only recorded as Fr. Antonio. In all probability the priest was Father Candido de San Antonio, who shortly after arrival in Manila in 1797, was assigned to an unnamed curacy in Bohol.

~Dagohoy – Espeleta Conferences
Archbishop Miguel Lino de Espeleta became acting Governor General on May 31, 1759 when Governor General Arandia died.

To achieve peace in Bohol, Gov. Gen. Archbishop Espeleta personally went to the headquarters of Dagohoy (via Talibon Island) for conferences with Dagohoy. Gov. Gen. Espeleta promised Dagohoy and his men a general pardon, correct and stop Spanish corruption, and assign Filipino priests in Bohol. He also promised to reconstruct the Inabanga Church.

Dagohoy (real name: Francisco Sendrijas) also promised to tolerate Christianity in Bohol. In June of 1761, Archbishop Manuel Rojo replaced Archbishop Espeleta. Espeleta then returned to Cebu as its Bishop. On May 1771, archbishop Espeleta died.

~Dagohoy-Fr. Santa Barbara Conference
In the year 1768 the Augustinian Recollects replaced the Jesuits in Bohol. The Father Rector of the Recollects was Fr. Pedro de Santa Barbara.

Knowing the agreement between Archbishop Espeleta and Dagohoy, Fr. Santa Barbara lost no time in having a deal with Dagohoy. Fr. Santa Barbara went to Dagohoy’s headquarters for important conferences.

The Recollect Fathers were so careful that the relation was “so fine that after a short period from their arrival, they no longer need an armed force for the security of their persons.”

The Experiment
The coastal village of Guindulman was part of the town of Jagna. In 1797 it became large enough to become a separate town and parish. The requirement for a separate town was least 500 tributes or taxpayers.

When the town of Guindulman was created, it covered the areas now presently known as the municipalities of Guindulman, Anda, Mabini, and Candijay.

As a result of the Dagogoy – Santa Barbara conferences, an experiment was tried. Some of the monteses (the name used to refer to the followers of Dagohoy – JBT) were allowed to resettle in the Poblacion of Guindulman alongside the “Christian” residents. However, some disagreement occurred between the followers of Dagohoy (monteses) and the Christians. The monteses went back to the mountains. It was only in the 1817 when the monteses came back. However, they were made to resettle at Tugas (now:Tugas, Candijay) to prevent a re-occurrence of the previous dispute with the Christian of Poblacion, Guindulman.

The Name
We will determine how the Guindulman got its name. We will establish the etymology of the word “Guindulman” devoid of folktales and legends.

Dr. Cecilio Putong in his book “Bohol and Its People” has the following story: “Its is said that the town used to be called Guindulman, meaning overtaken by darkness. The story was that formerly there were only two towns organized in this part of Bohol, namely: Jagna and Batuanan (now: Alicia). Travelers starting from either these towns in the morning were sure to be benighted or overtaken by darkness in this place, hence the name, which later was changed to Guindulman.”

Almost all Boholano writers agree that the base word or root word of Guindulman is the Bisayan word Dulom or Dom, which is taken to mean darkness or moonless night.

The explanation of Dr. Putong is plausible. However, there are defects in the explanation. First, town of Batuanan was actually proposed as a town on 5 February 1828 and finally approved on 9 December 1831. Therefore Batuanan was created as a town 34 years later than Guindulman. So the story could not be true.

Second, Dr. Putong’s explanation of the word Guindulman has a grammatical defect. In the Bisayan language, when an event or action usually or repeatedly happens in a place, the suffix to be used is “. .anan”. The suffix “. .an” is used when the event happens only once in a place.

The single event may be for a short duration or for a long continuous time.
The word Guindulman, with is suffix “..an”, signify that the event of being benighted happened only once. If it were a repeated event, the word should be Guindulmanan. As an illustration, consider the word bato, which means stone. If one puts some stones in a place at one time, the word to be used is batoan. Only the suffix “..an” is added. If the intended meaning is a usual place where some stones are put in place, the word becomes batoanan. The suffix use is “..anan.”

The question is – - – If being benighted usually happened at the particular place, why was it called Guindulman instead of Guindulmanan? There must be a better explanation.

The Diccionario Español-Bisaya (1885) by Father Juan Felix de la Encarnacion has two entries for the word dulom:
Dulom – Luchar cuerpo a cuerpo. (To wrestle, to struggle, body to body)
Dulom – Oscuridad que media desde que se pone el sol hasta que sale luna; cualquiera oscuridad. (Darkness from sunset until the moon appears; any kind of darkness).

The most fitting root word for Guindulman is the dulom that means to struggle body to body. It signifies an event that would allow the use only of the “..an” suffix. The prefix “Guin..” means acted, acted upon, or covered by. By attaching the affixes to the root word dulom, the new word would be Guinduloman. It signifies that the meaning of the root word happened only once. The Bisayan language allows the shortening of the word to Guindulman.

When the town of Guindulman was established, it was composed of Christianized and non-Christian Boholanos. Evidently there was conflict or struggle, body to body, between the Christians and the non-Christians.

The non-Christians were dismayed and went back to the mountains. The event of the conflict was the Guindulman, which means a place where there was a struggle, body to body.

Another indication that Guindulman signifies struggle is the word Tabajan. The present town center (poblacion) of Guindulman has a place called Tabajan and Sawang. The word Sawang means town plaza or the plaza near the church.

The root word of Tabajan is the word Taba. The dictionario Español-bisaya defines Taba as, to divide; to share; to sell a part or the whole or a worked out of farm. With the addition of the suffix “..han”, the word Tabajan means dividing line or the apportioned part.

This indicates that the town center of Guindulman was divided between the Christians at Sawang and the non-Christians at Tabajan. Even today there is still some kind of animosity between the resident s of Sawang and Tabajan even though the townfolks could no longer recall the original cause of the animosity.

The Cause of Conflict
The establishment of the town of Guindulman in 1797 was trial implementation of the agreement of Dagohoy and Father Santa Barbara. The Christians non-Christians were made to live near each other. The result was a struggle for domination.

Considering the rules at that time, the establishment would have been for both the civil and religious aspects of the town.

Juan Felix de la Encarnacion,”Diccionario Español-Bisaya “, Tipografia De Amigos Del Pais,Manila,1885.

Father Antonio was in charge of the religious aspect of the town. The struggle was on the control of the civil aspect. The non-Christian followers of Dagohoy had their chosen leader in the person of Ignacio Arañez.10 Naturally the followers of Dagohoy would not agree if he would not be made the Gobernadorcillo (Mayor). Since no agreement could be reached, the followers of Dagohoy went back to the hills. Of course not all monteses were able to go back to the hills. They were persuaded to come down again only in 1817 but chose to resettle at the present-day Tugas, Candijay, Bohol.

However, the names of places like Guindulman, Tabajan, Sawang had already become permanent.

Therefore the name Guindulman is an eponym or a name taken from a significant event.

The council also elected its Chairperson, Vice-Chairperson and decided on the council’s name as ‘Bohol ICT Council’.  It also identified four key committes, namely Infrastructure, Human Resource, Education and Promotions.