Dipaculao, Province of Aurora
July 07 - 08, 2018
It was a gloomy Saturday morning when we left Manila. We were seven and bound to the province of Aurora. It was my first time to see the place located just below the province of Isabela, the place of my birth and my home province.
Aurora is located in the eastern part of Central Luzon, facing the Philippine Sea (Pacific Ocean). Baler is the provincial capital. It's a narrow strip of land sandwitched between the Northern Sierra Madre and the Pacific Ocean and bounded in the north by the provinces of Isabela, Nueva Vizcaya and Quirino and by the provinces of Quezon, Nueva Ecija and Bulacan in the South. People speak both Ilocano and Filipino languages.
According to Wikipedia, Before 1979, Aurora was part of the province of Quezon. Aurora was, in fact, named after Aurora Aragon, the wife of Pres. Manuel L. Quezon, the president of the Philippine Commonwealth, after whom the mother province was named.
For quite sometime, we were planning to explore Dinadiawan, a town in the Municipality of Dipaculao. By word-of-mouth, we learned that Dinadiawan is blest by mother nature with long stretch of white sand shores and calm sea perfect for beacheneering.
Dipaculao is approximately 310 kilometers away from Manila and a 6 to 7-hour private vehicle drive.
From Manila, we took NLEX, TPLEX and passed through the towns of Talevera and Rizal in Nueva Ecija before reaching the province of Aurora.
While driving, one can immediately appreciate the well maintained roads, the cleanliness and orderliness of the surroundings and the lush green environment.
These are things I don't normally see and experience in the places where I usually visit on a holiday.
Centuries-old trees lining up along the side of the road provide a natural canopy to the long stretch of the highway.
The long winding road snaking into the Sierra Madre mountains leads us to our destination safely in Dinadiawan at 1301H. We were immediately welcomed by the roaring sound of the Pacific Ocean. It was a sunny hot Saturday.
We stayed in a house few steps away from the sandbar concealed from the ocean by the trees and at our doorstep is an old tree we call it Bitta-og.
This is a place where the roaring waves, the gentle whistle of the northern breeze and the chirping of the birds gracefully playing on the branches of the trees dominate.
Dinadiawan is the place to be with nature much closer. Towering the lust green forest behind are the mighty terrains of the Sierra Madre, a nature-provided barrier between the wild Pacific Ocean and the land behind it.
"Salaknib" (protection) in the Ilocano vernacular, it protected the provinces of Isabela and Cagayan from the onslaught of then immensely powerful storm Lawin as it traverses northern Luzon, and will continue to do so in the years to come.
I felt elated on a Duyan hanging underneath the old Bitta-og tree and watched its leafy arms caressed by the cold blowing wind.
We had lunch at 1422H and then prepared to explore the place. I was lucky enough to fly Kronos just along the shoreline over the stretch of the sandbar and had a view of the activities down below.
I could hardly maintain Kronos in the air for so long as the wind blows stronger from the Pacific Ocean.
As the other family members enjoyed the waves, I enjoyed the serenity of the place.
It reminded me of Max Ehrmann's lines in his Desiderata, "Go placidly amid the noise and haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here."
It was past 1830H when the skies started to turn dark, the colder wind blows and the thunder started to play. The rain was coming.
We gathered inside the house and listened to the heavy rain as it washed the green leaves of the old Bitta-og tree and quenched the desiccated land beneath.
At night while the rain continued to fall, we had our turn telling our memorable stories in the past and remembered ourselves when we were young. In my mind, I was singing my favorite piece "In My Life" as we enjoyed our bonding moments together as a happy family.
There are places I remember all my life
Though some have changed
Some forever, not for better
Some have gone and some remain
All these places have their moments
Of lovers and friends I still can recall
Some are dead and some are living
In my life I loved them all
And with all these friends and lovers
There is no one compares with you
And these mem'ries lose their meaning
When I think of love as something new
And I know I'll never lose affection
For people and things that went before
I know I'll often stop and think about them
Though some have changed
Some forever, not for better
Some have gone and some remain
All these places have their moments
Of lovers and friends I still can recall
Some are dead and some are living
In my life I loved them all
And with all these friends and lovers
There is no one compares with you
And these mem'ries lose their meaning
When I think of love as something new
And I know I'll never lose affection
For people and things that went before
I know I'll often stop and think about them
In my life I loved you more
We had a peaceful and cold rainy night together, under one roof, so close to one another. I am so thankful to God for such a moment of which is hard to come by in a battlefield that demanded so much of our time and attention setting us apart from those who are dear to us.
I woke up first early in the morning on the following day. It was still drizzling, gloomy, cold and windy. There was no sunrise. I moved out of the house to say good morning to the wild ocean as it endlessly hit the shore only to find out that I was alone talking to the sea telling her I had a goodnight sleep.
We left the place with a happy and fulfilled heart. Michael J. Fox said, "Family is not an important thing. It's everything!" and "To us, family means putting your arms around each other and being there!", Barbara Bush.
-o0o-
