Philippine Travel Notes

After Sierra Bullones, we headed east to the town of Pilar. I thought my driver said "Bilar", that is why I said okay, yung meron man-made-forest ? He immediately corrected that saying noo sir, that is B ilar, B as in Boy , we are going to Pilar, P as in Papa!   But I instead replied with ahh okay, akala ko B as in Girl ! Tawa sya. I'm a good co-pilot. I provide entertainment, kung hindi rin lang ako mismo ang nababagot! But only about 2 or 3 kilometers on this onward ride out of Sierra Bullones, we passed by this... I exclaimed "whoa what is that, can we stop here"? Guess what? As he told me that that is the spillway of Malinao Dam , he also stopped the vehicle, right where we were -in the middle of the bridge- mismo! Oh eh, I went down for a better vantage! I just said to my self "the wonders of driving in the provinces"! You can park anywhere you want, including on a bridge! I took that photo with the car door even open. No, we were not in...

As said in the previous article , I was not yet quite happy even if I was done roaming the Dambana Ng Kagitingan where I could already have the rightful claim to say “been there, done that”. Something was missing. I needed to know more of the how and why about this enormous place. So I chanced upon someone,,, i knew she would have been a good resource, even if briefly! She is a teacher and I caught up with her at the garden by the base of the cross. She was telling her students something like “remember what I told you in the bus? Those murals were made by National Artist Napoleon Abueva…”. I was actually already listening-in to that informative jackpot but shortly she said “okay, you can now go up to the top of the cross, make a single line in front of the elevator, and behave children”, that while another teacher started getting busy lining them students at the entrance. I went into action… “Good afternoon ma’am, may I ask you a question” ”Ay, good afternoon, yes, of course, how c...

Okay folks, after the long story on how I reached this place , there I was entering the gate. What a big place to roam! I realize now, you should have, or should reserve more energy for roaming the whole facility. Its a big compound with many things to see and discover! But first the name… gate signage says Mt. Samat Shrine. But officially, more formally. its name is the Shrine of Valor or the Dambana Ng Kagitingan at Mt. Samat! Entering the gate btw, does not mean you are really there! The big cross that is a tall building is still a hill to climb from the gate! Kah kah kah hehehe Your car can only go up a certain level past the gate of the facility, so don't rely on that too much! There has to be some walking that everyone needs to muster. Actually, its climbing stairs or rampways! You can of course pretend to be an invalid or PWD so your vehicle may be allowed to go up to the big cross – though it won’t be as exciting at baka matuluyan ka pa hehe! But lets do this blow by blow...

In English, that is called the Shrine of Valor, but for Filipinos especially in Bataan, the place is commonly called by its Tagalog translation Dambana Ng Kagitingan. It is even usually shortened further to just dambana – meaning shrine. So, there I was at the Balanga City bus/jeep terminal, fresh from a long bus ride from Manila , now trying to find a ride to Pilar – the town where Mt. Samat is and where the dambana stands at its peak. The helpful drivers and dispatchers in the area showed me the jeeps going to Morong and/or other places on the western side of the Bataan peninsula as they all pass by Pilar. But it was taking so long as each jeep must first be filled to the rafters to depart! I was almost tempted to hop into a trike. But I stayed on since there was no hurry. The dambana was supposedly my only destination for the day in this place anyway, so I told myself I could take the whole day if need be hehe! It was only somewhere half past 9AM and I learned that the bulk of trans...

So the boat came with a smiling boatman… OMG, I wanted to die that instant! Give me that boat to cross even just a river and I would think ten times before I ride in it. But this was a desperate time. I asked if that tiny little thing has already ever crossed from Pilar to anywhere mainland Leyte. Nita said “many times” since the owner uses it for many errands and emergencies, including helping in their Bantay Dagat operations. I asked what its capacity was - since I could see that it looked already “full” with just the boatman on board. Another in the now crowding group of folks said it can take two passengers but ideally only 1 plus the boatman. Duh! I had no choice, I had to keep saying “yes, yes, yes” to whatever anybody said to me in terms of assuring me that I could reach mainland Leyte safely. I think I was like a zombie that time, numb in the brain, just following instructions anybody told me. I do think now, even my fingernails must have secretly been trembling at the thought ...