ENCHANTED CAVE

Its name speaks well of its being. The refreshing cool water will surely relax your mind, body and soul. Plus it has very nice surroundings that will truly make you believe that such paradise exists.

The owner, Mrs. Aurora Jimenez, named this tourist attraction after her first personal experience from this place. “I was enchanted,” she said. I admired her when she confessed to us that she put up this tourist spot not only to gain money but mainly because to preserve the natural beauty of nature. After her discovery of how rich the place is of limestone, she decided to develop the place. It gained popularity from geologists and they attempted to possess these natural treasures but they failed thanks to Mrs. Aurora because according to her, “If you mine it, its lost forever. Your choice is either preserve it for eternity or lose it if you mine it. We’d rather preserve it for eternity”. She gained my total respect and admiration after our interview. I became an instant fan not only of Enchanted Cave but also of Mrs. Aurora Jimenez. If you’ll just visit, surely you will also be enchanted.

Bolinao Museum

Looking for some historical facts and artifacts about Bolinao? The city museum has all the answers you needed.

Unfortunately, we weren’t able to visit the Museum because it was under renovation at that time but we are looking forward to see a better looking museum next time.

St. James the Great Parish Church

 A church found at the heart of Bolinao, Pangasinan.

What I really liked about St. James Parish is that after you have a solemn session with God, you can step out and buy pasalubong for your loved ones because the gift shop is just a few steps away. I find it very convenient.

History and Origin of Bolinao, Pangasinan

     The history of Bolinao remains a history. There were no specific decrees or law under which the town was created. Based on what we saw and heard on our three days trip in the city, the land where we are taking a stroll is a part of the sea a million of years ago.

      It was a feeling of amazement knowing that the whole city was a part of a body of water before and then land arises to what we saw now as the City of Bolinao. I can compare it to the lost city of Atlantis but it was exactly the opposite. Atlantis was a land mass before it submerge deep into the ocean while Bolinao is a water mass before it emerge on the earth’s surface. There were so many evidences that shows that Bolinao is a part of the sea during the pre-historic era because of the corals and the rock formation that we can still see on Enchanted Cave, Cindy’s Cave, Balingasay River and the beach resort Treasures of Bolinao. These corals and rock formation are obviously found underwater because of its structures and forms.

      When the land has emerge, Chinese merchants has found out about the land. They got an easy access to travel, as we all know the sea that surrounds Bolinao is the sea which the Chinese and Filipinos are battling about, the West Philippine Sea. The early Chinese merchants and travelers made their settlements inside the caves. Evidences show that there were really early people who dwell inside of it because of the artifacts found like ceramics, porcelains and other jewelries that we can see inside the Bolinao Museum.

     Based on what we had found out during our tour in the city, Bolinao and some other parts of Western Pangasinan were formerly part of Zambales. It was the year 1903 when Bolinao and other western town were transferred to Pangasinan due to its proximity to the capital town of Lingayen. Also, Bolinao was founded by Capt. Pedro Lombi.

     Another history of the city is based on a legend or myth, which we heard from the elder citizen of Brgy. Patar, Bolinao where we had stayed in and also based on our research. The tale began during the first days of the Spanish era. There was a beautiful lady named Anao. She used to bathe in the spring (Libsong Spring) under the tree called “Boli-bolinao”, a tree of the molave family. A certain chieftain’s son living across the channel had seen her and fell in love with her. An early marriage followed with the condition that the seat of government of the chieftain is transferred to where Anao lived. Then they derived the name of the land to the tree “Boli-bolinao” and Anao’s name thus ended up to the name “Bolinao”.

      Some says and also believes that the name of the chieftain’s son was “Bolidnu”, which means round and robust and the beautiful lady was “Malinao” which means clear as the Libsong spring. The combination of the name of the lovers became the name of the whole land which is Bolinao. The meaning of the names of the two perfectly describes the city’s land shape, form and characteristics.

      I believe that Bolinao has still so many untold stories about its past. We might not know it but what’s important is we have now an idea about it. The real identity and beauty of Bolinao does not lie on just its history, what matters most is the here and now and the upcoming future that waits. Let’s find out if its history will still prevail on the upcoming days to come. We will go back once again to find out.

JUAN-NESS (oneness)

     BOLINAO, PANGASINAN has many attractions to explore with its fascinating past, intriguing present and exciting future, It is also known by having several resorts, Caves and preserved mangrove places. There are RESORTS after RESORTS, CAVES after CAVES that’s why bunch of business men are continually raising up, today especially foreigners. They had chosen BOLINAO because it has the natural beauty of the nature. No need more efforts to beautify it a lot. They want to showcase it all over the country. Some of Filipino employees there in BOLINAO said that Foreigners have the strategic mind when it comes to business that we don’t have. They just know how to handle it in a professional way. Business is business for them. you just have to embrace it.

     Several mangrove trees are everywhere. Its extensive coral reefs, sea grass and estuarine areas provide an ideal ecosystem where diverse marine species can dwell and propagate. This, consequently, becomes a major source for locals who rely on fishing for livelihood. To further protect and develop this natural habitat, the provincial government of Pangasinan has put up the Bolinao Provincial Mangrove Information Center and Nursery (BPMICN) as part of its coastal reforestation campaign. The project aims to provide mangrove seedlings in the entire province which has a long coastline ideal for fish spawning. Today, the nursery has become another showpiece to visitors of Bolinao aside from its prized beaches and historical attractions – a testament to the provincial government’s resolve to make Pangasinan a haven of marine ecosystem. Mangroves have had to physically adapt their leaves, their roots and their reproductive methods in order to survive in a harsh, dynamic environment of soft, low oxygen soils and varying salinity. ASIDE from serving as natural habitat and breeding grounds for fish, mangroves also act as natural barriers during storm surges. The provincial government had also encouraged community participation in the reforestation activity to raise their awareness on the need to protect the environment. Mangroves seedlings are grown at the provincial mangrove information center and nursery in Barangay (village) Arnedo in Bolinao town. Recipients of seedlings included local governments, schools, barangay councils, church groups, fishermen and farmers associations in the towns of Bolinao, Bani, Infanta, Anda, Dasol, Agno, Sual, Mangaldan, San Fabian and Lingayen and the cities of Alaminos and Dagupan. Seedlings planted include bakawan, bungalon, nipa and pagatpat.

