Guihulngan

My Negros Oriental Tour: Guihulngan City
This is a city! And like Canlaon I said “why is this a city?”. Ah, them legislators have a collectively weird trend of thought so we better leave them to it. Fact is, this is one such city in my list where I have not seen (on the web) anything worth visiting at city center other than the nearby beach resorts which are of course nothing to harp about if you consider the places in this country that I have been to. Well, if I was harping in previous blogs why Cabadbaran, Borongan or Tabuk are cities, check this place out hehe! It can easily pass as a barangay of Baybay, Bogo, Catbalogan, Naga, Carcar or even Mati and Tayabas! Nah, if you thought I meant that for a negative remark, it is in fact the reverse. This place is just too tranquil and quiet a place, away from the bustling urbanities. Yet, it is called a city! What else can you ask for?! Anyway…

I bussed in from nearby Vallehermoso one November afternoon just to see really what is at center of town(okay, okay... city)! That, because I knew about a lake, some falls, hot springs and caves being touted to be interesting tourist destinations in this city. But nothing in the city center. As in c’mon, even this city’s website is as confusing as how the town got its name! The guihulngan.gov.ph website btw, seems to be just a mirror of the Philippine government’s LGU web presence instead of its own. Yep, the eLGU project of the DILG. And gosh! But this ‘city’ is part of Negros Oriental and I cannot just do a ‘take it or leave it’. I must take it and take it I did. Hah, as I have always said in past blogs, throw me into any locality and I am sure to find something worth my while. Guihulngan is another such case.

Center of town (okay city), is not actually literally at center. Its by the water’s edge and wonderfully so. Ah yes, the provincial highway cuts along between them and the water hehe. But there is a park… in the making that is. Yes, there is a park – in the making, that is hehe. The ground is still muddy earth, but I can assure you, in due time it will be one grand place to be in Guihulngan. The era-type lamp-posts are already standing, the sea-wall is well in place, a monument is already standing amidst the mud. Yeah, I think that is Rizal and probably Maria Clara below him. I could not go any nearer as the earth was still fresh mud due to the rains. But let’s wait a bit more, this place could be a wonderful expanse of grassy greens or a fantastic heat producing concrete field of a park by the sea. Just you wait hehe! Let’s go somewhere else…

The city hall. It’s nothing humungous. In fact we can all say it is small for a city as cities have many administrative departments. It looks like a little town’s municipal hall. Its not fantastic but its not ugly either. You clearly see the many ‘improvements’ or ‘modernizations’ that they have done with that building, but in total, it does seem to retain a kind of feel from the Hispanic-American eras. The name alone says it… “Guihulngan Presidencia”. Si si, la presidencia! Wandering and looking around this building, I observed it does have quite a space around it. Probably a park on all sides of the building, in the past that is.

Nowadays, most of those spaces arounde the presidencia are concreted parking areas for the many city vehicles like jeeps, trucks, canters, elfs, etc. Plus the city bus. City what?! Well yes, the city also has an “official” bus. It seems to be a fad in the Visayas these past few years. And I would not wonder if that too came from Kaohsiung just like what that old man of Cebu City (Tomas) did, he begged for Kaohsiung to donate their otherwise destined for the junkyard buses and let his constituents use it for just about anything they could think of other than commute hehe.

Anyway, even the Guihulngan city ambulance is parked at the very front foyer of the building, plus the firetruck is also parked just a bit to the side but still front of city hall – proof enough they need space. Which is probably why the park near the water’s edge is underway, because really, people lost those cozy tree shades and grassy greens to those vehicles.

Now that we've seen where the firetruck rests, you probably are sure where might be the city's fire department, right? Wrong!!! Hehe, the fire department, yes their office that is, sits about 50 or even more meters away from that truck. It is actually under the bleachers of that gym or multi-purpose something by the side of the highway facing Jose Rizal at his muddy park in the making. It'd probably be crazy fun of youtube viral-video caliber if a fire emergency happens and someone can shoot a video of the firemen running from their fire-station to the firetruck at city hall, then the firetruck wading its way out of those other parked vehicles, honking loudly for the ambulance to get out of the way, finally emerging out on the street. Hahaha, I could just imagine!

