A Peek Into the Neighboring Lumot Lake and Caliraya Lake

Experience-wise, new things are usually found on the most unlikely of places. In an unlikely place such as a mountainous part of Laguna, we found a visual treat: two lakes namely Lumot and Caliraya.

* sceneries on the way to Brgy. Cansuso, Cavinti, Laguna

Perhaps the more well-known of the two is the Caliraya Lake, with its famed man-made origins and numerous resorts and parks around it. But the two lakes form the Caliraya Watershed which provides living for the locals of the towns of Lumban and Cavinti, and power for electricity-consuming citizens, at least in Luzon.

* view of Lumot Lake
* view of a small rice field in Cansuso
* a budding tree I planted

* pandan leaves ready to be made into sambalilo
* mountain views from Cansuso

On this particular trip, we first headed to a village named Cansuso in Cavinti, Laguna where we did a simple yet decidedly crucial tree-planting project. This is where I learned that a tree-planting project is not just a tree-planting project. It requires detailed placement geared for long-term survival. This village also keeps the tradition of sambalilo making, with the villagers doing their hand knitting and weaving on their doorsteps.

* high five on a street sign!

* a gate by the lake!

* my own brand of lunch – lahat marami!

* view of Caliraya Lake from the shore

We then trooped down to the shores of Caliraya Lake, particularly in Brgy. Lewin in Lumban, Laguna. Here we got a treat of some local delicacies. The view of Caliraya Lake exudes a sense of tranquility and enjoyment. Tranquility because the strong winds would definitely aide you in meditating. And enjoyment because you simply cannot resist the temptation to explore the lake’s waters and take a boat. That would be my goal the next time I visit the place.
  

Lakbay Lahi sa Cavinti, Laguna 3: Roaming the Streets of Cavinti

This last entry in my Cavinti series collates the remaining observations I have noted plus a few accompanying photos. The poblacion is not the only place of interest in Cavinti. Perhaps the more popular spots are Caliraya Lake, a man-made lake found also in the mountainous area of Cavinti and Pagsanjan Falls which technically falls within the jurisdiction of the town of Cavinti. Or course I would love to visit these places and I hope I can do so in the near future.

* the tour jeepneys crowding a street of Cavinti

* façade of Cavinti municipal building
* silhouette of what could be an interpretation of “Inang Bayan”

* a simple monument commemorating the fighters,
both soldiers and guerillas alike, who fought during World War II

The Houses in Cavinti

I was not able to find any old houses (that is, houses built around the time of the Spanish occupation in the Philippines) in streets around the town center. One might speculate that they either suffered the usual wear-and-tear or perhaps negligence or possibly destruction due to earthquakes recorded in the town’ history. Or perhaps during World War II. It was with regret that I did not look up on any information about this in the municipal library.

* some of the houses found in Cavinti

* Nakatagong Paraiso Resto-Bar;
an old woman told me that this bar has several stories underground;
too bad we were not able to see the interior as the bar was closed

Native Products of Cavinti

The good thing about the town of Cavinti is that it takes pride in its town-made products. At least for this one, we could commend the town’s current leadership for putting emphasis on the townsfolk’s capabilities.

A few questions about the town’s products led to a detailed discussion about the making of the town’s primary product: the sambalilo. It is a woven hat used mostly by farmer of workers in the mountains, easy to carry, and relatively cheap compared to the work hats. The material used for making the sambalilo is also found in Cavinti so there are no high costs put into the sale of the finished products.

In talking to the elders who indoctrinated me in the craft of sambalilo making, they said that the pandan leaves we usually use for our rice is not the real pandan. They call it pandan-pandanan. They say that the real pandan leaves are wider and have fine thorn-like protrusions that must be removed prior to the making of sambalilo.

The process of removing those little thorns is called “hininik” which one can easily understand given its root word. The next process would be to cut them (or “baak” as they have termed it). Then the leaves must be sun dried (“bilad”) at least for a day. The next step would be to cut the leaves into four (remember that leaves are wide) or “linasin.” Depending on the product in mind (banig, bag, place mat, etc.), the next step would be to put the cut leaves into the “ilohan” (the process would be called “ilohin”). The sambalilo actually has a number of parts but since I have rendered my notes on these incomprehensible due to the difficult task of understanding what was being said about the process and writing notes at the same time. Nevertheless, one thing I can share about a part of sambalilo would be the “puyo” which is the topmost part of the hat.

