Tag: Marinduque
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Buenavista, Marinduque: Bottom of the Heart
ABOUT FIVE MINUTES out of Buenavista’s center, and the houses have already given way to the jungle. The highway first runs flat through rice fields and wide grasslands before slowly turning into an inclined road as it snakes through the mountainsides. The tricycle I’m on easily takes on the smooth course, and as it zooms on with me…
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Mogpog: Moriones’ Birthplace
A WAVE OF MORIONES sweeps around the town of Mogpog as trumpets accompanied by steady drumbeats pierce the otherwise quiet place. The parade goes through the streets with the men marching under the blistering sun. They reach the covered basketball court in the town center and the music falls into silence. The crowd gathered at the venue…
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Gasan: Unexpected Trek
A LONE NIPA HUT stands on a sweltering clearing, then the man by the fence greets the two men walking through the nearby trail. The man and the older of the two passersby momentarily converse in a deep southern Tagalog accent before going about their respective businesses. The scene is unfolding in the trails I’m…
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Boac: Warm Welcome
IT ALL STARTED with an invitation to see the Moriones. So for five days I find myself in the “Heart of the Philippines.” That’s what the residents of Marinduque call their province, a heart-shaped island separated from the coast of Quezon province by the Tayabas Bay, and is just about located in the center of the…
The Tourist Gaze 