Bol-anon

I remember several years back, when my sisters and I were still students at the universities here in Manila, our parents decided to come here from Bohol for the Christmas season. On Christmas eve, just as we always did before, we prepared for noche buena . Then, at around 10pm, our father and mother started dressing up to attend the midnight mass. We were not exactly sure at that time if they did celebrate midnight masses on Christmas at the church a few blocks away. By then, firecrackers were already exploding on the streets one after another. Still, we could not help but really go to church that time. Imagine all the firecrackers exploding, the smoke, tires burning on the streets, and there we were, one big family trying to reach the church. When we got there we learned, the church was closed. The midnight mass on Christmas eve is just one of the things I miss about Christmas in Bohol. In Manga (a district of Tagbilaran City), where I attended many midnight masses as a child, we alwa...

Before anything else, allow me to be defensive. This list need not suit everybody else's tastes and necessarily comes from a particular standpoint. The list is that of one who claims ancestral roots in Bohol (as his mother is a Boholana), grew up in Mindanao, went to university in Bohol, worked for some time somewhere else, but went back to Bohol to claim a Boholana bride. Having said that caveat, let me also add one more. This list comes from a not-so-athletic person, whose idea of sports is to play basketball with a two-year old son, or to enjoy paragliding in front of a PC. Nevertheless, this list also comes from the standpoint of one who enjoys the simple things in life (in other words, doesn't have enough money to splurge in expensive getaways). 1. Get wet . Conquer the beach or the river. Swim. Forget the swimming pool. It is a great insult to the island's waters - Panglao's or Anda's beaches, or Loboc's river, or Antequera's falls - if you spend your ...

I am always asked by officemates and friends how best to go to Bohol. After telling them how beautiful Bohol is - with plenty of exaggeration - and showing them nice pics of our province, I feel obliged to provide them the information. Of course, there are so many ways to go there. I will try to tell you all about them. From Manila, one option is to take a plane to Tagbilaran at either the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 2 (the Centennial Terminal) or the Manila Domestic Airport. You may read the profiles of these terminals/airports here . Cebu Pacific flies to Tagbilaran twice daily. Flight 5J-617 departs from the Manila Domestic Airport at 6:50 and arrives at the Tagbilaran Airport at 8:10 am. Flight 5J-619 departs at 11:45 am and arrives at 1:05 pm. For both flights, Cebu Pacific uses their A319 planes. You may see their complete schedule here . Philippine Airlines also flies to Tagbilaran twice daily. Flight PR175 departs from the NAIA Terminal 2 (Centennial A...

With some luck, I was able to convince two distinguished lawyers to join us in this Bol-anon blog. Atty. Handel Lagunay is a former editor of the University of Bohol's official student paper, the Varsitarian, and a graduate of Silliman University's school of law. He has agreed to join the group and to try to post once in while subject to his very busy schedule. :) Atty. Yvanne Cloma-Lucero , on the other hand, is a former colleage of ours at the Word, the official student publication of the Divine Word College of Tagbilaran, now Holy Name University, where she also finished her law studies. She too has expressed willingness to share her thoughts once in while in this blog. A warm welcome to both of them. With more and more people, we hope to see a better and more encompassing view of our province, its "real" beauty, and the goodness of its people. (Note: Added the qualifyer "real" after reading Miko's new Bohol Analysis blog.)

I am sure this will sound like a high school report but am sure not too many people are aware of these facts, even Boholanos. I got these from the official website of the Province of Bohol and I would assume reliable, except of course that some of the data are not quite up-to-date. Bohol is located at 803 km. south of Manila and 79 km. southeast of Cebu . It is part Region VII or the Central Visayas Region. Its capital is Tagbilaran City , its lone city. It has 47 municipalities and 1,109 barangays. The province has a population of 1,139,130 (as of 2000) occupying a land area of 4,117.26 sq. kilometers. Its population speak a Boholano variant of the Cebuano language and most, with 93 percent literacy rate, can understand English and Tagalog. The province has an estimated labor force of 404,000 (as of 1996). The province’s climate is generally fair with average temperature at 29 degrees Celsius. It has estimated 256,400 hectares of arable land. Based on Departmen...

The key to a very relaxing vacation is a good destination and a certain amount of advance information. Take that from a non-expert like me. :) As far as Bohol is concerned, with its many beautiful attractions and the very laid back atmosphere, I think you already have no. 1. As to no. 2, one of the things you should know is... where will you stay. Asa man? To help you, I have added a post on what I think is the most extensive listing of hotels, inns, pension houses and resorts in Bohol with their own official websites. The list should assist you in deciding where to stay there. I myself was amazed at the sheer number of options available. Bohol indeed has become a major tourist destination in the country. From the more popular hotels and resorts in Tagbilaran City, to the more affordable inns an persion houses, to the beach and nature resorts in Dauis, Panglao, and other municipalities (i.e. Anda, Bohol), to the more specialized diving clubs (Panglao, Cabilao, etc.), a bee farm and f...

Like almost every Boholano, I grew up to the sound of a radio tuned (by my late father of course) to the most popular local station on the AM band, Station DYRD . Our morning in Bohol then was not complete without listening to their 7 o'clock news anchored by Fred Araneta. We also did not miss listening to their public service program, Inyong Alagad, if only to be updated with the recent developments in the local scene and to hear all those "panawagan" and "reklamo". We lost that when we left home and settled here in Manila. A radio station can only be heard within a certain radius. So, for a while we could only reminisce about Fred Araneta delivering his profound sometimes funny "nuggets of wisdom". He used to say stuff like " Dinhi ning kalibutan, adunay daghang kawatan. Kini si Fred Araneta. " In this world, there are lots of cheats (or robbers). This is Fred Araneta! And he always said something new every morning. :) Things have change...