The Province of Bohol

Situated between Leyte and Cebu......

In the south of the Visayas, Bohol is the 10th largest island in the Philippines.  Another 73 smaller islands belong to the province. Total population just under one million.  Bohol has  47 towns, 30 of which are on the coast,  1,109 barangays, and one city,  Tagbilaran, (pop. 66,000) being the provincial capital.  Bohol is predominately an agricultural province with the main crops being coconut, rice and corn.  Bohol is noted  for woven and plated basket ware, and tourism is rapidly becoming a major industry.  The province is noted for many natural wonders two being the rare Tarsier monkey, said to be the smallest in the world and the Chocolate Hills, some 1200 mysterious cone shaped hills,  almost dead center in the island, near Carmen.   In the dry months the grasses on the hills turn brown and they resemble Hershey Kisses. (with the foil removed).  Bohol is noted for the blood compact between the Spanish conqueror Legaspi and the Bolohano Chief Sikatuna in 1565, and for having the oldest church in the Philippines at Baclayon.   The Island has a lot of natural recreation areas from the pristine scuba diving sites off Balicasag and Panglao Islands to the beautiful beaches on the west coast.  Simple pleasures abound in taking a boat trip down river at Loboc, or exploring the caves at Hingandaman.  Valencia has a naturally fed swimming pool at Badiian Springs.  Two giant pipes bring the water from it's source across the highway and it spills down into a deep swimming pool, or over a rock waterfall into a shallow wading pool.  The water is unfiltered, and untreated and overflows into the sea.
The Boholano speaks a localized form of the Cebuano or Bisayan dialect, Pilipino or Tagalog is taught in school and English is taught in High School.  English is widely spoken, but better understood.  The mark of an educated person is their command of English.  People are proud of their ability to speak English,  and many are eager to demonstrate their proficiency.  Many shop girls are shy and embarrassed to use their English with me and sometimes appear rude.   I get irritated when making a transaction in a store and the salesclerks insist in speaking to my wife, in English.American movies and television have a remarkable effect on speaking english.  NBA Basketball, broadcast from the states via satellite is a huge favorite, and I am embarrassed when teen age girls know more about Kobe Bryant or Grant Hill than I do.  Basketball appears to be the national pastime, every town and village has a concrete basketball court and games seem to be played constantly.  The venerable PBA, professional league, has got a little competition lately with the formation of a new league, the Metropolitan Basketball Association.  The MBA has teams that represent individual provinces and cities,  unlike the PBA in which all the teams are from Manila.  MBA games are played in their respective cities and the opponents travel.  The local favorite is the Cebu Gems and the games are televised.  The upstart MBA is only two years old and has gained tremendous support.

 

 
 
 
 

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