Well hey, they do have a city tourism office and it also sits under the bleachers of their multi-purpose gym just like the city’s fire department. But I did not anymore go inside that tourism office for I knew all they would tell me are the caves and the falls up in the mountains and nothing to see at city center. Across the tourism office is a building with fairly a number of people coming and going. A health center that sits by the side of the road where Ceres stops (just after a sharp left-turn near the park-in-progress if you’re coming from Dumaguete). Mind you, Ceres has a muddy space just behind that multi-purpose sports something (across a hostel) but at times they opt not to enter the narrow street anymore and just stop across the tourism office – which is a bit dangerous since it is by a sharp curve of the highway.

The church is a wonderful find. Its not the common olden church that most towns have. Guihulngan’s is a bit on the modern type – probably after so many refurbishments. Even the parish name is a bit uncommon, "Nuestra Senora Del Buensuceso"! What's that, Our Lady of Good... Success? Eh, am not sure if there's such a thing for that would mean there is something we can call a "bad failure" hehe! Anyway, the façade has been installed a foyer-like pre-entrance area am not sure what for. Maybe for those men who go to church but never even enter it hehe. Probably too, to house the church’s bulletin boards. So those big angel statues flanking the main entrance are partially obscured from outside view care of that foyer. Front of the church is a park with ample tree shades and a fine area for some folks to laze around during a hot sunny day. Oh, there’s a big Mama Mary statue plastered to the front wall of the bell tower. Closely, I noticed it is a very good piece of work. Its really good, down to the details!

Inside, I list this church as one of the airiest ones that I like. There is practically no side walls. Most are just grills to let light and ventilation in. And its not only practical, its wonderful. But, everywhere you look or touch, it is obvious that this church is accorded utmost care as if it were a real indoor place. Yes, there is a scattering of saints at the altar area, but in total, said altar still looks uncluttered or not overdone. Ah look at the ceiling! Its blank and even shines with the paint. But the choice of color evokes the sky, the heavens! Luvit! And the grassy greens outside one side of the church is also grand!

Out of the church and ready to move elsewhere, there’s one interesting thing I got to witness in this place. City you say? Well, in what city in the Philippines do you see men let their cocks (the birds, the animals that is) fight right at the very grounds of a small place called a bus station?! I guess only at Guihulngan! Haha, am no fan of cockfights (sabong, bulang) but my goodness, watching them do it was fun. And it happened right outside my bus before I left this city! Hmm, I got to take a closer look, and noticed that those dudes even put some kind of “boxing gloves on their cocks. Yeah, during a real ‘fight-to-kill’ cockfight, what takes the palce of those ‘gloves’ are the sword-like little lethal blades. See? Its really fun roaming around this country. I learn a lot!

Lastly, and I opted to mention this at the very last just to give one reader a hard time hehe. So let’s do the tongue-twister for this city. Guihulngan is pronounced in just 3 simple syllables so listen well children, okay?!!! The ‘gui’ sounds like ‘gui’ in ‘guilt’ not ‘guide’, ‘guest’, ‘gee’ or GUI(goowee - graphical user interface) hehe! Second syllable ‘hul’ soulds like ‘who’ll’ just remove the ‘w’ sound at the apostrophe portion; and it is definitely NOT like the sound in ‘hull’ or ‘whole’. Its sounds more like ‘full’ or ‘pull’ but you replace the ‘f’ and ‘p’ with the ‘h’ sound! Last syllable ‘ngan’ is just as it is but sounds like ‘ngun’ – again because the letter “a” in this country is always pronounced like a quick guttural “uh”. Alright Brian, there you are… ‘gui-who’ll-ngun’! Oh yes, as I said above, residents themselves are torn and confused on how that term became the name of their town, oops yes, City… whadeverrrr!

Let’s go to La Libertad, but fast-forward a bit to to tell you that cruising south to north, Guihulngan boulevard is a wonderful afternoon scene even on a gloomy day!


If you want to read the chronology of all stories on this tour, click the following:
01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35
36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65


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23 Comments

  1. Loving your hilarious observations. :)

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  2. @AJ transcendental, thanks hehe. bagai mana Indonesia sekarang? Hmm, been probably 15 months since I last peeped down there.

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  3. Hello I'm from Guihulngan, nag post ka ug sayop na Video dili man ni Guihulngan Boulevard. Then ang unod sa imo na blog sakit sa dalunggan paminawon but true. Pero kinsa guro ang maka pa utro kay puro man TRAPO ang mga two nag pa run sa Government. from PARAS to present administrator wala dyapon nahimo. maayo ra sa sulti pero walay nakita.

