The Mighty Aloran River, or simply Suba to the town-folks, is perhaps the best single thing that ever happened to my hometown.It is a testament that Aloranons are God-chosen people.
Besides giving the town its name, it is the source of water for irrigation, rich aquatic life, potable water to many and it is a mammoth washing machine.
And, it is our Water World!
On a typical day, it is all Water Sports!
SWIMMING
As a newbie, you start where water is at knee-level-taga tuhod.
Places like ilang Matsi, ilang Silay and ilang Odon were among the favourites.
Then you progress to waist-level-taga hawak.
This is where you learn swimming. Swimming to us though, means the ability to float.
Start by launching your body from under water with both feet then propel yourself with both arms and feet.
Downstream first, then across and eventually upstream.
Opss ... I almost forgot, your nose should be above water.
JUMPING/DIVING BOARDS
A few meters downstream was a cliff, pang-pang.
Have you had this observation?
When, now that you are five-and-a-half feet tall, run into someone who was already five-and-ahalf feet tall when you were only a few inches?
That is how I describe that cliff.
That was our, jumping board first, and as we gain confidence, diving.
And it was like diving into the water from the roof-top of the present-day Municipal Hall.
That cliff though, was for little kids. Babies, you know?
A hundred meters up-stream was the real McCoy!
For the big-boys only, and from the top, looking down must have been like looking at the children walking home from school from the belfry of either the Filipinista or Roman Catholic church – maybe a little less.
We simply call the water resort, ilang Ambrosio.
A huge mango tree, fifty-year old give and take, was standing on the edge of the cliff.
Older boys hanged a rope into one of its branches.
One can then hold it with both hands, move a few feet back then run towards the river and before the rope swings back, drops himself into the water.
I know now that screaming helps overcome fear, but then we screamed because Tarzan does.
You can go back up by climbing the cliff through the hundreds of roots, some only a little smaller than our body.
Then get in line for your next turn….
We were in childrens paradise.
Round one is from early morning to noon and back after lunch for round two, till dusk (inig-hugpa sa kangitngit).
A day was always too short.
At days end, we all develop color-adaptation with the fishes around. And with eyes red.
Going home with eyes red is a cause for grounding, at the very least.
You can get rid of it by splashing water to your face facing the setting sun.
Protocol those days was not un-heard of. We had an un-written one.
We all put our shirts & shorts in one corner & agree to have fun from call to finish.
A traitor is thrown mud at his belly.
Two names can never be forgotten.
One for fame, the other for infamy.
Sabas Gere (may God grant his soul eternal rest) was the only one who swings, and into the water with his head first.
A split-second indecision can put one in harm’s way.
Brigido Boy Borogo Agcol was late letting go of the rope, he landed on the side of the cliff, cushioned only by the roots.
With minor bruises, he survived to swing another day.
The line between fame & notoriety is hair-thin.
TULAY DAAN (OLD BRIDGE)
In 1903, fourteen years before Aloran became a municipality, the Americans built a bridge connecting what are now the Baranggays of Dalisay and Palayan.
It is safe to assume that this was simply called tulay since it was the only one in the area.
But early 1960s, another bridge, just a few hundred meters from here was constructed.
People refer to that bridge as tulay bag-o, new bridge, hence, tulay da-an , old bridge for the American-built.
Typical those days, it was of concrete flooring and of steel arcs (arco).
One rite of passage was to cross the bridge walking on top of the arcs.
It was not easy. But you can start by crawling, then stooping, before turning homo-erectus.
Did not we human evolve that way?
The bridge also serves as a fixed jumping/diving board.
Three levels.
The lowest was a beam a foot below floor level, the median was another beam maybe three feet above the floor and the highest, top of the arc.
On a typical day, dozens of boys and girls, some dive, some jump from all three levels.
Paterno Redilla (may God grant his soul eternal rest) was Boy to us but was renamed Ugly from The Good, The Bad and The Ugly fame.
Legend has it that he never learned to jump into the water below.
He can only dive from the top of the arc.
He was the Baron.
Many of us can dive too, from the top, but mostly from peer-pressure.
For the benefit of the Generation X and the Millennial, tulay da-an was demolished some years back, and a new one was constructed at the same site.
