10th Philippine Hobie Challenge - Marinduque Leg

Marinduque is one of several island hosts to the 10th Philippine Hobie Challenge earlier this year. Leg 1 of the race was from Laiya to Marinduque. Powered by easterly Amihan monsoon winds the fleet made rapid progress on a bearing of 129 degrees across the southern reaches of Tayabas Bay. The lead boats sailed on the open waters at 16 Knots ahead of the competitors to lay the buoys for the Gasan gate and Katala Beach finish.

PHC reported that "in the lee of Marinduque, with it’s mountainous peaks of over 1,000 metres slowing down the wind, former grand master World Champion Bruce Tardrew displayed his experience and cunning nearly overhauling defending champion Engwirda in the final 5 nm.

Engwirda however put in an extra squirt of speed at the end to finish just over a minute ahead. These two Australian teams were a full 12 minutes clear of 3rd placed Andrew Locke, also representing Australia.

Bob Engirda’s overall time of 2 Hrs 46 Min and 34 Sec equated to an incredible average speed of 13.3 Knots for the 36.9 nm leg, including the final 5 miles in light and variable winds.

The final team was ashore and enjoying a cool beer at the Katala Beach Resort within half an hour and joining the enthusiastic welcome from our hosts in Marinduque with dancing and singing on the beach.

Governor Bong Carrion hosted a sumptuous dinner for the competitors and support crews that evening as the full moon rose in the heavens."

The sailors were treated to the traditional "putong" welcome ritual at Katala Beach Resort in Pinggan. The 10th PHC covered Laiya, Marinduque, Romblon, Tablas and Boracay. Sponsors were Fairways & Bluewater, HobieCat Australia, Villa Maria and Margrita, Seair, Petron and the Department of Tourism in cooperation with the Provincial Government of Marinduque.

DIVING AT BALTAZAR ISLAND, GASAN

Baltazar Island in Gasan, Marinduque, Philippines is one of the 'Tres Reyes Islands' that boasts of an excellent divesite with an underwater cave. Team Marinduque promotes adventure sports here including scuba diving. Baltazar is only one of many known divesites around this island-province.

Also view other marinduquegov videos HERE.

MORE ON "EXTREME MARINDUQUE" SERIES 2

Team Marinduque describes "EXTREME MARINDUQUE SERIES 2" as "an aggressive cross-country mountain bike race and offroad duathlon specifically designed for athletic men and women with nerves of steel!"

"The scenic race track is a classical description of an aggressive cross-country race covering a 5.2 kms loop with varying degree of difficuties with a lot of technical drops, turns, climbs and mind boggling mud pits and rock beds... expect extreme conditions."



Date: Nov. 28 & 29, 2009
Venue: CMI Old Minesite, Capayang, Mogpog, Marinduque
Photos: Dr. Josue Victoria

EXTREME MARINDUQUE DRAWING PARTICIPANTS

"MARINDUQUE EXTREME SERIES 2" scheduled for November 28-29, 2009 in Capayang, Mogpog continues to attract participants from outside the island-province. Early confirmation has been received from the lady bikers/journalists of GMA7, Leo Oracion's biking group from Lukban (Oracion is the first Filipino to climb Mt. Everest), another group from Lipa City and the Batangas Riders.

Started in 2007 by the provincial tourism office and Team Marinduque the local competition has seen all types of cyclists from everywhere joining scheduled races here such as Duathlon, Aggressive Cross-Country Races, Triathlon and Fun Rides around Marinduque. It has also encouraged beginners to join the activities, leading to the discovery of home-grown talents capable of joining national competitions, and the promotion of the green-tourism concept.

Categories for "Marinduque Extreme Series 2" are open for Beginners/Novices, Open/Elite, and Executive. The event this month is expected to draw to Marinduque not only the participants but their families as well as hotel bookings reveal.

Busy with the preparations are the capitol's Dr. Jose Victoria, Dr. Ed Ancheta, tourism officer Gerry Jamilla, coordinator Joven Lilles and provincial administrator Allan Velasco and other members of Team Marinduque province-wide.

CREATURES FOUND IN SAN ISIDRO CAVE & SUBTERRANEAN RIVER

...an unfamiliar bat species that looks like this. The question is, wherelse could they be found?

