Sea of clouds in Boac interior
Before dawn hundreds of people flock daily now, depending on
the weather, high on Mt. Baliis in Brgy.
Bantay in the town of Boac.
They’re there to experience the ‘Sea of Clouds’ and the
remarkable scenery offered as they gaze upon the forest hills and mountains
below where barangays of the once forlorn Mahinhin and Hinapulan are nestled.
All of a sudden the island’s peace-oriented residents tired,
weary and worn-out by the coronavirus pandemic have found respite even for a
few hours only to something unheard of before in their paradise island,
that awe-inspiring ‘Sea of Clouds’.
Enticed by regular photographs of the ‘sea’ they just have to
be there this time, to feel closer to the Almighty
- aren’t clouds often associated with the presence of God? And finding
peace in His presence.
It has become possible now to motor to the once-forgotten site
because of the construction of concrete roads that took decades and decades to realize.
They're coming in hundreds daily now. Not leaving nothing but footprints though. Observers note no fee collected by the barangay but litter scatter like plastics and face masks. Photo: ctto
The making of a dream
It is said that once upon a time in Marinduque, there was this dream hatched during the
incumbency of the late Governor Miguel Manguera (1951-1963), to build a seventh town on the island right in its heart – classified as Central Marinduque.
This entails the construction of a cut through road connecting the mountainous interior
Boac to Torrijos. Such a tall order, but soon enough a long and narrow dirt
road going nowhere was taking shape at a tropical snail’s pace.
But the seriousness of the concept of a seventh Marinduque municipality, reached Malacanang and in no time at all an Executive Order was issued for its creation in
1965, during the incumbency of President Diosdado Macapagal (with Celso Preclaro as
governor, 1963-1967).
The new municipality was to be composed of the barrios of Tumagabok, Tambunan,
Boi, Sabong, Sitio Kitay, in Boac and Sibuyao in Torrijos with Tumagabok as the
seat of government.
Its corporate existence however did not further materialize in view
of a ruling that the EO entailed “undue delegation of legislative powers”. (Basis for creation of municipalities in 1965 was Section 68 of the Revised Administrative Code that apparently had been "impliedly repealed by RA No. 2370 effective January 1, 1960".)
Therefore, it was not meant to be in those days. Goodbye to dreams of bringing the seat of
government to the center of our paradise-island and from there exercise authority like clockwork over all
the towns around it.
Dream goes on but
But the late governor Aristeo Lecaroz (God bless his soul), continued to nurture
the idea, not of a seventh town, but of a road that cuts through Boac and
Torrijos. When Lecaroz was still alive he confided to me that the main reason why he
allied with an arch-rival was that he was promised the dream road would be
given top priority.
It became a broken promise, he said. But his eventual political
retirement did not stop him from finding allies who’d pursue that one Marinduque
dream among many.
Three decades later nothing close to the dream was realized
albeit construction and improvements to existing interior roads in Boac were becoming more
visible.
With a new governor in the person of Jose Antonio Carrion (1995-1998;
2007-2010), the same idea was pursued by Lecaroz who supported the former in his
election.
That saw Bong Carrion going back and forth to Malacanang when Gloria Macapagal Arroyo was president to ask for support to his infrastructure projects in Marinduque, including the long cherished Boac-Torrijos road, with success.
It's a slow success because it's a long, long winding mountainous road after all.
Between 2010-2013, a newly elected Representative, Lord Allan Velasco launched many road openings* all over the province. Last year, many more road openings were launched by Cong. Velasco (soon to be Speaker, ha!). And at last right in Tumagabok, there’s a
longer bridge currently being constructed
to finally connect the tale of our two towns, that cherished golden dream.
The dream goes on till the two towns are finally connected. The construction of Balimbing-Bantay road including Hinapulan-Tumagabok bridge was realized in 2008-2010 under the Arroyo administration. (Read my repost below dated June 2010). Above photo taken by Nelson Nace shows road being constructed in Canat going to Tumagabok.
Incumbent governor, Gov. Presby Velasco, Jr. with the enviable full support of his son has laid plans “on how we can claim the Golden Era of
Marinduque”, and “even with that crisis coupled with tremendous challenges…
whatever we set our minds to accomplish, kaya po nating gawin ang gusto nating
gawin”, he said in his SOPA.
Now we could truly start building new dreams and schemes
and thankfully walk among the clouds but keeping in mind the beautiful sights to remain immaculate.
Below is a repost of my blog with photos dated June 18, 2010 on road and bridge constructions in Balimbing-Bantay-Hinapulan-Torrijos, etc. in those years
Central Marinduque Slowly but Surely Now
The development of central Marinduque that involves connecting Boac to the east and Torrijos to the west by an interior road that cuts through rivers and mountains was articulated by former governor Aristeo Lecaroz some forty years ago.
The administration of Marcos, Aquino, Ramos, Estrada, Arroyo - five presidents - have also come and gone during the last four decades with Marinduque remaining a predominantly lethargic fourth class province all the while.
The Lecaroz concept (he's 82 and has long retired from public service), is still a cherished dream, a dream being nurtured by many local leaders, thus the development of the Marinduque interiors, although decidedly protracted, is a continuing process.For once, central Marinduque is being bruited about again by developers as a future garden city.
It must be stated that under the Strong Infrastructure Program of President Arroyo, with no hullabaloo, the province of Marinduque did receive support for national road programs implemented by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), under Sec. Ebdane.
This included the Balimbing-Bantay Road, the Poblacion Torrijos-Maranlig Road,
and the construction of Hinapulan-Tumagabok Bridge.
The Yook-Libas-Lipata road that leads to Bellarocca Island Resort in Buenavista and intermittent sections of the circumferential road from Buenavista to Torrijos are part of DPWH's road improvement projects.In 2008 a total of 300-million pesos was released for these projects and 130-million pesos during the first half of 2009 by PGMA.
