It was a rather damp morning of July 14, 2012. The grounds
imbibed a good amount of water from the rains that fell at predawn, before the
roosters started crowing. It was 1:45 AM, as I glanced at my cell phone-cum-watch. I heard the raindrops rushing through the
gutters. And I was already up, thanks to the jet lag as I have just
arrived here in the Philippines.
At least two major activities were lined up on this second
day of our visit to my in-laws in Mainit, Surigao del Norte. At first, I
thought the predawn dumping of rains could’ve changed today’s retinue, I was
wrong. We went ahead with our practice
shooting in the makeshift firing range. I was a little scared and apprehensive
at the get-go as this was my first time ever to hold and, much more, fire a 9mm caliber pistol. The only instance I
held a gun was back to the ROTC days in college when we had to assemble and
disassemble a Garand rifle as part of the ‘baby’ military training. And that
was three decades ago! Also, this day was going to be my first to hear a gun
shot at a very close range. Silly, it may seem! Of course, I heard guns shots
before, in the hinterlands around the MSU-Marawi campus, way back then.
Then, there was a brief overview about gun handling. Next
time I knew, I was already handling a fully loaded, aiming the target dummies
and plates, then shoot! The gun shot sounds were quite loud, though. If only, I
should’ve worn a soundproof earphone. I fired 45 bullets total, hitting a
couple of plates and piercing through the dummies. Firing a gun was not that
scary after all.
Next thing in our to-do list for the day, trip to the
islands off Claver, Surigao del Norte. Actually, it was an overnight stay
in the Bucas Grande Island, in the township of Soccoro (Surigao del Norte). It
took a little over an hour to get to Hayanggabon, a village in Claver where the
pump boat was waiting to ferry our contingent to the island. The otherwise smooth drive was interrupted by
short stretches of roads that were still under construction. At times, the road
seemed slippery as paste of mud covered the roads especially in the areas with
active mining activity. The same mud paste repainted the vehicles we took mud
brown!
I learned from elementary social studies class, way back
when, that nickel, gold and chromite mining is a major industry in the province
of Surigao del Norte. Apparently, ‘massive’ mining activities are currently
underway in various areas in the province. On our way to Hayanggabon, one can
easily see some mountain tops shaved off and leveled flat because of on-going
open pit mining. Dirt joins the cloud reminding me of the ash fall during the
days when Mount Pinatubo erupted in 1991, only on a miniscule scale! Dirt
eroded by running water, settled in the road pavement and formed the mud
paste.
Then, a motorized (pump) boat brought us sailing, navigating through a mystical maze-like string of islands seemingly floating on calm waters. The ride to the islands was
smooth. Excitement mounted as we looked closely and took pictures (for some of us) as we
passed by one island after another. The islands were beautifully crowned with
lush verdant vegetation seemingly untouched by human cruelty. For a nature
lover, these islands surrounded with fine white sandy shoreline are a good eye
candy! We got to enjoy more of the islands when we hopped from one island to
another, set our foot on the sandy shores and dipped in the crystal clear
waters. 
This trip has not quite made me less of a stranger to my own country. For there are still a lot of beautiful places one can find only in the Philippines, places that I have never been yet, and hopefully, getting into these places will be part of the itinerary in my next visit. Wishful thinking!We were indebted to Cesar and Helen Mozar for this nice trip treat!
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