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  4. the video that you posted is from lala-an in the town o San Jose.

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  5. ouch! sakita pud anah woi! sige lang ug daghang kulang,basi naa nay improvement after your observations or your post...anyways thats not guihulngan boulevard...and boulevard dili ing-ana walay bato nga dagko sa daplin sa dagat...bisag ing-ana among boulevard limpyo pud tawon na woi,gawas sa waste sa walay balay..haist!

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  6. its a clarion to all people in the LGU administration to act on the point of view of a visitor...

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  7. some comments are true but the video about the boulevard d to amu nga boulevard oi ka bati ato hehehehe

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  8. wooo... double check your video... It's not Guihulngan boulevard? That place is between San Jose and Sibulan... pataka raman ka woi!

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  9. DILI NA MAO ANG GUIHULNGAN BOULEVARD KAY MUBO RA MAN TO (LENGTH)AKO POD NAKITA PAGTAMBONG NAKO KADA FIESTA GYOD SA GUIHULNGAN KAY DAGHAN KOG MGA AMIGO DIDTO UG SIGE MIG MAHJONG UG TABI. APAN KANANG GIPAKITA NIMO SA VIDEO MAS TAAS NA KAY SA BOULEVARD SA GUIHULNGAN (IN LENGTH) UG MAS WIDE NA (IN WIDTH) APAN PAREHO-PAREHO RA HINUON. THAT BOULEVARD IN THE VIDEO IS IN THE TOWN SAN JOSE, NEG. ORIENTAL AFTER SIBULAN FROM DGTE CITY. BUT YOUR COMMENTS ABOUT GUIHULNGAN DESCRIBING THE STATUS OF PROPER GUIHULNGAN IS TRUE, DAGHANG TRUCK, FIRE TRUCK SA MUN. HALL, MAY MGA MANOK DUOL SA BUS TERMINAL UG HUGAW ANG BUS TERMINAL, ETC. PERO ANG IGSAKTO NGA PANGUTANA, KINSA MAY MAYOR SA GUIHULNGAN FOR ALMOST 4 DECADES?! NGANO MAN NGA WALA SIYA KAPA GUAPO SA GUIHULNGAN?

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  10. -JR, mao, asa/unsa nang videoha hehe

    -nong Sar-C F1, tabangi nalang siya hehe

    -skolingotep, i take offense in 'pataka' for I don't. little errors can be pointed with a polite request to correct them so. wa nagpataka ang imong dear PT, like you and your father does/did with your lives. mao na ang pataka'g maayo woi. kalooyan 'ta ka...

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  11. haha the hell with this guy.. even ang church iapil pa jud ^_^ go ahead just leave your comment.. just post it.. gasige mog panira.. we love guihulngan, city man or dili.. we love it.. so for the love of god..leave our city alone... go mind your own freaking business

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  12. Sarcasm,it's either you say black or white! I can't stand people of this kind. I don't have a problem you call a city a town or the other way. But I'm proud to call it home. I was not a native of this Town... oops City diay, but I call it home. I have been to a lot of places until I found my most beautiful wife from this town? that's when I call it my home. I wish you could invite me to your house for a cup of tea then I go home and post a blog about your nice home but not so nice! Have u ever held a position in the government? Even in a local level. Try holding one then transform it to a garden of eden or Rome? I bet you it will take a life time. I believe there is always something good in every people. The Mayor and its cabinet are trying their best. The way I see it is like your looking for glamour. You want everything fancy. I never even heard you say something about its people. I would like to invite you to my home and have a cup of tea but mind you my house is not glamorous, but I assure you all the hospitality there is. Then I have the time to judge you if you are really that stupid or just a liitle jerk. Respect...Where has it gone. Constructive criticism not sarcasm. Go back to guihulngan and we will welcome you with your platform of changes for our city. Don't bother the church. I leave it to my God...

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  13. Once again Pinoy traveler. I am a " life traveler" I live, therefore I die, therefore I live! hehe?

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  14. To my fellow readers of this story,

    I am from Guihulngan but i study in Dumaguete. I read this story many times to see why your reactions are like that. Ang ako understanding, niagi ra sya sa Guihulngan. Mao na iyang nakita og iyang interpretation sa iyang nakita. So what's all the negative reaction? I tried to check if he is lying, wala man. I also read his story on other towns. Same thing, istorya ra sya sa iyang nakita. He posted the wrong video here but it was corrected/removed.

