DUMAGUETE CITY – The city government has pushed for the promotion of Negros Oriental’s capital as gateway to prime destinations in Visayas and Mindanao.
This was according to City Councilor Antonio Tonyrems Remollo who, together with his cousin Clark Development Corp. (CDC) President and CEO Felipe Antonio Remollo, invited Pampanga-based journalists for a three-day tour here and nearby areas last week.
Councilor Remollo said that the provinces of Cebu and Siquijor and cities of Dipolog and Tagbilaran are “an average of two hours away via fast craft boats which are readily available in Dumaguete and nearby towns.”
Bacolod City in Negros Occidental, on the other hand, is some four hours away on board a vehicle.
But locals and foreigners need not travel far from Dumaguete City to see and experience nature at its best.
About 42 kilometers away (or some 45 minutes of land travel) from Dumaguete is Bais City declared as a component city in 1968.
DOLPHIN AND WHALE WATCHING
Since 1995, Bais City officials have been utilizing the presence of at least 11 species of dolphins and whales – including spinner dolphins, pantropical spotted dolphins, bottlenose dolphins, mello-headed whales and dwarf sperm whales – to promote their eco-tourism industry.
Almost 10,000 people visited Bais in 2009 for the dolphin and whale watching, according to City Tourism Office head Steve Villanueva. “The following year there were 12,000 visitors.”
The Bais City government added that the number recorded last year would be surpassed based on their report from January to October of this year.
After an hour of travelling on board a 20-seater boat from the city government-run port, CDC’s Remollo and journalists reached the Tanon strait, one of deepest areas in the country’s oceans.
Mayor Villanueva said the dolphins and whales “are symbols of the rich biodiversity under (Tanon Strait).” She vowed to protect the strait declared as a protected area by national laws.
The group was lucky enough as they saw four pods of dolphins in just two hours of watching. The ideal time for the activity is from April to September when dolphins, especially spinners, literally play with people on board the boats.
Clark’s Remollo disclosed that then Congressman and now President Aquino had experienced and enjoyed dolphin and whale watching in the 1,600-feet deep strait.
SWIMMING POOL IN THE SEA
The best of both worlds is in Bais City. After “hunting” for dolphins and whales, the must-see white sand bar is waiting for our group.
Dubbed swimming pool in the sea, the sand bar is some seven kilometers-long of fine white sand appearing during low-tide and disappearing during high-tide.
Imagine swimming and playing in the middle sea. The sea water slowly covers the area as lunchtime approaches, allowing visitors, notably children, to enjoy a safe “pool.”
In some occasions, people on board big motor bikes and bicycles travel along the white sand bar descending from village roads at Bais City and nearby Manjuyod town.
“This is better than Boracay or Davao which I recently visited,” said Pampanga-based veteran journalist Ding Cervantes who joined the trip.
“More importantly, the place in and around the sand bar is clean and water doesn’t cause skin irritations unlike in other beaches,” said other journalists.
Renowned as cradle of the sugar industry of Negros Oriental and one of top producers of raw sugar in the country, Bais City is still dubbed as an “undiscovered treasure of Negros” because many potential visitors have yet to visit it.
With more promotions in media, Mayor Villanueva believes there will be more visitors in Bais.
MANGROVE FOREST
The city through Villanueva’s aggressive leadership has not just protected but improved the Talabong Mangrove Forest and Bird Sanctuary, regarded as the “largest remaining mangrove forest in the entire island of Negros Oriental.” Its size is about 600 hectares.
Koreans and Japanese tourists love to visit the mangrove forest, according to former Mayor Tata Villanueva who was instrumental in the construction of the walkway for offshore mooring.
The trip at the Mangrove forest is included in the dolphin and whale watching and swimming at the sand bar.
Yes, you hit three birds with one stone when visiting Bais City with a population of more than 80,000 residents as of today.
But there is more. The city is home to old Spanish houses constructed in the early 1900s. There are two prominent sugar mills in the city owned by the family of singer Jose Mari Chan and the Gokongweis.
Mayor Villanueva said “we want to retain our rustic ambience” when asked the building of new hotels in Bais for the growing number of visitors yearly.
The city’s major festival is “Sipong Sa Bais” celebrated every 7th of September to thank God for the bountiful harvest. Colorful and lively choreographed street dancing and dance showdown of farmers and fishermen are done to express gratitude to their patron saint, St. Nicholas of Tolentino.
TWIN LAKES
Bais City folk consider Dumaguete as their second home given its proximity to their home-city.
In between the two cities is the town of San Jose, hometown of the Remollo clan.
San Jose serves as the most accessible point to the Twin Lakes of Balinsasayao.
Travel at the improved mountain roads leading to the lakes is an adventure itself. Hanging restaurants and hotels such as Azalea Bar and Hotel are favorite spots of Caucasian tourists on their way to and from the twin lakes.
Young people, mostly students, are hiking from the main highway in San Jose to the area of the lakes. The view of Cebu Island and the sea separating it from Bais City is breathtaking.
The twin lakes is one of the major attractions of the province declared as protected Natural Park.
The lakes are two small but deep crater freshwater lakes rising 1,000 feet above sea level and separated by narrow mountain ridge. The mountains of Kalbasan, Balinsasayao, Guidabon and Mahungot are around the two lakes.
Our group tried boating. For just P250, at least five persons are toured in the twin lakes for an hour. Other activities are swimming, fishing, trekking and kayaking.
The Almagica, the tallest tree of the Philippines growing up to 60 meters tall, could still be found in the area. It is a habitat of many rare species such as the Japanese Nigh Heron whose presence in the vicinity was recorded in the 1970s, according to reports. The same forest is rich in bird life.
UNIVERSITY TOWN
All the tourists bound for Bais and San Jose have to pass by Dumaguete City as it hosts the airport used by the country’s major airlines, including Cebu Pacific Air which recently offered three times-a-day flight via the Terminal 3 of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.
Silliman University has always been associated with Dumaguete City. The university has consistently produced top 10s in bar examinations, including Atty. Richard Chui of this city who topped the exams in 1984 and now connected with the CDC in Clark.
But unknown to many, the first-ever St. Paul University in the country was established here in 1904.
Councilor Remollo said that, according to history, the Roman Catholic Church was alarmed when Protestant missionaries led Dr. Horace B. Silliman had established the oldest American university in Asia in 1901.
“The Church feared that residents then may be transformed to protestant so the congregation of St. Paul sent nuns in our city,” said Remollo, adding that replicas of the nuns arriving from the sea after a long travel had been constructed.
However, “the same history said the replicas had been wrongly placed as the nuns of St. Paul arrived in another place along the sealine of Dumaguete,” said the two-term councilor.
A walk along the so-called Boulevard is a must-activity in the city, especially at night.
Try “budbud suman” and “sans rival cake” when spending time in the city or for your “pasalubong.”
Don’t forget to stand in front of the Bell Tower for your souvenir photos. The oldest-surviving structure in the city reminiscent of the Spanish occupation of Negros Island is the symbol of Dumaguete, also known as the city of gentle people. It used to be the watchtower to warn the locals against attacking pirates from Mindanao.
Bais and Dumaguete cities are indeed the gems of the province.
Text by Joey Pavia
Photos by Ric Gonzales
