Balangagan Cave open despite visitor’s barbs

BEHIND THE SCENES

Alfred P. Dizon

SAGADA, Mountain Province – The municipal government here has issued a statement after a post of a Manila visitor on the “danger” of visiting Balangagan cave went viral which elicited numerous comments.
    “The Municipal Tourism Office, in its capacity, reached out to the individuals involved and necessary actions were already taken. Rest assured that the LGU will consider the precedent in the formulation of policies to ensure safety in the operation of the cave and for the protection of the site. Please be informed that, Balangagan Cave is still operational and all tourists who wish to visit the cave are strongly advised to wear adventure-appropriate clothing (e.g. sturdy footwear) for your safety,” the MTO said.
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I would like to share this time a recent article by visitor Queenie Anne Gumiran entitled “Balangagan Cave: Southern Sagada’s underground wonder. Gumiran, is a 20-something, full-time public school teacher, a part-time travel blogger and a free-diver.
    She started putting her stories of adventures and misadventures into words and pictures in 2017 and continues to do so as she shares her advocacy, Sustainable Traveling.
Her article: 
I’ve been to some of the most renowned caves in the Philippines like Callao of Cagayan and Underground River in Puerto Princesa City and I must say, caves are a proof that nature is an unparalleled artist. These made me interested about caves that I wanted to see and experience more. Recently, we got a chance to explore another one found in southern Sagada, Mountain Province – the Balangagan Cave. For someone who has not really tried spelunking, the Balangagan expedition was quite an experience. Caves in the Cordilleras, including Balangagan, are fascinating in such a way and let me tell you why.
How Balangagan Cave got its name
The villagers named the cave after the three Taccong elders, Bangcawayan, Lawagan and Nagayang, who entered it to hunt for ‘kupiti‘ or bats. However, they could hardly bring out the good catch as they seemed to get lost. The elders could not find their way out until they heard a ‘timmek‘ or voice.
    The ‘timmek’ that they believed to be owned by a spirit dweller in the cave commanded them to free the bats and not to take its other ‘dwellers’ nor anything out. When they did, they suddenly found the way out. The three unscathed elders came back to the village and spoke of their mystical experience in the cave that was later named after them.
    The cave was once supposed to be named as “Marcos Cave” – after the former Philippine President and dictator, Ferdinand Marcos with the villagers’ hope of funding and developing Sagada’s roads dating back to the 1980’s. A chamber was even named after his wife Imelda and the hall after former Minister of Tourism, Aspiras. However, it did not appeal to the villagers and they still decided to name it after the three elders.
The trek
From Joan’s homestay along Mabisil-Payag-eo-Balili road, we took a Nissan L300 tourist shuttle to the usual exit of the Balangagan spelunking activity at Suyo traversing to Taccong. The cave opening at Taccong where the blue lagoon is located is the usual starting point of the spelunking in Balangagan.
Kuya June, our tour guide, told us that the whole spelunking activity would take us 3 to 4 hours depending on our pacing. Despite the long trek, they told us to expect a “chill” one since the trail isn’t as difficult as that of Sumaguing-Lumiang’s and Crystal Cave’s. Regardless, we braced our sleep-deprived selves for the exciting adventure since it is the first time for the most of us. Three local guides accompanied our group (of 8). They brought flashlights and a fire lamp that were bright enough for us to take quality photos inside the cave.
Balangagan Cave as an ancestral burial Place
What’s interesting about Balangagan Cave is that, it’s also an ancestral burial place for Igorots. Just a few steps from the cave opening, we saw several coffins on the ground. Few steps away from it, we found more with some nestled up in highly formed stalagmites. Aside from coffins, there were also burial jars atop the formations. Sadly, some of the coffins that we found were burned and destroyed. Up to this date, they could still not tell who did it.
Formations and stories
There are notable formations inside the cave that the guides managed to amazingly connect creating a fascinating story that will really tickle one’s imagination. Generally, it’s all about royal family with the cave as a palace. There’s a “dancing hall” where we all seemed to dance as we pass by the muddy floor.     There’s a passage where there’s the prince, princess and queen where the formation actually resembled male and female genitals. We also passed by the “garden” where the formations looked like plants. There were also whale’s tale-like formation that our guides had puns about – and many more.     The majestic formations of the draperies, flowstones, columns and pillars distracted us from the challenging trek. We went through low-beamed, slanted passages and crawled our way through slippery chambers.
Sagada caving rates and fees
Here are some important notes, guest-to-guide ratio, shuttle capacity and their corresponding rates based on Executive Order No. 55 S. 2022 and Sangguniang Bayan Resolution No. 215, s. 2022 of Sagada:
For caving activities, the ratio of guide to guest is 1 to 5. A shuttle service can accommodate a maximum of twelve (12) guests.
    A guide’s rate on caving activities is at P800.00 for 1 to 5 guests/tourists.
    Take note: the shuttle will pick you up from your accommodation and take you to the jump off.
Things to remember when visiting Balangagan Cave
Follow Sagada Tourism and stay tuned on their announcements regarding tours. Some activities, especially spelunking, get suspended especially during wet season or when there’s a recent earthquake.
    Bring dry bags for your valuables.
    Bring flashlights.
    Wear comfortable clothes and a pair of trekking sandals or shoes. The tour guides would highly suggest you wear a pair of leggings to protect your legs from scratches.
    Bring water for drinking and some trail food. However, make sure that you’re going to take your trash with you when you leave.
    Prepare to get soaked at least up to your shin especially when visiting during the wet season.
    Always listen and follow your tour guide.
    Do not just touch nor take anything from the cave.

