I was born in an unfamous place called Bulanay, Sominot Zamboanga del Sur. I spent my childhood there then we moved. After years, my grandparents also moved to their new house, it was in the same place but nearer to the local community center and that's when our old house was left unattended.
For the past five years, I spent my life in cities working and would visit my hometown at least thrice a year not until the invisible monster Covid19 came into being and travel restrictions were implemented. For months I was stuck in the city fighting anxiety.
Fast forward.
When the travel restrictions lifted I went home. Travelling wasn't easy with all the travel requirements but I was grateful I got the chance to go home.
The trip to my birthplace
Before the sun rose from its deep slumber, we prepared and packed extra clothes even though we planned not to stay there overnight, extra clothes were very important because sweat would be drowning us. After we were equipped, we began our trip. We were excited to see our grandparents.
When we arrived, our grandparents were busy so we decided to first visit our old house. We walked and hiked until... the road I used to know became unfamiliar. We still proceeded and heard a sound of water, we followed it because when I was young I set the stream as a sign that I am nearer. After we crossed the stream, the narrow road welcomed us. We continued to walk but to our surprise, the road ahead was covered with bushes and scrubs. We tried to walk farther but we couldn't see anything anymore. I felt like we were in the wilderness. I began to feel worried because when I was young I saw a snake eat our chicken.
This is when we retreated
Moving on
Safety must be prioritized so I decided to retreat.
Stories
My birthplace is mysterious. Let me start my storytelling so you'll know why.
A secret city
- Every night it would turn into a big city. And yes! I am not kidding.
I have a friend, she hasn’t been on the mountain but it is visible from their house. One time, they had a visitor who spent the night in their house. When morning came, their visitor asked them about the city and pointed to the mountain, "what’s the name of the big city out there? Last night it was so busy and bright. It was full of city lights" her family was out of words, they just looked at each other.
It wasn’t my first time to hear such a story, what makes it different is that I heard it directly from a friend.
- When I was young, my family heard vehicle sounds and their chickens and ducks flew to the other side of the backyard, it was like vehicles were passing by which is impossible because our house is surrounded by fruit trees.
Party of the Engkanto-Taking souls
Locals said that the Engkanto take souls from people and make them one of their friends. Every time this happens the locals would hear a cheerful beat and even feel the vibrations which they believe were from disco speakers!
Engkanto- mythical spirits
Coincidence or Nah
- When I was in grade school, my uncle woke up with a dead snake near his head. They wondered how it ended up there but didn’t take it as a big deal because no one was hurt anyway. My uncle continued his usual daily routine and even stopped by our house that afternoon. While on his way home, the rain started to pour so he stood in the shade of a tree and was struck by lightning. Unfortunately, he didn’t survive. Is it a coincidence or Nah?
Knock
- When my grandmother's sister was still alive, she told me she experienced hearing knocks on the door but when she opened it, nobody was there. (She experienced it many times.)
Electric and water bills
- Since it's a barangay with only 927 locals. The locals know every person who lives there.
Most of their neighbors are kilometer/s away so the bills would be dropped off at the barangay hall. In the year 2019, the locals started to wonder why there were two additional bills when nobody moved there. If there were, they’d know for sure. The locals waited for their new neighbors to get the bill but nobody took it. They asked the bill collector and the bills were paid. Until now nobody knows who those people are.
Source: Google
Determined by Census
As of 2020, the household population was 927.
As of 2015, the household population was 897 broken down into 172 households
Disclaimer: These were stories I only heard. I can't guarantee their truthfulness.
Didn’t matter if we weren't able to find our way I would say that it was all worth it. We breathed fresh mountain air with no scent of pollution and we burned calories too.
Sweet memories of my childhood came flooding back.
This is the place
the place that heard my first cry
the place that witnessed my first smile
the place where I first crawl
the place that witnessed my first fall.
the place that heard my first "dada" and "mama"
the place that heard my first "lolo" and "lola"
I wonder if places remember people too.
-gold