ORANI, Bataan– Friday night was an evening of love and Christmas songs by the poolside of Sinagtala, a mountain resort at the foot of the mountain range of the Bataan National Park in Orani town.
“This is a perfect and mag-ical night for all of you,” former Bases Conversion Development Authority Chairman Felicito “Tong” Payumo told hundreds of visitors. Payumo, president of the University of Nueva Caceres branch in Dinalupihan, Bataan, is one of the owners of Sinagtala located in Barangay Tala which has climate similar to Tagaytay City in Batangas.
“Hindi lang tulad ng klima sa Tagaytay kundi may libreng breakfast pa rito,” Payumo told visitors enjoying the cool weather at his vacation house with twinkling Christmas lanterns shaped like morning stars where the name of the resort Sinagtala was derived from.
Christmas lanterns made of “palapa and bao” of coconuts adorned the poolside and the entrance to the pool. The Kabataan Orchestra and the Chamber Chorale of the Bataan Peninsula State University rendered beautiful love and Christmas songs.
The Kabataan Orchestra is composed of youth, the youngest at 10 years old, from Pagalanggang, Dinalupihan. “We are not only saving the youth away from drugs but enhancing their talent through music,” Payumo said.