Siquijor, Siquijor — I was playing La vie en rose in my uncle’s hut, the last private residence before Mt. Bandilaan National Park. You can hear the forest insects join me.
Far from the touristy spots, life here is slow. There’s space to simply be. No rush to serve foreigners. Maybe it’s the forest’s splendor, when observed, you can’t help but respect.
Mt. Bandilaan is a national reserve where traditional healers once gathered medicinal plants.
What complements the mountain is the humble, carefree community. My brother Karl said, “This is the place where you realize money doesn’t make a person rich.”
The folks here speak with pride and gratitude just for simply being here.
Cantabon, also known for Cantabon Cave, is where my grandfather was born. “Diri ko natawo,” Lolo Amado would say. When he returned here, he met my lola. My aunt said only two households aren’t related to us, so we might as well call all elders lolo, lola, auntie, or angkol.
This instant belonging took some getting used to. We grew up far from relatives. But I felt right at home seeing their houses — small, yet brimming with plants and vegetables.
In the afternoon, we drank buko, freshly climbed by Uncle Merto, and cooked soup with vegetables from my Tita Bloi’s garden in the forest. “There’s more, but the wild animals like to eat here,” she said, without resentment.
The men drank tuba mixed with tree bark by the village “herbalist.”
At night, insects and night birds filled the quiet. My little cousin asked, “Asa man dira ang tunog sa wakwak, Ma?” Translates to, “Which one is the sound of the aswang?”
Wakwak, or aswang, is a mythical creature part human, part flying monster. I laughed, then drifted into nostalgia.
When I visited as a child, Siquijor was filled with magical stories, healers, balete trees, hanging comb charms in old eateries.
Now, as tourists flock to the island, I hope the modest living and the stories of my grandpas and grandmas live through.
That might be a stretch, so I only wish people value what they have now. (Sommer Buyante)
