Uncommon valor , stories of valiant Filipinos and their unwavering love to help others are always stories “to tell” of post World War II era. Manlayo and other side of Guinayangan when days were slow and old folks mingled with much younger people, there will be no other topic but the World War II.  A nub of stories to tell must never been heard , if I sensed spinning-yarn, young people like me then became a start-off to flee away from a dreary tale . Some war survival stories told had transcended to present day, but some are left to few family circles worn out by the time of their generations and some wanted it to share, so others could hear it before time flies. Like the Tolentino clan’s evasions from captivity and death during the several Japanese military liquidation of some places like Guinayangan. This story was a part of Mr. Jim Tolentino’s memoir. A miracle saved Tolentino family when this event happened –NCenizal

After their escaped from the Japanese sentry in Tagkawayan Quezon, in summer of 1944, the whole family stayed in a small house about 3 kilometers (1.8 miles) from the town of Guinayangan, in a watershed place called Maulawin. Due to unsettling conditions of Japanese presence, they opted not to return to their house in town, in fear of they may be found out that they were back in their place considering their family were politically known to whole town. That day, there was a rumor from the townsfolk that the Japanese soldiers had abandoned the town and only scout for reconnaissance to check presence of guerrilla groups where his father and much older brothers belonged.

This little wooden house sat on edge of the woods but reachable from the town by foot trails. The house backed on the bank of a brook. Its stream is deep enough and safe for youngs to immerse. Jim, Max(his younger brother) and Gus( his older brother) swims there butt-naked every day for hours and play “catch” until their mother would yell to get them out when she notice their paled lips due to prolong immersion in cold water.


shared from flickr Photography by Amit P. Rameshwar Singh

The river and their place is a watershed for the reservoir that supplies the whole town. It was rich in tropical vegetations including wild pineapples and bananas. The pineapple bears fruit year round and they would look for vine-ripped fruit from the river banks. Upon handpicking a yellowish one, they would split a pineapple in half by smashing it on a nearby coconut tree. Once it was busted in half, they graze on this ripe fruit and enjoy their short-lived feasting in such hideout. Across the riverbank, opposite their house is a hill with its brow are high enough to obscure the presence of their house from a foot trail that leads to the main road where you could reach town. Most of the time their helper used the hillside across to do their necessity calls, where they look for a fallen tree or a clearing behind a coconut tree, where they squat behind it to defecate on the small clear spot they could find. They wipe themselves afterwards with leaves from a “Sambong” (Blumea balsamifera) a kind of flowering plant. Locals, sometimes use it as diuretics. Sambong has wider leaves, more than enough to cover the buttock and firm enough to serve as toilet wipes. Morning dew soften them and moisten it surface that makes them best for this necessity.

A morning of May 1944, several gun fires woke up the whole family.The staccato of rifle’s gunfire happened about 5:00AM and was soon followed by more distinct single shots. The sound of rifle was just barely audible because of the distance of their house to nearby town and most were fainted by high trees acting as sound barrier. They immediately huddled together in the main room, flustered by the commotion . It was early dawn and the house was still dark. “Get up”. “Everybody up”, Murmured one of the older maids who came silently running into the house, panting, but was able to whisper the dreaded word, “Japanese”, with trembling voice. These words sent fears to all of them, gathered together in the center of the dwelling. This adds more fear to them, augmented from already terrified feelings. A minute past in quietness . Shuddered by fear, they were sitting on bed mats, strewn all over the wooden floor in the middle of the house. Jim saw everyone’s eyes were scanning the room and seemed awake but no sound of utterance from the huddle. He heard everyone’s heart pounding and throbbing ,the stillness after the announcement seemed to be an eternity. His older brother and his father then scout each side of the house glides in tiptoed as they peek in each window sill they could reach. The reassuring that there was no presence of Japanese soldier took longer. Then, his father signaled that house perimeter was clear.

When the sun rises, “Everybody up”, said his father. “Pack all our belongings and let’s go”. They hastily packed they burlap bags of belongings and without breakfast, the family stealthy ascended the steep mountain on foot and hiked to the inner bowel of the green jungle of Luzon’s southern Peninsula. It took them a day to walk through the muddy and hack their way their way back to newly found hideout. With their feeling of at least out from danger, a further conversation with the older maid who warned them of the impending danger to whom they owed their lives began to explain her vigorous story how she reached their house to say the reason of their survival.




