At some point during our 24-hour stay in Cebu City, I realized that in my 20 years in the Philippines, I set foot only on a number of islands that I could count with one hand–Luzon, the island where I was born and grew up, Corregidor, and one of the Hundred Islands, whose name I never recorded in memory. I never went to Talim island, smack in the middle of Laguna de Bay, or either one of two prominent volcanic islands in the Taal caldera.Yet in the fewer years that I lived in the United States I had been to more islands, including one of the San Juan Islands of Washington state, Alcatraz, Angel, and Yerba Buena/Treasure islands in San Francisco Bay, Key West, Manhattan in New York City, Block Island, and Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket off Cape Cod.
What really strikes me while traveling in the Philippines is the primacy of water and the noncontiguous nature of the Philippines–what the United States have in sheer size the Philippines has in physical disjointedness. It is no small feat that a national identity crystallized among the inhabitants of thousands of islands, and, if Spain was partly responsible for inculcating this identity, it was indeed a formidable task. And no wonder it took centuries to form a Filipino identity.
Historical considerations aside, the archipelago is geographically breathtaking. As the plane took off from Manila en route to Bohol, Laguna de Bay and Taal Lake were both visible on one side. Not long after, Mayon Volcano loomed in the distance to the east as we were flying over Masbate. Bohol’s lush green was refreshing after spending a few days in the urban grit of Metro Manila.
Sailing off to Balicasag Island from Panglao Island, the view opens to the seeming infinity of Bohol Sea, where beyond the horizon lie Camiguin and Mindanao. Towards the southwest, Siquijor looms with commanding presence, and beyond was Negros with much higher mountains. To the west and northwest, Cebu heralds itself with an almost endless rugged spine. Bohol cannot be outdone–the mountains of Maribujoc have a certain prominence.
Cebu Island rules the horizon as we sail off the following day from Tagbilaran to Cebu, but Bohol frames the view to the east. A landless gap to the north-northeast marks Camotes Sea. After almost two hours, the mountainous spine of Cebu Island is seen as defining the western margin of the Cebu metropolis. This dramatic location can easily strike anyone approaching the big city by sea.
The coastal road between Argao and Bato is said to be one of the most beautiful stretches of coast in the Philippines. Surely this sunblest region was scenic, but the kamikaze driver of the Ceres Bus which we were riding going to Dumaguete kept me from enjoying the view without thinking of impending death! I dozed off partly as we approached the southern tip of Cebu, but the magnificent view I woke up to was unforgettable. Towering, cloud-shrouded mountains defined southern Negros Island–the landscape could have been Hawaii or even British Columbia! The mountains rise above Tanon Strait to an awesome scale. Although the distance between Bato, Cebu and Tampi, Negros Oriental is comparable to that between Woods Hole and Martha’s Vineyard, the mano-a-mano topographic drama of Cebu and Negros Island over deep and voluminous Tanon Strait is a winner in taking one’s breath away!