BEHIND THE SCENES

Alfred P. Dizon

‘Danger in Balangagan Cave’

SAGADA, Mountain Province – A post by a visitor in this tourist town went viral and generated comments from contending parties.

Hereunder is the first post uploaded by visitor Egberto F. Selerio Jr. entitled “Danger in Balangagan Cave, Sagada”:
    Our Banaue-Sagada-Atok-Baguio trip ended today. This is my greatest learning:
    If you love your life, do not go to the Balangagan Cave adventure in Sagada.
    The cave is dangerous. There are no safety gears, no orientation, and no life saving devices installed in the cave.
    Our local guides lured us into the cave by lying to us about what's inside. They consistently downplay the risks and outright lie about the activity, i.e., telling us that we will only go swimming. They are a bunch of lying imbeciles, so be extremely wary when you go to Sagada.
    Once you get in the cave, especially 25% of the way or about 30 minutes into the adventure, it will be almost impossible to turn around and back out. From there, each step into the cave becomes more dangerous than the previous ones.
    Near the exit, which is the most dangerous part, I slipped and almost fell into the extremely deep portion of the cave. One of my friends had a panic attack. All of us are trying to survive and are no longer enjoying the adventure.
    Worse, we were all wearing slippers because we thought that we will only go swimming as the tour guides told us. It was a lie. The slippers are very slippery in the cave, which placed us in great danger.
    The department of tourism (DOT) should provide a seminar to the local tour guides and even issue tour guide registration IDs if possible. The safety of the cave should also be checked, especially its structural integrity.
    Safety gears, i.e., hard hats, rubber shoes, life vests, etc., should be required there and the deep portions of the cave should be installed with catch nets. If possible, stairs should be installed. Else, prohibit the activity!
    The first picture below was taken at the cave's entrance. It was the calm before the storm. The second picture was a notice from Sagada Tourism Office about the resumption of the Balangagan Cave tourism on September 1. I hope it gets closed again!
    ***
Hereunder was posted by visitor Muhammad Saajidh in response to Selerio Jr.’s post:  
Dear Egberto F. Selerio Jr.
    I was flabbergasted by your post, ‘Danger in Balangagan Cave, Sagada’ deeming to prove the said cave is an extremely dangerous site to visit. Does this opinion stem from your failure to continue the rest of the tour due to lack of strength and stamina or is it a collective perception of the whole group who took part in the excursion?
    Since I was a part of the group, let me tell you about my observations from the beginning of the day’s excursion (I’m not going to talk about Kaman Utek because you haven’t mentioned it). Please do not take this personally as we both understand that we do not know each other, and I have the right to comment on this because I was a part of the group, and this is also a matter of the livelihood of the guides who took us there.
    Firstly, you have used the word ‘Our local guides ‘lured’ us into the cave…’. The usage of the word ‘lured’ surprised me as I wanted to know first, did you want to visit this cave? Or did you only get to know about this cave after coming to Sagada and the guides tricked you to visit it? I don’t like to leave the fact that the guides might have explained to you about the cave and other places well since you communicated in the local language. However, since you knew this is a cave, did you ask for any explanation as to its layout or the nature of the journey inside as well as the conditions? Why didn’t you ask for an orientation at that time? You accuse here that the guides do not have licenses, so did you inquire about their license before they took you on the tour? Did you check with the local tourist board if these guides are qualified to take tourists on these kinds of excursions? You could have done it there itself, couldn’t you?
