Maverhick: Livelihood

Mararison: Rolling mountains, vivid seas

Mararison, Culasi, Antique: Rolling mountains, vivid seas Beach, Mararison, Malalison, Island, Antique, Culasi, Kruhay, Tourism, Tuyong-tuyong Hill, Awareness, Community, Culture, Ethnic, Food, Hiking, Livelihood, Mountaineering, Mountain, Philippines, Restaurant, Travel, Trekking, Madja-as

“DON’T pluck or pick the pitcher plants,” warned our guide, as well as a few other locals. “If you don’t want to be thrown about by strong waves on your return to the mainland.”

Off the coast of Culasi – an hour and a half or so from Antique’s central district, San Jose de Buenavista – and accessible by a short boat ride from the sleepy town’s port, sits the idyllic isle Mararison.

Yes, it’s Mararison the locals correct – speculating that the variant Malalison, which has gained greater name-recognition among travelers, may be the product of early tourists mishearing the peculiar Antiqueño accent.

Just a year or so ago, Mararison – a neighbor of the now congested Boracay Island in Aklan – was touted as the next big thing. Introducing the often sidetracked Antique as a tourist destination on the rise, it boasts both pristine ice-blue waters and scenic mountain views of the vast sea.

Though most are unaware, Mararison is not actually a far-off uninhabited isle. It is home of about a hundred households. This is why homestays and humble cottages abound around the island’s shoreline to cater to tourists. Electricity seems limited to just the evening, but most of the homestays there do have generators.

The island only has one air-conditioned room for rent, and during our Holy Week stay it was occupied by a certain Gabbi Garcia of Encantadia reboot fame (I don’t actually watch the show, so I had no idea who she was until the people started swarming her).

Though we were surprised upon arrival at the number of tourists already there, it was a welcome sight that at around 5 in the afternoon the large crowds started to clear out as most of the day-trippers returned to the mainland.

Nevertheless, we enjoyed our stay. Wading through the cool waters of the Kawit Sandbar as we waited for the sunset, the Mararison Island Children’s Choir (who were shooting a summer TV spot with Gabbi Garcia) singing their eerie ode to Mount Madja-as, which towered over the island in the distance.

However, it seems the introduction of the island as a tourist destination on the rise has done little to improve the way of life of the local residents. We were guided by locals during our trek to Tuyong-tuyong Hill – the highest point of the 55-hectare island – and they revealed that leading tourists is not their primary source of income. Our guide manong Noy, shares he still sails out at dawn everyday to fish, in order to provide for his family.

There also seems to be no planning when it comes to the layout and organization of cottages on the beach – looking overcrowded and not properly lined, haphazardly dotting the white sand. It makes you wonder truly how ready Antique is to become a premiere tourist destination.

Nonetheless, these faults subtract very little from the natural beauty of Mararison – truly where rolling mountains meet the shining sea.

Bonus: Hidden gem Bahay Bahol, owned and managed by the Mosquera family – heirs of former Culasi mayor Flaviano Cadiao Mosquera – is the perfect place to fill your stomach after a tiring day swimming.

Just two blocks away from the Culasi port and situated at their ancestral home, Bahay Bahol (Kinaray-a for big house) serves Asian fusion dishes and classic Filipino lutong bahay with a high-end twist: fried pancit canton, sinagang na salmon, and beef paksiw among them. Provincial dining has never tasted this good.

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, by Rhick Lars Vladimer Albay

Advocacy

A New Home

IT’S a striking view from a distance, clean rows of brightly colored houses in alternating pastel hues, standing proud against the rice paddies that surround it. Up close you see how each house has a unique character of its own, with differently decorated porches, some with small gardens and patches of grass, others with picket fences and screen doors, there are even a few Sari-sari Stores and signs for businesses and livelihood: tailors, repairmen, food vendors.

This fledgling new community has been named the Iloilo River Plains Subdivision and it houses Ilonggo families who used to be informal settlers around our city.

In the past few years, we’ve seen the flourish and development of the Iloilo River, the introduction of the Iloilo River Esplanade - a park that runs along the length of the river, the construction of new ports and an effort to improve the ones we already have, a continuing endeavour to halt pollution, and most notably the removal of shanty houses and informal settlements that have clustered on different areas near the riverbanks of our city.

Jojie Depita and her family of eight used to live at San Jose, Molo near the Old City Slaughterhouse and across the newly built Iloilo Medical City. There she and her husband, a laborer, struggled to find means to provide for their large family in a cramped and narrow house, raised out of the river’s grimy waters only by stilts.

Manang Jojie and her family was first faced with the need to relocate in 2012 when it was announced that their humble dwelling was scheduled to be demolished. She had always feared that this day would come and try as they could, their meagre resources couldn’t survive the blow of losing a home.

Luckily, they we’re given a chance to start anew, to be a recipient of the city’s newest housing project that catered to those displaced by the development of the Iloilo River. They were one of nearly a thousand other families given this new opportunity.

Though it’s been nearly two years since they transferred, Manang Jojie admits that each new day is still an adjustment process. Far from the bustle of the city and fare being expensive, her family and most other residents are wary of travelling from their community.

This is why Jojie has decided to just watch over her children while her husband earns a living as a carpenter in the city. Many others report a difficulty in finding livelihood so far from Iloilo’s business hubs. The closest public school is in the next town, requiring children to travel by tricycle, but in most cases to walk, nearly a kilometre just to attend their classes during weekdays. For a time people feared using their areas’ deep well water supply, as it was reported to be contaminated.

Lanit continues to flourish in all its bright color, the mere sight of it is enough to inspire the curiosity of any passer-by, and the families that call this their new home, nearly a thousand strong, make the village radiate even brighter.