She was doing her morning necessity calls on the other side of the hill when a squad of Japanese soldiers came upon her. She was squatted on a clearing in the act of defecating. The soldiers were led by a Filipino collaborator “Makapili” looking for them. The collaborator asked the maid if she knows where was Tolentino’s house. Being quick witted, she pointed in the opposite direction she said …

“It’s where the foot trail was heading and this trail will lead you to the house”

She misled them that behind that hill , the path leads to their hideout is a jungle and inhabited. “If you are lying, we will come back and will behead you”, warned the Filipino traitor to the maid. The warning petrified the maid but stood her ground.

“Sir, the trail will take you to the Tolentino’s and you will catch them while sleeping if you go now”. If you will go a bit later and waste your time looking around in this desolate place, they will be up and you will lose your chance to capture them”.

With this convincing statement, the squad of Japanese soldiers proceeded in a huff to the other direction, away from the hill and the river bank where they can be found. Co-occurrence with such brief interrogation with their maid was the time when gunfires frighten their family and submit inside the house to huddle around. That gunfires took a lot of lives down in Poblacion, massacres were taking place. The moment the Japanese disappeared from the maid’s sight, she ran towards the grassy hill, into the field through the river bank, waded knee deep in the shallow part of the gushing stream, and came into the house and whispered to them the dreaded word, “Japanese”.

by Nell Cenizal
repost from: Ang Manlayo

Can't still have a good grasp of it # the mighty sun has been playing so elusive since the first of August, had given  Manila daily burst of massive rain, not less than 3 typhoons, torrential/monsoon serious flood BUT!! yesterday 'till today_  the sun has been up and shining !!!! Are you kidding me?? After I had cancelled two scheduled trips for this month, now you're giving me this " beautiful beach weather". Nohurtfeelings. I heard another typhoon is coming, so really I'm just happy to wake-up with the sun beaming at me, which is a rarity now a days.


I'm just saying.. my last out of town was as old as the last time a whole week the sun continued to show. As far as I can remember, that was like sometime in June this year. Cos after that, it has been all raining and just small peeking of the sun, and the only place I've been to were malls' supermarkets to buy groceries. then stayed home under roof being hammered by the heavy downpour of the rain_everyday!

Sometime in June, we had our short visit of my hometown and before exiting, we decided to eat our lunch at one of the countless waterfalls/river resorts a little bit away from the town.






From that opening, we walked and passed some houses, really rural. I enjoyed some rustic scenes like the kid bathing himself in a basin. He didn't care at all about a bigger body of water just across his house which was the resort we were going. Or maybe, he had too much of it already.



Few feet across that little boy in the basin, there was this man made small bridge with water flowing on it.




























The place spelled nature kiss. We almost forgot why we dropped by there. Not to swim! We didn't bring any swimwear.

But to eat our packed lunch!!! We weren't asked to pay for the cottage since were just there to eat and not to swim. Yah, I looked funny there,haha,

Nothing could beat a nature stop when you're up for a long road trip (like 5-6 hours) back to the tiresome city.

I didn't know the existence of a railroad in my own hometown until  I saw the photos of it from my hometown's blog site/ The Guinayangan Republic. I actually haven't ridden a real train running in a real landed railroad yet. The closest I've been were the MRT's in Manila and in other Asian cities I had visited. So during my most recent visit of my hometown I nudged my brother to bring us to the railroad site.


Since it was just a very short visit as usual, I wanted to maximize the time by hitting to see more than one to three destinations at once. With water falls, cave and the railroad in mind, he decided to bring us to one of the scenic barangays in Guinayangan called Danlagan . After the cave and the falls, we begun our rail road trip..















But a skate coming from opposite direction, given that its load was lighter than the other _ the driver had to give way by lifting it off the tracks, waited at the side until the other had passed by, only then that it would be returned to tracks.

So we rode the same skates that brought us in here to get back to our departure site.

