Exploring the hidden beauty of Negros Or.

Unknown to many, the resource-rich province of Negros Orien

tal has so much to offer to people from all walks of life — whether they are tourists looking for the most thrilling adventures; businessmen in search of good business opportunities; or students aiming to get quality education in one of the country’s best institutions.

It is a pity, though, that in spite its numerous tourism potentials and it being rated second to Cebu in terms of tourist arrivals for both foreign and domestic tourists, Negros Oriental has never been a priority for tourism development both of the provincial government and the Department of Tourism because of their adoption of the so-called macro or regional approach to development.

Gov. George P. Arnaiz said the province’s economy is predominantly agricultural. For lack of funds, Negros Or.’s tourism potentials remained untapped as investors would rather invest in Cebu. He said many towns still lack good roads and other infrastructures. Although contented with being an agricultural province, Arnaiz saw the need “to catch up on tourism.” With this, he said that he is planning to allocate some R549 million for tourism development next year.

Known as Buglas during the pre-Spanish period, the whole Negros is the fourth largest island in the Philippines. Located on the southeastern part of this boot-shaped island is Negros Oriental. Measuring 5,402 square kilometers in size, it constitutes the largest in land area among the Region VII provinces. It became a separate political unit from Negros Occidental on January 1890.

During my first visit to the province recently, I have seen the makings of a world-class tourist destination just awaiting to be developed. If only Oriental Negros is given the attention and support it needs by the government, LGUs and investors, it will definitely land on the world tourism map and beat other top Asian destinations with its wonderful diverse attractions at a cheaper cost.

An eight-man team of concerned Negrenses led by Dauin Tourism consultant Yolly Seneres Sirilan with the help of Dauin Mayor Rodrigo A. Alanano recently organized a six-day media safari to help in the development and promotions of the tourism products and resources of the province, particularly of the municipalities of Dauin, Mabinay, Valencia, and the cities of Bais and Dumaguete, its capital. The media safari project was endorsed by Gov. Arnaiz and supported by Valencia Mayor Rodolfo Gonzalez, Jr., Mabinay Mayor Enozario Baldoza, and Bais Mayor Hector Villanueva and Cebu Pacific.

I joined the Manila-based media group composed of Earl Bacamonte (Tribune); Roel Manipon (Village Voice); Imelda Guevarra (Cook Magazine); Maricar Jara-Puyod (Manila Standard); Cora Llamas (Inquirer); Tet Defensor (Businessworld) and Totel De Jesus (Malaya).

For the duration of our six-day trip, we were given a sample of Negros’ numerous offerings — from its flavorful cuisine, its various natural attractions to the warmth and hospitality of the Negrenses.

Tita Yolly, Earl’s “second” mother prepared such an adventure-packed itinerary for us. In between our cave exploration in Mabinay, dolphin-watching in Bais and snorkelling in Apo Island, we cruised to the different cites (Dumaguete, Bais) and towns (Mabinay, Dauin, Valencia, Bacong and Zamboangita), met the governor and mayors, had a glimpse of the place, its attractions, and the inhabitants’ way of life and checked out the resorts and other facilities for tourists.

Our first adventure which was to explore three caves one after another in one morning, was quite a challenge for some of us, especially for me who’s not a veteran caver. At first, I was hesistant to push through, doubting my skills, stamina and body (due to lack of exercise) would be able to survive this challenge. But one look at my energetic companions, I tossed all fears and doubts, and instead reconditioned myself for this adrenaline-rushing, jaw-dropping experience.

We were in Mabinay, an upland municipality with a population of 64,451, located 87 kilometers north of Dumaguete City, near the boundary of Negros Oriental and Occidental. Mabinay has some of the best cave systems in the country. There are a hundred or more caves in this town, 45 of which are explored. Sixty percent of these have subterranean rivers.

The Odloman Cave, found here in Mabinay is the second longest and the sixth deepest cave system in the country. With a length of 8 kilometers and 870 meters, the cave was explored by the Dutch, Belgian and Philippine Caving expedition in 1989 but weren’t able to fully explore its entirety. Although the exploration was incomplete, existing records revealed that it has five entrances that have been connected and the cave system comprises a mix of large and small galleries with some active streamway.

Mabinay Mayor Enozario T. Baldoza said continuous expeditions are being undertaken by the local caving club, the South Negros Speleo (SNS) and other partners to survey the unexplored part of the Odloman cave.

The longest and third deepest cave system is the Saint Paul Cave in Bahile, Palawan. It measures 15 kilometers in length with 100-meter vertical range. It was explored by Italian cavers in 1989. The Sumaging-Lapitan-Lomyang-Crystal System, according to Elery Beam Libo-on of SNS is the country’s deepest cave. It is located in Sagada, Mountain Province.

I was glad we weren’t going to explore Odloman or other extreme or advanced caves in Mabinay for that matter. Considering our inexperienced skills, our guide instead brought us to the three most popular caves in the area, the Panligawan, Pandalihan and the Crystal Caves.

Panligawan Cave is also known as Courtship Cave. Our guide said during the old days, young men used to bring their ladies here and profess their undying love and affection. After winning their love, they bring their girlfriends to the next cave which is the Pandalihan. Here they propose marriage and discuss their future.

Exploring the Panligawan Cave was quite easy for all of us, as it only had one big chamber with two openings. The smaller opening where sunlight comes in, is located high above the chamber. The place is definitely a sight to behold.

Some of us had a hard time getting inside the Pandalihan Cave which was much more complex than the first. Here, the openings were narrower and there were more chambers. At first, I did some balancing acts as I went deeper into the cave, commanding my feet to carefully step on the slippery rocks and not on the cave formations. But after a few slips, I reached out for the hand of one of our guides to keep myself up. I felt fear, worry, excitement, thrill all at the same time.

Crystal Cave, on the other hand, has no story that I know of but just by being inside its enchanting chambers and marveling at the fascinating crystal cave formations (a.k.a. speleothems) of stalactites and stalagmites is a story in itself. Forgetting all about my aching body, I, just obeyed my guide without complaint and went deeper inside, at times stopping and staring at these formations which send shivers of wonder down my whole body.

Truly, caving elicits a certain feeling of high one won’t get from anywhere else. It can get pretty addicting too! If not for our exhausted bodies and the sudden downpour, I think we would have even insisted to explore the more advanced caves which involves rappeling, swimming etc.

Our media safari was co-organized by tour managers Fructuoso Junjun Sindiong, Jr., chair of the Sangguniang Bayan, Committee on Tourism-Dauin; Earl Tale, municipal administrator of Valencia; Elery Beam Liboon, SPELEO Negros Oriental; and Antonio Jun Serrano, Jr., city tourism officer of Bais City. Facilitators were Prodi Sirilan, member N. Oriental Tourism Council and Reno Ghent, Dep-Ed, TEEP projects. Bobby Villasis of the provincial tourism office is the project c