Claveria, the Coastal Paradise of Northern Cagayan

History has it that the municipality of Claveria was named after the Spanish Governor General, Narciso Claveria, who drove the raiding pirates away from the then village called Kabikungan. Kabikungan was renamed Claveria in honor of Governor General Claveria as soon as the place was converted into a town.
The town of Claveria in the province of Cagayan is a modest and peaceful place, about 600 kilometers away from Manila, a favourable place for people looking for solitude, away from the tiring metropolis. Branded as one of the cleanest municipality in the country, Claveria, Cagayan can be reached by enduring the approximately 15 hours of land travel, or (5 hours) about less than an hour by air to either Tuguegarao or Laoag and an additional 3 to 4 hours of land journey.

The town of Claveria is represented with such fantastic milieu. The air is fresh and always breezy due to its proximity to the ocean. Existing not just in dream, Claveria is an incomparable place at the north tip of mainland Luzon in the Philippines because of its unfussiness. A really admirable location for non-luxury looking individuals. Its populace, just like the rest of the Filipino, are welcoming and are approachable. The foods are all right, a very Ilocano approach in living life. The town offers a comforting and perhaps one of the finest places suitable for retiring, whether of old age or just withdrawing from active life, seeking retreat, far and away from the noise of the urban living. Life is indeed simple but the convenience of living modern are presented. Everything seems uncomplicated in this town, the waterfalls and the beach is just there somewhere.

The village of Taggat is where the lagoon can be found, situated at the right area of the inlet, a favoured swimming destination especially for the children. The place is shielded from the immense waves by natural boulders of rock, trapping the composed sea water in a basin-like enclosure, calling it a lagoon. During the dry months, this particular spot on the coast of Taggat are filled with people immersing themselves in the lagoon to beat the summer heat. With adults supervision, the kids can play safely in the lagoon without worrying to a great extent that they might be carried by the waves away in the open sea. On the pebbly side of the beach, opposite the lagoon, is the waterfalls.

Aside from the lagoon, Taggat is where the renowned rock formations can be witnessed and was even made distinct and illustrious by its legend, the Lakay-Lakay and Baket-Baket. “Lakay” and “Baket” is a term of endearment in Ilocano language. Lakay means “an old man” or “a husband”, and literally intended only for the grown ups of male gender while Baket is the feminine equivalent of such expression. Moving on, the legend says that once upon a time, a well-to-do family who made fortune by fishing, was asked by an elderly tramp for food, but Lakay-Lakay acted high and mighty and so is his wife, Baket-Baket, they pay no attention to the lament of the pitiful, old beggar. Swollen with greed the couple were, the strange, old tramp foredoomed their family. As the elderly tramp vanished into thin air, the couple became uneasy and hurriedly looked for their child who happened to be playing on the other side of the coast. Little by little, their child turned to rock, Baket-Baket gradually turned to rock as well, and before Lakay-Lakay realized he’s sorry, he
himself was turned. This is why Lakay-Lakay and Baket-Baket stood beside each other at Taggat, while their progeny, Ubing-Ubing, was on Sentinela Cove in Camalaggoan / D. Leano.

Another cloaked paradise in the town of Claveria is the Sentinela Cove, home to the Ubing-Ubing. Ubing means “ a child” in the Ilocano language. Sentinela Cove is enthroned with fine sand and the current is more tender compared to Claveria beach at the boulevard, near the “ili”or the town proper. Rubing-Ubing as told

 in the legend is the offspring of Lakay-Lakay and Baket-Baket, who in their greediness was turned to rocks. On dazzling account, the Cove is perfect for beach bumming and swimming. A cave for a shade and a hill for the bird’s eye view of the bay completed the representation of this piece of paradise. By day’s end, the cove is a spectacle to stare at. Gazing at the sun going down on the horizon as the blue breaks open in beautiful hues, was more than the seeing of sights.

Those natural rock stunners of Claveria are dubbed as the sentinel of the fisherfolks of the town. Try to connect with the story of Lakay-Lakay and Baket-Baket, though given an insensitive anecdote, their tale stands for the great morals of sharing and compassion. It is not how the story ended, but how the story inspired one’s self to do unpretentious and encouraging act that in some way brought gladness to the underprivileged members of the society and consequently making the world better.
The rock formations in the town of Claveria are wonders of the natural world. They must be safeguarded too from harebrained individual. Dreaming that those rock creations would be marvellously standing on the shore until the waves got weary of humming their melody, awaiting the ultimate twilight, for those legendary rock formations kept their silence for hundreds of years, they’re an eyewitness to the transformation of the environment, survivor all along these years. Those rock formations- monuments shaped by nature, fashioned and made perfect by time.


Written by Miguel Voyager: 
I am identified in the travel blogging world as “Palos”. My friends call me Miguel, and I have a burning passion in traveling and landscape photography. An occasional travel blogger, a bartender and a narrator for ads, who makes real living in the field of public service.Read my short articles on http://biyahengpalos.blogspot.com as I walk around the picturesque Philippines.
This article was published in HKLife Newspaper for the month of May 2014

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