...a relative species that looks like this.

...shrimp species that looks like this.

... and an undisturbed, unaffected guard of a "poo", boa constrictor.
Prior to the most recent exploration made by the combined provincial and DENR team on the San Isidro Cave, an expanse of about 600 meters was explored. The team this time went farther and covered another 600 meters. They have not gotten any closer to the ends of this natural treasure that has something new to show always.

WHAT'S UP FOR PULANG LUPA?

Activities lined up for this year's "Battle of Pulang Lupa" commemoration includes sports events (volleyball and boxing), Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts Camporee, Tour of Marinduque, Alay-Lakad, Bloodletting and cultural presentations.

109th BATTLE OF PULANG LUPA COMMEMORATION
THEME: "LABANAN SA PULANG LUPA: SUSI SA KALAYAAN, KAPAYAPAAN AT KAUNLARAN NG BAYAN"

I. Sept. 7-11 VOLLEYBALL (Inter-Municipality)
Contact person: Mr. Jess Briones, Participants: Municipal Employees from the six municipalities.

II. Sept. 11-14 - BSP/GSP CAMPOREE (Provincewide)
Contact persons: Mr. Beato R. Palma (Dep-Ed Torrijos
District 0, Mr. Rommel Nepomuceno (BSP), Mrs. Pilar Abania (GSP), Scouting venue: Torrijos Central School for BSP,OMPSA for GSP. Participants: Boy Scouts & Girl Scouts of Marinduque (Elementary & Secondary)

III. Saturday,
Sept. 12 (8:00 am) FUN RIDE / TOUR OF MARINDUQUE
Contact persons: Atty. Lord Allan Q. Velasco, Mr. Felicisimo Matienzo. Participants: 100 cyclists from Metro Manila, local cyclists and motocross riders.

IV. Sunday,
Sept. 13 (5:30 am) ALAY LAKAD: “THE ROAD TO PULANG
LUPA”
Marshalls: PNP and Barangay Tanods of Poctoy,
Marlangga, Poblacion. Starting Point: Designated Area, Brgy. Poctoy Mountain Road.(3.5 km WALK to Pulang Lupa Historical Site) Contact persons: Mrs. Magdalena Pelobello (MSWDO),All Heads of different agencies, offices,participating NGOs and groups. PNP and RHU Personnel/TMH

V. 7:30 am THANKSGIVING MASS
Celebrated by Most Rev. Bishop Reynaldo Evangelista, D.D.

VI. 8:30 am MAIN PROGRAMME
(With the SOLCOM Band, Provincial Capitol Choir, cultural numbers by DepEd, OMPSA and messages by guest speakers. Guests include Department of National Defense officials, PNP Regional Office, Mimaropa and Southern Luzon Command Officers).

VII. 1:00 pm BOXING MATCH at Torrijos Covered Court c/o Councilors Sabino Fabrero adn Roberto Macdon of Torrijos, and members of Sangguniang Bayan of Torrijos.

TRAINING ON CAVE CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT IN STA. CRUZ

Multi-sectoral members of the Interim Provincial Cave Committee and Provincial Cave Assessment Team together with representatives from selected Marinduque barangays are currently holding the “Capacity-Building Training/Workshop on Cave Conservation and Management”. Venue for this activity from Sept. 1-4 is the Provincial Training Center in Tamayo, Sta, Cruz.

Marinduque hosts a significant number of caves and now that caving activity is gaining popularity, immediate protection, conservation, development and proper management have become more important than ever if we ar to maximize their economic potentials.

The training workshop is aimed to enhance the technical expertise and appreciation of all stakeholders and to carry out plans and programs that would harmonize cave conservation and tourism in this province.

Some 60 participants to the training workshop came armed with basic caving equipment, emergency equipment and first-aid kits.

Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Officer, Danilo Querijero, together with the capitol’s cave assessment team that includes Engr. Alexander D. Palmero (PPDO), Rolly Jose, Dante de Luna, tourism officer Gerry Jamilla and Joven Lilles act as facilitators. The activity includes an exploration of San Isidro Cave and Subterranean River that has generated wide interest inside and outside this island-province.