    So what is the problem? Sa nagpa-"my god, my god" diha... what did he say wrong about the church? Unsa iyang gi-bother ngadto?

    Can we just all work to improve this town? Mahimo ba?

    Question: another traveller can pass by Guihulngan, lahi ba ilang makita?

    ayaw na mo sige react kay mgawas baya kinsa tinuod nga jerk oy.

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  15. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  16. Nagtrabaho baya ang mga opisial sa guihulngan pare malimpyo ang guihulngan mao ra pod og daghan panapi kay sa kaayohan. Daghan gipasulod sa gobierno ok baya na pero diha ra pod utob magsalig sa gobierno wala na pod silay room para mo improve ang ilang kaugalingon o modako ang sweldo diha na lang magsalig sa gobierno ug pamolitika sa opisial na, ok na luto sa kaugalingong mantika dili na mopalit pag mantika. Tinuod baya imong comment may swing ug see-saw o slide ang parke dili lang statuwa ni bayaning rizal. Nanigulang na lang wala gyod koy namatikdan nga kanang nausab ang kinabuhi o hulagway sa Guihulngan ug ang kinabuhi mao ra man lisod.

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  17. oo, tinuod baya nang imong comment, daghang truck sa Guihulngan nganong daghan gisobraan ra pod nga may mas priority pa man gyod kay sa sigeg palit og truck, ngano kaha? Walay asenso ang parke. Imnanan ra, di ba? kinsa pod ang mga tag-iya anang imnanan, wabo. hugaw man gyod ang guihulngan, maayo pa gipalimpyohan na sa mayor nganong wala, daghan man nga empleyado, nganong wala palimpyoha, politika, pamolitika ba ang rason ana usik lang kwarta sa gobyerno! wala lagiy kamatikdan nga asenso sa guihulngan, nagbalik-balik na baya nang mayor dugay na kaayo nga katuigan ngano man dili man mapareho niya ang guihulgan sa ubang lungsod nga limpyo ug may asenso dugay na man gyod siya kaayo nga balik-balik pagka mayor mao nay ikapangutana mao nay klaro gyod, hugaw man gyod ug mingaw ang guihulngan. Kanang bus terminal yuta man na niya mao nay nakahugaw samot sa guihulngan. Dili ta kaagi sa simbahan kay gialihan abierto baya gyod na sa una. daghan tawo ako nakit-an sa gobierno gisweldoan na sa gobyerno apan walay gitrabaho usik lang ang kwarta sa gobyerno. kanang dili na video sa boulevard sa guihulngan, kay mubo ra ug dili lapad kaayo ang boulevard sa guihulngan sa lungsod sa San Jose tingali na tapad sa sibulan.

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  18. hahay,nus a pa mo asenso ang Guihulngan.....hangtud nga magpabilin ang mayor karon ,dili jud mo asenso ang Guihulngan,mo sabay nalang pagka tigulang sa mayor ang GUIHULNGAN

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  19. ONLY IN GUIHULNGAN

    FAHTER:MAYOR
    SON:VICE-MAYOR
    SON:CITY COUNCILOR
    SON: GAMBLING LORD


    KAWAWANG GUIHULNGAN

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  20. --kanang traveller nga nag document ana ga sulti ras tinuod,korek si anonymous...that's the exact view any one can see to our place,now,because of the feedback from this blog.sana atoang Mayor ug gobyerno mohimo ug hakbang unsaon nila pagpaanindot sa atong gitawag ug dakbayan...sauna pa bata pako Bustamante,Paras ug Reyes nana diha...till now ulitawong gagmay na akong kids...guih,still the same...muna ang mga professional from a very reputable universities from guih wala manarbaho diha sa atoa kay no proper management,daghan kaayong mga bright taga guih uy...apan asa na sila karon? time na siguro nga pulihan ug bag-ong admistrasyon diha???kay kanang sabong? iyaha mana sa mga politico...remember that brown style hip hop dancers from guih who performed in SHOWTIME? walay support from them ngano ang strret noise may support man???this is reality in Guihulngan,my hometown...so sad....

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  21. yeah that's true ,'brown style hip-hop' wala jud kadawat ug suporta bisan ug cheering nalang unta,mao nay nakadaot sa atong officials karon.

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