Enrique B. Magalona, that's the official name of this town in the province of Negros Occidental. Many people write it (formally) as E. B. Magalona and pronounce it as a six-syllable-word 'e-b-ma-ga-lo-na'.
Who was/is he anyway? Ah, Enrique Barrera Magalona Sr. was a lawyer and Philippine Senator of old, who hailed from this town, originally called "Saravia", which name was converted in 1967 to what it is now, in his honor, seven years after his death in 1960. One of his 3 children was Enrique Magalona, Jr., more popularly known (1940s to 1970s) as the actor Pancho Magalona, who in turn gave showbiz the legendary Francis Magalona, who also fathered your now popular showbiz siblings Maxene, Elmo, etc.
Anyway, this town is very near to Silay City. It costs only eleven pesos on the non-aircon Ceres Bus!
I didn't see a mountain nor hill on this portion of the trip. Everywhere I look were vast sugarcane fields, dotted with patches of rice fields or smaller plantations of some other field crops. This municipality is actually coastal, like other towns of northern Negros, but the town center (even the highway) is inland.
The town center is small and quiet, especially that it was a hot mid-morning when I dropped by. But..,
There are brass markers (not by NHI) on the pedestal of the Magalona Monument and elsewhere.
To EB Magalona locals, those are reminders of how the statesman helped the town. But, to the visitor like me, those statements seem to instead taint the efficacy of Magalona as senator, than be admired.
How and why? Well, you would naturally think: "senador sya ng buong bansa, pero ang iniisip nya lang tulungan eh itong kanyang hometown. But was that the most urgent need of the country at that time?"
Those kinds of accomplishments are expected from mayors or congressmen, not from senators!
Let me quote them here for clarity.
The first slab (leftmost) says:
The Madalag and Manta-angan seawalls were constructed through the exclusive efforts of Senator Enrique B. Magalona who had allotted from his community fund (1954) the initial appropriation of P12,500.00 for each project. Subsequent appropriations therefor were allocated from the 6-year capital improvement funds for seawalls by the Bureau of Public Works.
The second slab says:
The new puericulture center building was constructed in 1947 during the incumbency of Mrs. Manuela C. Magalona as president of the Saravia Puericulture Center Association and was made possible thru the efforts of Senator Enrique B. Magalona who had provided allotments therefor from his community fund.
The third slab says:
The new emergency hospital building was constructed in 1948 with allotments from the communicty fund of Senator Enrique B. Magalona.The old hospital which was burned during World War II was also constructed with allotments from his community fund as a representative.
The fourth slab says:
Construction of this bandstand and park was started in 1939 through the efforts of then representative Enrique B. Magalona and completed in 1949 solely through the efforts of Senator Enrique B. Magalona whose allocation therefor from his community fund made their completion possible.
I would have expected to see information such as "he was the author of RA 342 - the Debt Moratorium Act" while this country recovered from WWII, or "he was the author of RA 611 - making sick / vacation leaves cumulative", or "he was author of RA 709 - making teaching of Spanish obligatory", and so on.
I know, I know.., some might say 'those slabs are just meant to remind "Saraviahanons" about what EB Magalona did to help this little town. But don't they expect outsiders to visit their town? Of course they do, since they are even actively promoting EB Magalona to tourists! And visitors would say "yun lang"?
At the very least, they should not use "Senator" if his act being described was "as Congressman".
Anyway, from the plaza, I could see the town's church, which is just across the street..,
But where there's a will, there is somehow a 'pwede na' way - with only my lowly phone to shoot pics!
I went inside and immediately noticed that this church's interior belies its outside look..,
This was the nearest I could go towards the altar - some ceremony was in progress during this visit!
Hey, this towering water tank was fascinating a view. But I forgot to ask if that's still in use nowadays.
Anyway, this was such a quick visit, I didn't have a chance to see other interesting things about and in this town. Yes, there are. For example, I was told there is a waterfall and bat sanctuary on the eastern fringes of town which is a mountain area (towards the foot of Mt. Mandalagan). Ah, maybe next time.
I also learned that EB Magalona is also famous for blue-crabs (kasag/alimasag). Holy Crab! I'd like to return sometime soon and see the goings-on in that 'delectable' industry. Ah, it shall be a yummy day!
Oh crabs! My brain just drifts away when I hear that delectable crustacean! I am imagining, there must also be an abundance of the bigger 'plumpier' mud-crabs, since they have vast mangrove areas. OMG!
Yan ang "putok-batok" attraction! Ayayayay yumminess!
Oh, speaking of food, my contact told me, this town has a famous foundry (factory) of manually-made "kaldero" and related cooking pots or cauldrons. Hmm, I am intrigued by that phrase "manually-made".
On top of that, pukpukan na rin lang ng bakal ang usapan, she further told me that the 'M Celeste' jeep (it's a brand) is also generally manually made in this town. Whoa! Isn't that an interesting thing to see?
A bunch of reasons for me to make sure I return to see more of EB Magalona!
Plus, I never got to see the "Battle of Guintabu-an" marker/monument - because it sits on the highway (before entering town), and I was sitting on a speeding Ceres bus that unfortunately didn't stop there!
So, I shall return!
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