on the road to port lamon

YONDER A few minutes from Port Lamon

PORT LAMON, SURIGAO DEL SUR - It was only during the earlier part of the 1940’s that Port Lamon, an old town situated just north at the mouth of a vast estuary facing the Marianas Trench in the Pacific, had its name taking a firm hold on both the Japanese Imperial Army and the residents of the old Hinatuan tribe (Kamayo), where the town had become a center of commerce and trade at the start of World War II.

The trade setting was then heightened after the Imperial Army had set up stations on various areas of Port Lamon such as in the case of an old bunker, now almost buried under a thick brush of vegetation beside a rough brown road leading to the town proper, to protect intentionally the then booming industry of the town at the height of that Second World War.

Port Lamon, a sea community of Hinatuan, Surigao del Sur, is also one of the many barangays sprawling beside that steep Dreamland mountain, overlooking a great estuary to the Pacific Ocean . A large group of animal species inhabit the quiet and dense forest of the Hinatuan hinterlands where giant lizards, large gray owls, wild herons and the venomous King Cobras are among the many who ventured within the area. The forest also has a thick menagerie of diverse floras, foremost among them are those Paco-paco, a huge variety of Anahaws growing wild among the archaic coves of the forest.

Among the other barangays sprawling around the mountain include, Campa, Mama-on, Tinago, Bakulin and Cambatung.

Although now living under the shadows of other neighboring towns more sophisticated than the town used to be and has since then almost quieted itself into oblivion, the people of Port Lamon, somehow, find it necessary to carry that rich tradition and history of one of Surigao's oldest towns.

Part of that rich culture which has now been enshrined as a definitive identity of their existence was the abundance of its fishing industry. It was said that after the end of World War II, the fishing trade of Port Lamon has grown extensively large, where local fishermen did gather large amounts of catch, not only for the town, but to the adjoining barangays as well, which was then trafficked by the Imperial Armies during the war. And not only were they able to gather a large amount of sea foods a day, but that a single catch could actually give them a weeklong meal on their tables.

This was still evident when I visited the town recently, although the short visitation was, in part, motivated by a town fiesta, the thought of literally seeing an abundance of sea foods, most notably on a large array of fishes from the Pacific, was already an enticement too valuable to be left alone.

Discovering the other shores

STAR STRUCK Sean with his new pet

Arriving at Port Lamon through the rough Maglambing road early that Saturday afternoon, we were then ushered on a baroto (a small wooden boat) to a 5 minute sea ride to Mama-on, a neighboring sitio of Port Lamon, where most of nature are still unhampered by any shades of civilization. In fact the Mama-on shoreline is one of the many wild beaches that invade the Hinatuan landscape. Although mild in comparison to the already renowned “Enchanted River” of Cambatung, incidentally located at the other side of the estuary within the Hinatuan area, Mama-on's beaches could still be developed as one of Hinatuan's cool attractions.

It was in Mama-on, that same afternoon, that the Ganghis, a variety of fish which has its semblance of a Tilapia, though large, but is considered a rare edible specie in other bodies of sea water, caught the feel of my curiosity in a way that was much easier to have that fish in a much lesser price, fourfold, in that area, compared to the cost of such a variety when bought in our wet markets. Even the children who went swimming with us above the mild corals of those waters were casually handling its rare fins playfully and cajoling it under the heat of the sun.

The tide was low when we hit the waters, and much of its sprouting corals came out, its shiny rocks looked like giant sea urchins since much of their textures were rough and sharp, a jagged surface brought about by years of colliding with the Pacific waves. Tiny sea vegetation also crowd themselves underneath the waters, where fishes with mosaic fins as small as a ring finger could be seen hiding among that vast sea bush. Not too far from the shores of those cool white sands, a relentless spring water flows frantically to the sea, and overlooking its cold aquifers were some brush of wild, leaning trees amid those steady growth of green water shrubs.

Discovering also the Tugas, a rare breed of wood that, according to the local folks in the area, could withstand a century of use, was itself among the large trees that inhabit the dense forest of Mama-on. It was also the kind of wood that most of the residents of Mama-on and Port Lamon were using, and even boasted that most of their furniture and some of their houses were older than they were.

And so the thought of attending that fiesta celebration of their patron saint Sta. Cruz, was immediately dismissed after discovering some of the more finer things in of Hinatuan. A chance to rediscover nature, a close encounter of an ecosystem that is, itself, slowly becoming rare, and a chance to reinstate nature the way it used to be.

Reinstating the port

SOMEWHERE OVER THE RAINBOW Port Lamon one morning

When we hit Port Lamon proper shortly before dusk, a cloud of anticipation suddenly engulfed our faces, when we were forced to trudge the shores along the poblacion area, low tide, and the boat simply could not take us to its banks. And trudging, in contrast, to the waters of Mama-on, we could feel immediately the sticky water grasping at our feet as we scrambled to the ground trying to chill our icy heels.

I find this a little queer since it would only take a 5 minute baroto ride to contain what we had at Mama-on. Much of the residents of Port Lamon, however, are living within the vicinity of its waters, which is slowly becoming a concern to its adjoining beaches. Although a long sea wall was built almost right in the middle of the estuary to prevent the waters from further invading the shorelines, much of what has been said about the possible dangers of contamination was quickly dismissed, amid the glut of some tawny nipa houses basking themselves on the shores of the Port Lamon proper.

Somehow this poses a lot of concern, especially to the waters surrounding the the town, and even to its old folks. According to them, they no longer hit the waters like they used to when they were still young. They said that they would scour for some other areas in Port Lamon where they could swim freely without any concerns of a possible contamination, such as in the still clean waters of Talisay or Mama-on, two of the neighboring sitios of Port Lamon which still has its clear crystal waters in its vicinity.

Since the fishing industry of Port Lamon has had its share of plenty over the years, a barrage of people has populated the once busy port, a sudden change of strata that has created a major impact on its biodiversity.

Port Lamon was then foremost of supplying almost the entire region of Surigao of those large sea crabs known a Lukon, but is now in danger of being short in supply, and can be found at times away from its bay, since much of the waters invading the town proper are already in threat of its increasing populace.

But Ramil Realista, a local priest who hails from the town, and was himself one of those children who used to swim along the then fresh Port Lamon bay, has dreams of reinstating the town through the church.

“Dream gyud nako na mangalagad diri sa Port Lamon. Diri ko nagtubo. Gusto nako na magbutang ug retreat house diri, diha sa Mama-on,” (It is my dream to serve Port Lamon. I grew up here. I want to build a retreat house there at Mama-on) he said.

The priest said that much of what Port Lamon has were already buried alongside those old folks who used to boast of its rich sources of rural legends and natural wonders. But he believes that the people are now slowly seeing the effects of their wasteful practices that has slowly eroded their rich natural resources away from their very town.

“Sa una itusmaw lang gud na namong lab-as na isda diha sa dagat unya diretso kaon,” (We would only dip those fresh fishes in the sea before and eat them raw.) the priest said.

Somehow the thought of seeing an abundance of sea foods and sea breeze came to a halt as the experience of swimming under the thrilling waves of Mama-on and the reinstating call of Port Lamon's waters would find itself an entirely new meaning as far as savoring the beauties of nature is concerned. Experiencing Port Lamon was more than what I bargained for--- that I may never be able to enjoy the sights and shores of Mama-on again like I used to, and not even a fiesta celebration could possibly tap that.

C'EST LA VIE Lunch at Mama-on