Bohol’s best kept little secret

Dauis: Bohol’s best kept little secret

Jay Valleser

What do the late Vice President Maning Pelaez, Mayor Tinnex Jaraula, former Congressman Jun Damasing and former Mayor Ambing Magtajas have in common?

Many Mindanaoans hold Bohol as a special place. It is a place where one must be able to make a visit at least once in a lifetime. Taking a vacation in Bohol is more than taking a break. It is a sentimental journey to the land of our youth, a pilgrimage to the land of our ancestors.

As you plan where to take a break this summer, let me invite you to come to Bohol. And if you only have a week or two for vacation, come to Dauis, Bohol. It is a town within the internationally known Panglao Island and only about three kilometers from the capital of Tagbilaran.

Dauis, Bohol is heaven for naturew freaks. The beaches are much better thatn you’ll find in Cebu, Boracay or Camiguin. Even the beaches of Miami, Florida are nothing compared to Dauis.

I always tell visitors to visit the Bohol Bee Farm. There you’ll find more than your buzzing friend. They satisfy your gourmet side of everything organic. In developing the place, owners said they never moved one stone, a tree or a shrub from its original place. Hotels abound where you can have a delightful sight of the whole Tagbilaran Bay.

Settled much, much earlier than many places of the country, Dauis is rich in cultural and historical heritage. The Old Church tower was built late in the 16th century, so with its convent and church. My old ancestral home must have been built on an old cemetery because wherever we dig in that property, we always find bones and artifacts.

Inscriptions at the tower

Dauis is much beautiful today. The Catholic Church is home to the miraculous Our Lady of Assumption. Some three years ago, it was declared a Marian shrine. The artistry of the whole church is a marvel to behold. Pilgrims are intrigued no end on the presence of a well right in the middle of the church and in front of the main altar. Despite being an island, the well springs potable water no matter how long the drought is. Pilgrims claim the water has a healing power.

Our Lady of Assumption Parish Church, Dauis, Bohol.

The old convent is now a museum with a proposed hotel for retreats and seminar. It has an outdoor restaurant that serves international cuisine. It is a venue to many big weddings, baptisms, birthdays parties etc. Its ambience is one you’ll never find anywhere else.

Doña Ipay, the mother of Maning Pelaez is a pure bred Boholana. Doña Ipay’s father was married to my great grandmother whose children started the Neri clans of Medina, Tagoloan and Cagayan de Oro. The fathers of Tinnex Jaraula and Jun Damasing were both “sacristan” (acolytes) of priest assigned in Dauis prior to being assigned here in Cagayan de Oro and the mother of Ambing Magtajas traced her ancestry from the barrio Dau, Dauis, Bohol.

This vacation come to Dauis. You’ll never regret it.

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Acclaimed actor and movie producer, Boholano Cesar Montano has a new project entitled “Eskaya: The Quick Brown Fox.” Montano hopes to get the services of Big Hollywood stars such Tom Cruise or Brad Pitt for this project.

“My goal is for Eskaya to compete for an Oscar award.”

Cesar said.

He said that the films title is about the ancient Filipino writing called Eskaya, which is similar to the more popular Alibata. Cesar learned about it while communing with the members of Eskaya tribe, a cultural minority in Bohol, his hometown.

In Cesar’s storyline, a rich and highly succesful American gets implicated in a crime. His only chance to prove his innocence is to find the only witness to a crime. He chases after this witness in the forest of Bohol and stumbles upon the Eskaya tribe.

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If I am not mistaken, the Eskaya tribe is based in the hinterland area of Valencia or Dimiao, Bohol. I may say that they are similar to the Manobos in Mindanao and they sometimes called themselves “Bisaya Declarado” (Genuine Visayans).

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Cathedral of St Joseph the Worker, Tagbilaran City.

Happy fiesta to the people of Tagbilaran City, the capital city of Bohol which celebrating the feast of St. Joseph the Worker. The Tagbilaran fiesta ushers a month long fiesta celebration in Bohol Island meaning everyday a village, or a town will be celebrating fiesta. No one will get hungry in Bohol in this particular month of the year. I remember years when I was able to visit Jagna, that it was fiesta in one village and the eve of the fiesta of another village. It was fun. And dont forget the Jagna’s famous calamay!

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Do you know that Bohol is the only province in the country which have two Diocese? Yes, the Diocese of Tagbilaran and the Diocese of Talibon. Monsignor Tex Legitimas, Bishop Emeritus of Cagayan de Oro Jesus Tuquib and Bishop Emeritus of Surigao Miguel Cinches are Boholanos. Monsignor Tex hails from Guindulman, Bohol, while Bishop Cinches is from Dauis, Bohol. I am not so sure about Bishop’s Tuquib’s place but its somewhere in the southern part of Bohol. That only manifested the deep Catholicism in the island.