    The other factor is it was clearly evident to me that you didn’t seem unhappy, dissatisfied, or disappointed during the tour. (I have plenty of photos and videos myself.) Although I could not understand what you spoke among yourself, I saw you all taking hundreds of pictures and laughing and giggling throughout the journey except in the places where climbing up or down was somewhat difficult. So, I think it is not sensible for you to accuse these guides of putting your life in danger and it is extremely unfair for you to discourage tourists from visiting this fascinating and mesmerizing site which I believe is millions of years old and could definitely be named a world heritage site.
    I was with your group throughout the journey and talked to Leo and Gaile most of the time, but they said nothing of what you claim now as the place is being life-threatening. Even Gaile who suffered the most due to her lack of strength and ability to cope with the team did not say that she was not enjoying it. What I saw was a bunch of young guys having a great adventure.
    Dear Egberto F. Selerio Jr. there are no caves of this nature in the world with paved paths and steps built to climb up and down as far as I know. What you experienced was the real adventure and the real experience of exploring a historical cave. I am so grateful to the two guides who took us there on this unforgettable experience. Although they didn’t use sophisticated equipment or techniques, I could see how much energy and effort they took in taking us all through the whole journey safely. They even lifted and carried some of you in places where you were unable to climb up or down. I am ever thankful to them for that. What I believe is talking negatively and accusing them and also complaining about them seems quite ungrateful. Irrespective of your accusation of the guides being unregistered, I found the guide to be an expert on the cave as he could explain the history, as well as each and every feature of the cave with excellent accuracy. I could imagine how clear it would be in the local language for you, I found him well versed in English as well that he could explain everything so eloquently in English too.

I do not want to create an argument on this, so I do not expect you to reply to my comment. I am writing this because it seems extremely unfair for you to accuse the guides because you did not enjoy the cave. It is also very unfair to discourage others from visiting Sagada just because of your unpleasant experience. It is solely your personal experience and the cave being dangerous is your opinion. You are entitled to your own opinion, but it doesn’t mean that you could impose this on others. Let the people visit and decide if this is a good place to visit or dangerous. I don’t deny the fact that we could have prepared well, for example wearing proper shoes and taking some safety gear as such. Then again, more than me, you could speak to the guides in the local language, so, you could definitely have got a better picture before going there.

Anyway, you paid the guides their full fee. Why? Why didn’t you confront the guides in the cave itself when you first found out that it was not what they promised? Why were you waiting until you got back to complain?

The cave said, ‘Kill nothing but time, take nothing but pictures, leave nothing but footprints!’ I am sure we all had done that although we saw this after coming out of the cave.

So, I want you not to kill the spirit of the people of Sagada, not to take their pride in the region and not to leave a black mark on the warm hospitality they offered you.’(They were so polite and hospitable, unlike most of the guides who run after money.)

    ***

We would not like to muddle more the controversy at this time, so it would do well for the municipal government would come up with a statement on this issue as this involves the town’s tourism industry like safety of tourists and folks going inside its caves.