DIG THIS! "EXTREME MARINDUQUE SERIES 2"

Marinduque continues to make a mark as an important eco-tourism destination in the Mimaropa region. The next “Extreme Marinduque Series” will be held on Nov 28-29, 2009. The abandoned minesite in Capayang, Mogpog which has been transformed into a perfect location for such activities is the venue.

The first of such series was held in 2007, and has since drawn a great deal of interest from all types of cyclists from outside the island-province, joining scheduled races here such as Duathlon, Aggressive Cross-Country Races, Triathlon and Fun Rides around Marinduque. It has also encouraged beginners to join the activities, leading further to the discovery of home-grown talents capable of joining national competitions.

Alongside what has been dubbed as “Extreme Marinduque Series 2” are related outdoor sports activities such as spelunking to further promote Marinduque’s other natural treasures like Tarug Caves in Mogpog, Bitik Caves in Sta. Cruz. The recently discovered San Isidro Caves with Subterranean River, in the northern part of Sta. Cruz is also one such site expected to attract cave enthusiasts.

"Extreme Marinduque" is a project of the Provincial Government of Marinduque and Team Marinduque.

AIRSOFT: MARINDUQUE ADVENTURE SERIES

The old copper and ore minesite in Capayang, Mogpog on the island of Marinduque, closed down in the 60's, now serve as an ideal site for all types of adventure sports. Mountain biking, trekking, defensive shooting, motocross are some of it. Others just go to the surrounding areas for picnics and to fish in a man-made lake. This is a slideshow of an airsoft event organized by local boys in cooperation with the provincial government.

HINULUGAN FALLS (BOAC): Marinduque Adventure Series

Hinulugan Falls in Brgy. Sabong, Boac, Marinduque is located between Brgy. Sabong and Sitio Kitay. It has a small rock cave at the side of the raven where water also enters. There are two more falls in the area, Magdumog-dumog Falls and Batingaw Falls in Tumagabok (Boac).

Easier access to these sites have been made possible with the completion of the Boac-Torrijos Road project of PGMA. (The Torrijos side has been completed and the Boac side cutting through from Balimbing to Bantay is in progress as of July 2009). Another boost to local ecotourism development.

TARUG CAVES: MARINDUQUE ADVENTURE SERIES

Biking to Tarug for exploration. A limestone protuberance with 32 million years of geological history. The French naturalist, Alfred Marche, enticed by Marinduque's reputation more than a hundred years ago as "the isle of grottos", traveled to the island from April to June of 1881, to explore the many caves.

Marche wrote thus of Tarug caves: "On June 2, I went to a new find. It was raining hard and after several hours of horseback riding we had to abandon our horses which advanced only with difficulty on a wet and slippery soil. We were even obliged to leave our dripping clothes and to go in shorts. At noon we reached the foot of a perpendicular madreporite or coral rock, 70 meters high: on its sides were five to six caves. In the lowest cave I found a skull with a slight stalagmite covering and a small broken gargoyle. It took us nearly an hour to climb this rock, at whose peak was an elevated vault which crossed it entirely. From there, one could see many easily accesible corridors. In one of them, there were debris of coffins and tibors (or Chinese jars)."

BITIK CAVES - MARINDUQUE ADVENTURE SERIES

Bitik Caves located in a barangay with the same name in Sta. Cruz, Marinduque is another unexplored cave system inspected by the cave exploration team of the provincial tourism office. Information was obtained from local folks that the cave is not less than one kilometer in length and leads to another village, Buyabod. Halfway through, the team encountered bad air cave. With decreased oxygen further exploration was aborted. Sea and fresh water meet in one of the cave's entrances.

MARINDUQUE ADVENTURE SERIES: 1st Defensive Shooting Competition

Called the 1st Governor Bong Carrion Cup, the first defensive shooting competition was recently held at the old CMI minesite in Capayang, Mogpog in Marinduque. Organized in cooperation with the Morion Combat Pistol & Rifles Association (MCPRA), and Team ARMSCOR Shooting & Hunting Club of Manila, the event saw no less than Carrion and provincial administrator, Allan Velasco trying their hands at target shooting with pistols.

The old minesite (formerly known as Consolidated Mines, Inc. that closed down in the 60's) has, during the last couple of years, been converted as a site for adventure sports activities including local games and mountain biking competitions.