Salacan Spring Resort in Guinayangan Quezon, Philippines

You know when an urban mom is so under stress and would jump off to the nearest mall, she goes to her favorite shop. purchases a pair of shoes and maybe 2 to 3 tops. . beyond her needs but more as an   "escape from it all" . . I am not like that. I'm not so much into retail therapy.
I have my own retail therapy thu' . . definitely shoes and tops won't answer my need for balance when I'm under stress. I seek for nature therapy. This kind, I categorized it as retail like the retail/shopping therapy most moms do, cos usually it's cheap, if not free and accessible.



I'm quite lucky too to have a rural hometown as my default ground. So green and rural, you could just walk around without a penny in your pocket and you would absorb the same nature bliss one would get from an  out of town trip of  no lesser ( but can be more) than P7k/pax budget. If there's more to it, it's that_ "the best things in life are free".




It's usually very light to trek here. We just go out of the door of our house on our flipflops without anything in our hands.








There are sari-sari stores (local variety store huts), and sure bring some coins for liquids.




Not this kind of liquid thu', unless you are driving a motorcycle and you  need a refill . They are gasoline in bottles, haha.




I bet to my kababayans (townmates) who live here forever, this part of  town is just another street for them. A road they walk on everyday. But to my girls_ it's wilderness, already a little forest for them to reckon with.




Neither I would pretend I'm no longer in awe of the nature abound my town cos I'm supposedly used to them cos I am supposedly its own native child. On contrast, I am as wide eyed as my girls. Growing -up, I rarely had the freedom to reach these hidden nature treasures. Perhaps also because they were all over there everyday, I took them for granted.




Hanging bridges always amaze me. It amazed me more to find one in my own town.




Underneath is a live river, with real flowing water.





Also on this particular hot, arid weekend, we tried to add a little adventure. .  .




We took the challenge to reach a falls by taking a mountain sloped trail on our bare flipflops.

# On second thought, I decided I'll just share it next time cos this one has been too long already, don't you think so?

Mula sa isang transistor “radio” na nakasabit malapit sa palo, kaalinsabay ng pagsuot ng “sikwan” sa mga sirang mata ng lambat ang tugtog na palagiang “background music” ng mga maghahayuma mula sa “ASIN”. Sasabayan ng sipol. Nakaka”miss” ang amoy ng lambat na natuyuan ng alabuab at ilang natuyong tinik at kaliskis. Tila halimuyak na gunita na nakatungtong ang paa mo sa kahapon ng Manlayo. Pag gising ko kanina ay narining ko ang kantang “Gising Na Kaibigan ko” , ako yatang ay taong lubhang masintemyento. Pag ikot ko sa may Roxas Blvd, naamoy ko ang tuyong lambat malapit sa yatch club, gumunita sa akin ang lumipas na tila  madali kong nahagap kung saan dapat sa alaala ko nalagak ang kakatwang amoy na ito.


Sa musmos kong isip noon, wala akong kakayahang matanaw ang bukas  na sa ngayon ay –ito. Na kasaganaan ng pangingisda noon lahat ay mapupunta sa wala. Sakripisyo man mo itong masasabi sa ilang naglaan ng panahon itaguyod ang kabuhayang umaasa sa dagat. Nagugunita ko sa lumang umaga ang lahat ay tila nakasaludo sa pagharang sa  tuwid na sinag ng  araw. Pinipilit na may mapagkilanlan sa parating na Basnigan , nagbabase sa taas ng palo at lutang ng batangan na wari sa hugis ng silweta ay kasiguruhan na ang hinihintay na padaong ay tiyak na lamak.

Pag lingon mo sayong magkabilang balikat.  Ay banaag mo ang lupon ng mga regatona, mga magba”baggage” ,mga nagtitinda ng kakanin at mga pangilanngilan kong kababata na may hawak na “Fishnet” . Ang ilan namay may lukbutan na nakasuksok sa likurang bewang, tila may itinatago, sila ang mga mag “babakaw” . Kakatwang nabuong mga lupon ng samahan na tuwiran at di tuwirang umaasa sa darating na dadaong.

