I like to hear people speak of lofty ambitions or the things they had to do to soar higher and higher in their endeavors. To me, it just seems like they are always doing the best they could everyday, and that there is no stopping their rise to success. How wonderful it would be if everyone had lofty ambitions, and are able to achieve them. Wow!
What am I doing talking about lofty ambitions? What I would like to share here has everything to do with heights but nothing to do with ambitions at all. My topic this time has been in the making for a long time. I just had to wait until I could see it for myself.
Last Thursday, my wife and I went to Pulangbato Falls in barangay Malabo in the town of Valencia, and on the way up there, we stopped at Tierra Alta to have breakfast, hoping to catch a view of the ocean from there. We ordered coffee, our first that morning. My wife had some pancakes and a couple of sunny-side-ups, while I had to be content with just a sausage and three strips of bacon, and some toast. I’m allergic to eggs, so anywhere we have breakfast, I just have the eggs substituted for something meaty. The morning energizer was fine but would have been super if they had some Concorde grape jelly. Well, make do with what you have, right?
Oh, and the view of the ocean was there alright, although veiled by haze. Maybe next time then.
Pulangbato Falls was nice, and very easy to get to (compared to Balanan Lake in the town of Siaton). I liked what this lady, Susan, has done to their privately-owned resort which has the best access to Pulangbato Falls. I liked the place a lot, and I like the fact that Susan still has many more great ideas on how to make it even more attractive, while seriously maintaining safety, sparing no expense to do it.
If you happen to go up there, you’d see that the place has a hanging bridge. Sure, it adds aesthetic value to the place, but Susan had it built to keep the guests safe. The resort has access to two waterfalls. One is clear all year long, while the other one turns red in the summer months. The area has sulfur deposits, and the red coloration is caused by the sulfur in the ground.
She told me that before the bridge was built, visitors had to climb down and up rocks to get to the Red Falls, as they call it, an accident waiting to happen. Well, with the bridge hanging in place, I don’t care if you are 90 years old; if you’re ambulatory, you can get to the falls.
Susan also showed us two of the three rooms they have available for rent. They are built right on the side of a wall of rock, portions of which have been left exposed inside the rooms. She said she thought they added beauty, and she couldn’t be more right.
The resort at Pulangbato Falls, while far from being totally complete, does hold a lot of promise, and could be the safest and coziest tourist attraction in Negros Oriental yet, not to mention, the easiest to get to. I, therefore, tip my hat to this enterprising lady, Susan.
All visits must come to an end, and this one did. We got in the car, ready to head back to the City. Then I remembered that along the way, somewhere, there was something I’ve always wanted to see, if only to prove that the things I’ve heard about it were exaggerated, because they really do sound too ridiculous to be true. I didn’t know where exactly it was, so I called our niece. She said she’d meet us somewhere along the road that we were on. I slowed down so I wouldn’t miss her, or the place. Even then, I overshot it before we intercepted each other. She told me to turn around and follow her. Pretty soon, I saw her left turn signal flashing. I turned to follow, and found that she had stopped not far from the intersection. I asked why she stopped, and she replied, “Even here it already stinks really bad!”
Then I looked straight ahead, and there it was, the mountain. So the rumors are true –Dumaguete’s trash has grown into a mountain. I must have looked like Dr. Grant in Jurassic Park when he first saw the dinosaurs on Isla Nublar. Holy s–t! What the f–k! Still in disbelief, I got my camera out, and left the car where it was. I told my wife to stay put (as if something might bite her if she got out) while I went closer to take some pictures. I snapped away like crazy, taking three, four shots of the same spots, not wanting to miss whatever it was I was sure would crawl out any second. As soon as I moved my view from the camera’s viewfinder, the sight became even more incredible. One could not help but ask how the City could let its trash just build up like this, soaring up to the heavens.
Another question that rivals that which is often asked about the pyramids of Egypt: how did they do it?
I didn’t see any trucks go up to the peak to dump more trash and yet, the pile has grown a point at the top. Our niece suggested that bulldozers may be pushing the sides inwards, but I didn’t see any bulldozers there either.
The incredibly unbelievable sight could only be matched by the incredibly rancid, putrid, rotten smell that permeated the air and carried away, even without any wind or breeze. Not far from trash mountain, I saw a bunch of houses inside a compound. My niece said that was Camella Homes, a housing complex that costs somewhat above-average. I could just imagine what it must be like in that housing complex when they’re downwind from the mountain during a strong breeze. If I was a homeowner there, I would be livid for having wasted my money.
Everything that met my eyes that day at the mountain was only half of everything. I say this because, surely, this mountain of trash must bring with it health hazards galore. There are people there going through the trash, and even kids playing with some toys I’m sure they found among the trash. I now wonder if any of them have serious illnesses. I think the City should have a few of them medically examined at its expense. At least then, they could rule in or out the possibility that this mountain is a health hazard. If it is, and they’ve become sick, could it not also be a hazard to the rest of the City?
The City could not even remove the garbage that has spilled on the sidewalk and the road! If they’re overwhelmed by the enormity of this problem, and it seems that they are, then they should not be believed when they say they have a plan.
I think there should be a new set of people installed to handle this problem – those who are capable and are up to the challenge. It would be insane to keep the same City officials doing the same things over and over, and then hope to get a different (improved) result.
That visit, too, was over. I turned the car around to get back to where we came from, instead of continuing past the mountain. Truthfully, I was just afraid the smell would stick to the car’s upholstery. As I was about to turn the corner, I saw a dead rat the size of a kitten. I turned to my wife and said, “See, even rats could not handle the smell around here.”
Once on the main road, I could not get the mountain out of my mind. I just wondered, if they didn’t solve the problem in 10 years, how big would the mountain get? Would it be so tall that it would topple over, and bury the neighboring houses? Who would be the mayor by then? Would someone or some people burn for it?
I was still deep in this kind of thought when I saw a blue bus going the opposite way. On its side was plastered Lupad Dumaguete in big letters. Does Dumaguete truly want to soar to greater heights? Is that why its trash is getting higher and higher?
Until next time, give credit sparingly, or don’t at all, until you’ve seen results.
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