Saturday, August 25, 2007

“Hello, Garci?” Hali ako sa Salinraban!

Salinraban (from the Asi word “salinrab”, a delicious sea shell believed by the Sibale islanders to be helpful in restoring virility, and which when cooked in lemon juice has a sweet and tangy soup) faces the twin islets of Dos Hermanas in the treacherous Tablas Strait.

Salinraban means a place where there are plenty of “salinrab”. That was ages ago. Now, the place, always buffeted by strong waves, no longer has that abundant supply of the seafood.

A sitio of Barangay Rayahikan (the barangay itself is now commonly known as Dalajican), Salinraban is perhaps the only place in the island of Sibale that has no sandy coast. It is rocky, mostly, and fishermen and motor boats usually avoid docking in the place, as a precaution for not getting beached in the shallow shoals of its coast.

On the north side of Salinraban is Barangay Mahaba (meaning long), now Barangay Masadya (meaning happy), so that that as a sitio, Salinraban is the filling in the geographical sandwhich of two barangays which have only a few things in common: one is the dearth of water, for the terrains of both are ruggedly mountainous and, you bet, rocky.

Because of the terrain, Sibalenhons who chose to build houses and live in Salinraban can be counted in one’s fingers. There is no school, no church, no plaza, no barangay hall in Salinraban. In today’s global village, defined by television, computers, and the Internet, Salinraban could be just a remote and inaccessible plot, a negligible spot that deserves no marker in the map. And so it seems there is no justification whatsoever for dignifying the place by a few paragraphs in a blogsite.

The truth is this blogger felt that way, too, even as I tried, while scribbling this piece, to dig deep in my memory for something significant I could say about the place. I failed.

I failed because what I remember of Salinraban are its deep, rocky caves covered by thick vegetation where bats and monkeys live in harmony; and where large birds that no longer visit the other barangays in the island because their vegetation has disappeared sing a cacophony of enchanting music at dawn and at dusk and blending this with the waves that slap the jagged rocks on the coast. I, too, remember that the waters of Salinraban teem with fish, mollusks, and seashells. And if you want a taste of the island’s produce, Salinraban is the place to go. There are plenty of fruit trees around.

When I was still living in the island, I used to think that if there is a place where one can safely hide, it’s in Salinraban, inside its caves. In fact, I recommend this to former COMELEC commissioner Virgilio Garcillano who, because Sen. Panfilo Lacson had called for the reinvestigation of the “Hello, Garci?” tapes scandal, could again be thrust into the public consciousness and the limelight of political conflict.

It can be recalled that two years ago, almost every Filipino was looking for Garcillano to ask him what other things Gloria Macapagal Arroyo said to him apart from saying, “Hello, Garci?” I, too, am interested in seeking Garcillano out, but for an entirely different reason: I would like to ask him his secret in hiding successfully. Remember, everyone then was saying he had gone abroad when all the while, he was just planting corn in Bukidnon?!

But you will ask: Will a man as notoriously famous and with a suspect reputation as Garci be welcome in Salinraban?

Of course, he will be, as the Salinrabanons are a hospitable folks. Also, Salinraban is a place not known for bigotry. It’s a free port, an open city, requiring no passport from fugitives from the law. Besides, its under-the-cave inhabitants—the monkeys, the fruit bats, the snakes, including the multi-colored butterflies and other winged creatures that knew nothing about the intricacies of cheating—will only be too happy for the rare opportunity to have as company a human being like Garcillano who, ironically, is considered by many Filipinos to belong to a lower specie in the animal kingdom.

Salinraban could also offer Garcillano a most irresistible amenity. The place is not bugged. There are no telephone cables and no high-tech eavesdropping devices in the place, so he can make and receive as many telephone calls as he wishes inside, via satellite, of course. Or, failing that, he can just send out smoke or semaphore signals. Better yet, he can scribble on the cave walls, and wait until a wayward soul discovers his writings, which I suspect would be mostly "tara", as what prisoners inside Muntinlupa do while counting the years. In Garcillano's case, he could "tara" the votes Gloria had stolen.

“Hello, Ma’m. Asa Salinraban ako (I am in Salinraban). Ayos na ang isang milyon. Some of the birds and the bats and the monkeys here voted for you. Bye.” Click.

1 comment:

Bong Fornal said...

Nicon,

Thanks for slugging out a piece for Salinraban. I have some good memories about the place as it was here where I learned how to float and eventually swim, dog style. It was also in this place where much of my time, when out of school, was spent frolicking in the waves and catching fish using an improvised "pana" and helping my "erpat" putting his "Bamboo Bobo" in place to catch fish.

And how can I forget when one time one of my neighbors, in his desire to outcatch my father, used dynamite to fish and but exploded prematurely leaving the hand hanging by the skin. I could not look at it when finally my father cut the hanging skin.

But you are right. Salinraban has fewer sands to boast and the sands are much bigger that it will not even stick to your foot unlike when you walk in the shoreline of Masadya.

There are actually two Salinrabans, Marakong Salinraban in the North which I supposed was the one you referred to in your piece and Maisoting Salinraban which lies between Dalajican and Marakong Salinraban. I like Marakong Salinraban more despite its rocky coastline because there was a lot of "Leswe" the sweet tasting monovalves crawling in the "liboo sands" to pick and of course, the abundance of Salinrabs(scallops) sticking in the "yagtings"(hard stones)which is truly a delicacy if you cook it with "gata" or coconut milk.

I wish one day I can still frolick on the waters of Salinraban, pick some sweet tasting "leswe" and salinrabs and rob small "yagtings" in my skin.

Regards.

Bong Fornal