* Kalakal Cavinti atbp. Souvenir Shop, found in Brgy. Duhay

* some of the students who walked a good distance
just to visit Kalakal Souvenir Shop

* native products sold at Kalakal Souvenir Shop

The Town Library

Upon entering the municipal library, I felt like I was transported back into an earlier time. Posters and photos are hung up the walls: of the past town leaders, even of the past Congress of the country. There are collections of books which, however they may seem old and outdated given the rapid influx of new published materials into the academe, would definitely help any young Cavinti folk to get to know the Philippines and the world in general. I know of other libraries in other Philippine towns which are already closed or have devastatingly small collections of books. I even learned of a town which does not even have a town library! Thus I am quite happy to find the Cavinti library which still thrives despite the modernity that creeps into neighboring towns. The town may be somewhat rural in nature, but its people would not be left behind with these books. One can read books and reach places one only dreamt of in the past.

* a look inside the municipal library of Cavinti

* a giant sambalilo which won third place
during the last La Laguna Festival / Contest

* Rizal Monument found in a covered court in Cavinti, Laguna

* students polishing their write-ups after a half-day tour of Cavinti

In Summing Up

Besides the overhaul on my interview approach, our visit to Cavinti, Laguna made me realize more that the term travel as it is used these days is not only confined to visits to highly-commercialized tourist spots. Travel, as it seems to me now, is immersing into places and understanding their culture, their people, their history. After all, we go to places carrying different perspectives. This is now my disposition. Rural or urban, this is my concept of travel.

Lakbay Lahi sa Cavinti, Laguna 2: The Cavinti Church

* the façade of the Cavinti Church

* Cavinti Church: built in 1621

* view of the church altar

* a close-up view of the image on the retablo
* view of the lower portion of the altar;
(inset) an image of a saint found on the side

The story of the construction of the Cavinti Church has its parallel in the town’s oral tradition which I was able to learn from the elders I have interviewed during the Lakbay Lahi. The mountainous terrains of what is now Cavinti was said to be once part of the town of Lumban(g), found on the lower plains. Townsfolk used to go up to those part of the mountain to work. Once they found an image of a saint on a tree which they promptly brought down to town. By the next day, they would find the same image of the saint up there on the mountain again. This incident happened several times until they took this phenomenon to mean that the saint wanted them to build a church on the place. Thus, the Cavinti Church is now found on those mountainous parts.

* view of the pews and the church balcony in semi-darkness

* a marker of the church’s baptistery

* candle stands

* an image of a saint found on the side of the church

* the church’s bell tower viewed from below

Historically, the ecclesiastical administration on the town of Cavinti was under Lumban(g) until 1619 [from the marker found outside the Cavinti Church]. In 1621 the first stone church was constructed along with the convent. But the Chinese uprising in 1639 damaged the church and the convent [an interesting line of inquiry: the reasons of the Chinese uprising in those regions]. Eventual constructions of the church were also damaged, specifically due to the earthquake which happened in 1824. The church and the convent were repaired in 1851. Another earthquake, in the year 1880, caused the church tower to collapse and its wall to suffer cracks. Later, an earthquake in 1927 further damaged the church walls.

* this has an ancient feel to it

* do these stones form the original church’s walls? I wonder



* view of a buttress of the Cavinti Church

* an arc found inside the church

* a shade recently annexed to the church façade

Not a very lively story as it is full of destructions. But the reconstructions show the extent of the resilience and resolve of the people to maintain their place of worship in the town. Today the church houses the image of the alleged image from the oral tradition, placed on the higher portion of the church façade with lighting day and night. The lighting was put there in order to prevent the image from going down to the ground. Officially the churched is named Transfiguration Parish Church.

* a space on the church’s front allotted for the Stations of the Cross

* view of what look like very old stones for the walls
of the adjoining convent of the church

* elders/[volunteers?] doing some morning tidying up
of the church small landscape gardens

* an arc found as you enter the church grounds

In observing the place, the church is built on high grounds. Some said that they could actually see the top of the church from a distance. I believe the church could have been visible as far as the Cavinti Bridge if not for the trees and houses. Lastly, the church’s location and set-up is very similar to that Liliw, Laguna.

Next in the Cavinti series: the town’s environs.