This bridge then became the new old-bridge, bag-ong tulay-da-an, and tulay bag-o became old new-bridge, da-ang tulay-bag-o.
I am not kidding!
BANI
Cut a yard-long from a banana stem (not from one that is still standing), for a single-rider.
Three of this can be joined-together for a good six riders.
Line-up the cut stems by the river. Sharpen two bamboo sticks and drive it thru on both ends.
Whalah!
Let the fun begin!
The starting point is at ilang Odon.
Two on each side and two on the rear.
We then sail it downstream.
Water flows straight from here to Da-o then makes a ninety-degree turn towards the rip-rap by the mercado.
Perhaps a good five-hundred meters, to us, each one-way sail was always beyond thrill.
Across the road from the meat market is the stairs on the rip-rap.
We dock there then push our sail boat to the current to continue its journey around the globe.
We then run all the way back.
We were such excellent ship builders-sailors that in a day we can do two rounds.
SALBABIDA (LIFE RAFT)
This is the tires interior.
An uncle who works at Red V at Talairon, Oroquieta brought home two.
We were all Wow!
Inflated, one could take five swimmers easy.
Re-usable! Bye-bye bani.
Now we can do more rounds, limited only by day-light!
HARI-HARI
Another popular water sport!
But this is not for the faint-hearted.
After a flood, it is not uncommon to have coconut trees along the river uprooted.
And almost always, they end-up where the water is deep on the tree-top end.
After the edible parts are recovered, the leaves are removed and you have a Spartan arena.
Two wrestlers face each other at a time to subdue the other.
Last man standing is the Hari (King)!
SUBMARINE DASH-(LUMBA'G DAGAN ILAWOM TUBIG).
As a result of quarry, some parts of the river, ilang Matsi, were deep enough to have any of us submerged.
By this time though, swimming or actually floating was already second nature to us.
Not contented with racing above water, we started racing under water.
It was not easy at first, somebody under water pushes you back up to the surface.
Until somebody thought of having pabug-at.
Ahhh, physics.
So we carry huge rock on our shoulder and run from one end to the other under water.
I remember my cousin-brothers Lando and Yoyoy (may God grant his soul eternal rest) were always ahead.
SPORTS FISHING
Besides its might, the river is also endowed with abundant life.
Fishes like: anga, ilabo, iswil, panga, kasili,,,, and countless other plus uwang, uyabang, kalikis, kamangkas, ibo and usaba.
As varied as the fishes, are the methods to catch them.
PASOL
Cut a balawgan or bong-bong say ten feet long and one inch in diameter at the handle-end.
Hang a nylon-line from the front-end.
Attach a hook to the tip of the nylon-line and say a foot from it, hang a sinker (tingga).
A typical bait is earthworm (wati).
This is for deep water.
LAKITI
It is a mini-pasol.
Attach a hook to a four-inch nylon string and hang it to a two-foot long X one-fourth-inch thick bamboo stick.
No sinker required.
This is for ilawom sa mga dagkong bato.
GOLGOL
Imagine fishes marching to your stomach!
It is a no-miss method.
So sure that we even bring bahaw, tuno and cooking parapernilias with us going to the fishing ground.
Mount a net (we use mosquitero) in the middle of the river where water is knee-deep.
Sink it with stones and attach banana and/or coconut leaves on each side and anchor them on the river-sides.
Looking up-stream, your trap should look like an inverted V with the net at the center.
A hundred or so meters downstream, form a line side-to-side, then start stirring the water moving upstream.
Leave no stone unturned.
Fishes, when they move, it is upstream.
And since both sides of the river are blocked, they go towards the direction of the net.
Half kerosene-gas container (taro) is easy in one round (tak-tak).
There is no method so simple yet so effective than this.
We then leave the preparation to our no-nonsense chefs.
Picnic time!
We then wash and dry the mosquitero for use tonight.
With stomach full, swimming is a good idea to celebrate the days catch.
PANA
It is a long gun-looking spear.
It is an assembly of wood, rubber, rubber band and bicycle or umbrella spoke.
You can design it for long-distance hunt (pinalagput) or short-distance (pinadukot).
The traditional version is:
Cut a foot-long (remove the buko) X half-inch diameter bamboo.
Insert spoke in the hole, tie rubber on both sides of the bamboo on one end and the spoke on the other.