     Ellsworth Gonzales, officer-in-charge of the Provincial Population Office said the latest recipients of the livelihood assistance include the Germinal Women’s Association in Bolinao. The Germinal Women’s Association and the Nagkaisa MPC, with 28 and 71 beneficiaries respectively, each received a livelihood loan of P150, 000 for their fish and commodity trading and farm inputs business. The first batch recipients for this year received their checks from Gov. Espino last January 16 where 13 women’s groups and two micro, small and medium enterprises(MSMEs) benefitted from the regular livelihood program of the provincial government. To date, a total of P38.9 million in livelihood loans has been released by the province under the watch of Gov. Espino since 2008 to beneficiaries most of whom are women’s groups which seeks to help them earn an income to augment their family’s needs. Belen Caasi, president of the Germinal Women’s Association who has been a regular beneficiary of the program since 2008 said she is very glad and thankful to the provincial government for coming up with programs that helps women like her.

     “Nagpapasalamat ako sa programang ito ni Gob. Espino dahil malaking tulong ito sa pamilya namin. Masaya din ako at ako ay nakakatulong sa aking asawa sa pagbibigay ng mga pangangailangan ng buong pamilya,” Caasi said. Jeany Villamonte, another member of the women’s association and also a regular beneficiary, said the livelihood assistance program of the provincial government has long been part of her family’s life as her business which she funds from the livelihood loan has gone a long way to help meet the needs of her family by augmenting some of their necessities.

FEW VS MANY

     The true beauty is hard to see. It can’t justify by our naked eyes or what others say. There’s no measurable advantage because of majority perception, it is not a beauty if you see only in the picture or heard from the mouth of many. But it comes from our strong belief and deep understanding how beautiful thing is. A country with beautiful places is so blessed but it’s a shame for the country with innate beauty that its own dweller is blind to what they have. I do believe that the Philippines is sanctified for its unique beauty not only for the Filipinos but also the foreigners will spellbound. Bolinao, Pangasinan has beautiful tourist spots that we can be proud of, you will see the creations of nature and not the hand of man fit on it. But, how we maintain the beauty of a place in the continuous revolution of the world? How human take it if everyone owns it? What if people clash, and at the end everyone claimed for it, should they actually them? In our time, when we reviewed, all of what the states have is considered its ownerships, if you haven’t enough money you don’t have any right to own what you want. For Filipino Families with five children, living in a cabin and only source to feed their stomach is the ocean; they can be built their own living? The government must help their people, doing the best they can do to give the tranquil living for its range, making the profitable development for the benefit of its citizens. But what if the states itself is not able to implement it? What if the foreign investors take what we might for us? How about the unfortunate people who rely on government programs? The tax paid of every private sectors can only feed two families a month contrary, if we think that the incomes should be vitalized them in about five families per month if it is owned by government and allocated to the programs that help to improve their way of living. We should say that the private sectors may help, in their taxes, but it’s a big privilege to help people if the greater percentage is in the government sectors than in private sectors. In a municipality with a large number of private investor rather than government sectors can we easily say that improvement exists, or the improvement exists in the investors? The development will not only base in the daily income of family needs, not based on the number of individuals with business, not based on the number of foreigner who go to a place to build their commercial properties and establishment, not based on the amount of natural resources or the beautiful landscape that can be developed, the development is based on the existence of the people, the equal rights, no one should be rich or poor enough because real progress is not seen in the individual, the development is seen to lift the many not the few.

BOLINAO IS IN GOOD HAND

     The local government of Bolinao has different ordinance that has Environment Code but there are other area of ecosystem that doesn't have it. One example of it is the forest management.

     We notice that in some area in Bolinao there are cut trees and others are burn down. By seeing these we know what exactly what they’re doing. Charcoal making is one the source of income in some community there, therefore they have to burn as many trees and trunks they can. They don't only burn tree trunks they also burn their garbage. In our 3 days stay there's a few neighbors who burn their garbage. They also cook using small trunks. We all know that burning garbage and the smoke from making charcoal is very harmful because it releases fumes into the atmosphere which can trigger diseases like asthma or it can add to the greenhouse effect. It will cause an increase in CO2 in the air. This causes the air to be unbalance and produce pollution that may affect not only their environment but their health. But base on the project list of Bolinao they target to establish a Bolinao Solid Waste Management Office at the end of 2013 that will barely introduce the advantage of proper disposal.

     There is one brilliant project of Bolinao and it was the establishments of Bolinao Provincial Mangrove Information Center and Nursery. This project was under Gov. Amado T. Espino, Jr. These mangrove nurseries have something to do in the environmental management because it has a lot of benefits. These mangroves serve as the nesting of the different fishes and sea creatures. The leaves that fall serve as the food of the fishes and other sea creatures living under it. These mangroves protect the environment from damage cause by strong winds and big waves. These trees produce organic biomass that lessened the quantity pollution and it eases the worsening climate change.

     According to their government officials, there are now many programs and projects that aims to sustain the quality of environment that will fully support the preservation, conservation and promotion designed to address climate change, global warming and disaster risk reduction management.