TRAILS UP NORTH

The allures of Kibungan, Kabayan
GLO A. TUAZON

KIBUNGAN, Benguet -- At the end of the rainbow, you'll find a pot of gold. I have often wondered and saw this in my mind since I was little. A place where the mountains hold secrets so deep and wild flowers bloom across the windy, grassy plains. Then we went to Kibungan and the phrase leapt into my mind. Give me a rainbow and call it coincidence but the place was so like the dream and there is indeed gold in Kibungan. This place is a mountainous wilderness. Sparsely populated and abundant in greens, it seemed like a lost shangrila. The road to Eden is bad, but the ongoing rehabilitation of the Tublay-Kapangan-Kibungan Road would soon bring great comfort for those plying the route.

The three to four hour trip from Baguio City to this place would seem difficult, and the place has nothing much to offer from the roadside view. Daytimes are dreary I thought as the dust and heat started creeping up my skin and clothes, and my hair got dry and stiff. There were few people around. Most were clustered at the first barangay we passed by before arriving at the Municipal Hall. Some along the way were mostly farmers with age-old weariness etched on faces.

I thought to myself I could not live in this place. Arriving at the town center and the municipal hall we crept up the back of the building to a view I never thought I'd get lost into. There before me was an endless wall of rocky mountains covered in green. The mountains were gorgeously formed that I could make out numerous forms. "Faces" poke out of the mountains, like guardians watching over the land around and below them. The sharp ridges that serve as trails are like iguana backs from the distance.

The mountains hold minerals too but the residents don’t want to give in to mining. Slowly I began to appreciate this place I earlier thought was dry and dead. I started running the wilderness in my mind, trying to picture how it is out there on the run, like you own the wind and the skies. Everything I could fathom seemed possible with a little drizzle to bring out a rainbow -- to connect dreams and realities. The people in Kibungan dream of that too. They dream of better roads, of schools and clinics, of waterways and electricity (two barangays are still unlit to this day). All of these they dream of, to go with the beauty of the place they call home.

Life is simple here which is good, people can live with what they grow in their gardens but the saying we don't live by bread alone applies. People need to live and send their kids to school. People need doctors and health care to stay good and able amidst the rising spread of diseases and strains of hard work. People need to have clean supplies of water to safeguard them from the hazards of chemicals from fertilizers and pesticides from farmland cultivation flowing into natural springs and wells. People need electricity to make the dark hours more bearable.

These and a lot more, which I enjoy like normal things in the city they crave for. The local government officials here are doing what they can, pushing the limits to get to where they want to go and what they want to achieve for the town folks. Maybe in a few years Kibungan would finally get there and then life would be a little bit easier.
***
Kabayan town at the western side of Benguet has found another way to celebrate Independence Day. While others may be mooning at the idea of independence, Kabayan decided to show it in a more subtle but meaningful way, something that would make a difference. So on June 12 the employees of the local government unit of Kabayan together with visitors and guests would be going to Tabeyo Lake in Barangay Ballay to plant wildlings along the shore.

Lake Tabeyo is not in its full glory these days comparing it to what it once was since its recovery though the residents with the prodding of municipal and barangay officials who exerted effort to restore it. Slowly the lake is again emerging a mystic lake like it used to be. And the efforts continue on June 12 with the planting of wildlings to once again reforest its surroundings. Kabayan will once again open its doors to the outside world for those wanting to join the lakeshore tour and tree planting activity. For those wanting to do more, the activity will continue with an uphill hike to Mount Tabayoc and camp there during the night. The next day would be a totally different thrill touring the other three mystic lakes of Kabayan.

For more questions and inquiries please contact the following: Kabayan Mayor Faustino Aquisan at 09272305038 ; Engineer Berry Sangao Jr (MTAO) at 09154033211 or Councilor Dorothea Sental at 09204452822. -- email: twilight_glo@yahoo.com