Pull the spoke then release it for a hit.
This comes with pinadukot mode only.
On a typical day, you see a guy with a mile-long nylon-string filled with anga, ilabo, iswil (absolutely no pait-pait) and more.
He is my cousin, Abelardo Belardo Sanchez Yobero (may God grant you eternal peace, Do Belardo!).
He is the un-disputed King!
It is all fun, well almost!
One day, David, another river-dweller with reputation was on his daily-run.
With his pinadukot, he mistook his own toe for an anga, his favourite prey.
See? even a pro can make a freak-mistake!
BANTAK
Probably is as old as the river itself.
It is made of bamboo, shaped like a cylinder.
Roughly a yard long, entrance is made of bamboos, sharp at its tip where the bait – typically smoked-coconut meat, is placed.
You are right, there is no way out!
SAPANG
You know Shiva? a Hindu God?
He holds one of these all the time to fight-off evil villains!
BISIG
This is more on livelihood side rather than sports.
It is a bed-like structure made of bamboos, with one ends support a couple of feet longer than the other.
It is mounted in the river with the shorter side facing upstream.
So when flood comes, the fishes that go with it in its direction are trapped.
As soon as the water ebbs, you see them all waving at you.
SIKOP
Look for stones small enough for your palms to hold on where fishes are possibly having nap.
Slowly scooped it with your palms and there it is!
MANU (TORCH)
What is the best time to catch fish?
When they are in bed!
Hasag and Petromax were the torches those days.
Only fairly-recently we knew that both are brand-names.
This is another sure-bet.
Anga and ilabo can be had with pana, sapang or sikop and ibo and usaba are fair game.
KAMANGKAS IN NOVEMBER
Another fun thing we always look forward-to is the kamangkas season.
Sometime in August and September you will see uyabang blanketing a good part of the river downstream.
They are on their annual trek upstream.
Though many of them have their journeys interrupted early on, a good number are expected to make it.
As they move inch-by-inch, they grow in size. Half-way to their destination, they are transformed into kalikis.
November is or was typically heavy-rain season. By then though, they grow into like two-inch X two-inch hyper-active kamangkas.
No sooner than flood-water recedes, prospectors are seen along the stretch of the river.
If you are quick, you are up for a good bounty.
The following are fishing methods that some of us might have considered sports, then.
Tubli, poison sap from a vine.
Lagtang, poison sap from a vine.
Rebentador, fire-crackers.
Dinamita, dynamite.
THE GREAT MENACE!
The Animal Kingdom is organized in hierarchy.
Ants have soldier-ants, bees have worker-bees, fishes?
I believe they have guard-fishes in paling.
As guards, they live in shallow waters, under stones waiting for unsuspecting intruders.
The guy I got acquainted-to one day was the size of the now five-peso coin.
In one regular gol-gol run we had, I stepped on it.
Its thorny fin is laced with poison designed not to kill but to make victim suffer excruciating pain.
The antidote, old folks say is to have a girl pee on the stung area.
Or, keep the sting to yourself then look for stone small enough for you to pick up with your mouth and keep it there until remedied.
Now, what if in so doing, another guard gets you?
You can always opt for the first antidote.
WATER WORLD, NO MORE!
Home has always been the most popular destination.
A few years back, I took that journey and went back in time.
I walked around with all the pictures of me and my childhood-friends flying kites, playing marbles, singgam, and countless more stored in the photo gallery at the back of my coconut shell.
Some of these friends are long-gone, the foot-trails we made in the bushes hunting birds are now green grasses and all our favourite toys and games are gone into extinction.
After many long years, I was right where I was always, virtually every day, when I was a child, Suba.
The same river my now-adult son swims every single day, the whole day, making his grandfather and uncle takes turn watching him.
The decision as to how the landscape should look like or what path water should take going to the sea has always been the rivers prerogative.
I noticed in some stretches where water was deep are now filled with banana, coconut and bamboo trees.
The jumping and diving boards are all gone.
No fishing rods, no lakitis, no resemblance of the past.
Few children of our age then were bathing in shallow water, a couple of quarry-men making a living of the rivers endowment.
There were men and women though, making use of the mammoth washing machine.
Sometimes, having a good memory is a curse!
Aloran River, mighty as it is, without our stories, yours and mine, is just river.