Sa ilang saglit pa ay nakakabinging sigawan ng pagmamadali sa pag awas sa lunday na walang pagal na sa paghakot ng kaing kaing at banye-banyerang huli ng di kalayuang basnig na tila may paparating pa. Tirik na ang araw habang ang “magbubulong” ay tila malat na sa bigkas ng pag-ayon sa kanyang tawad.
Sa init ng  araw ay halos pumuti na ang buhanginan na lalong gumuhit ang katas ng tumutulong likido mula sa kaing na balagwitang piningga. Halinhinan, paro’t parito  sa kamalig na ilang nanalo sa bulungan. Sa di kalayuan ay nakaupo ako sa ilang lambat na luma na nakabalumbon sa abandonang kamalig. Tinatanaw ang mga paggalaw na sa ngayon ay tila malabo na muling mangyari. Sirko kabikabila kapagdaka ay tatanaw at namamangha sa isa na namang padating na lunday na halos kakapraso na lamang ang “baltaw” . Sa dami ng isda ay iisipin mong kahit rasyunan ng tila tig-iisang kilo ang mamamayan ng Guinayangan ay may matitira pang mauuwi sa tangke ng bagoongan o di kaya ay lagaan at birukan para gawing tinapa o tuyo na lang.

Kay sarap dumapa sa amoy ng lambat, tila meron itong aroma na sinasabing  – gunitain mo ako, tanawin mo ako sa butas ng  aking mga sirang mata, alalahanin mo ako, hindi mo man ako matanaw muli.
Pagsapit ng patanghali ay paghehele ka ng dagat amihan, muli ay amoy na tila hihigitin ka sa antok. Maya-maya lang ay marami na kaming batang nakahilata at tila naging “play pen” na ang lumang kamalig. Uubusin muli ang oras makatanghalian sa kulitan at kuwentuhan ng mga kalaro ko noon.

Sa kakatwang pangyayari malayo na ang narating ng ilang kalaro ko sa lambat. Ilan ay pinalad mangibang bansa, ilan ay nabago ang buhay at may mangilan ngilan ring ginusto na lamang lumagi rito.

Alas onse, daraan ang pulutong ng basnigero, abot tenga ang ngiti, habang masusing binibilang ang mga ubeng perang papel. Habang ang ilan ay nakapila sa mamang “Listador” ng basnig na minamando ng aking ama. Limot ko na kanyang ngalan, pero nakarehistro pa ang mukha nya sakin.
Ang arawang diaryo ng Basnigan. Dividendo o porsyento ng kanilang nabentang huli. Ilan ay nakahalukipkip tila sinusupresa ang sarili, sabik na makuha ang diaryo.

Sa abot nga king tanaw habang nakangalumbaba sa pagitan ng balumbun ng pataw at plumong katabi ng lambat, lahat ay masaya, lahat ay may puwang ng ngiti. Di tulad ngayon. Mayamaya ay babangon na ako hayon na ang kumpas ng kamay nga king nanay – Kakain na! Hindi man namin kasabay kumain ang aking ama. Hayun siya at nakahiga sa balkonahe, puyat sa magdamagang pangingisda. Anong ulam? Kay dami, halos mapuno ang lamesa. May adobong pusit, tambakol  na pangat at pinesang “sigapo”. Sa gawing katabing lamesa ay maingat na hinahati ng kapatid ko ang pakwang pulang pula at bahagya ang buto. Sa haba ng pananghalian ko ay di ko maalala kong na galaw ko ang pinangat dahil sa pesang sigapo ay tila di na ako magkamayaw. Pagsawsaw ko sa tabong hinawan at sabay pahid sa laylayan ng kansulsilyo , takbo na naman ako sa kamalig na may lambat.

Subalit di kami makapaglaro, ang basnigerong taong lambat ay naggagayak ng paghayuma sa mga sirang lambat, ang isa ay sinabit ang transistor na radio sa gilid habang iniikot ang talapihitan at salimbayang lumalabas ang estasyong radio sa bikol, tila iritadong masagap ang gustong estasyon. Halos magulat ako sa sigaw nya sa tuwa dahil natiyempo uli siya sa Asin –Gising na kaibigan ko.