A Long Weekend in the Mountains of Balamban

Our trip started with a little repetitive car trouble while climbing the steep mountains of Balamban, but it gave us time to get out and stretch our legs, take pictures of the beautiful mountains and also check out some little fruit and vegetable stands along the way. At one stop John bought a piece of sweet corn that was steamed in a huge bag. He reported that it was very good; it just needs a little salt! It was an interesting adventure to say the least, but we had beautiful scenery along the way.

We arrived at the site of the Magsaysay 2012 Trek-Run-Bike-Party on Mount Manunggal, where we ate some lunch. We were unsure of where we were and why we were, where we were. Dave Binghay, city councilor, informed us that we were on the mountain where the Philippines President, Ramon Magsaysay, and 26 passengers were killed by a plane crash on March 17, 1957 and this event was a memorial celebration in memory of them. The event brought people from all over including a large group of bikers from Cebu City that were transported by big dump trucks. The trek and running event took place on Saturday and the biking event took place on Sunday, at which, Nicole was able to blow the official starting whistle.

The partying part of the memorial was on Saturday night where there were several food stands set up, along with a stage for acts and a concert for entertainment. The event gave everyone a chance to socialize and reminisce. Many of the individuals that took part in the event set up tents for an overnight stay at the campground while others motor biked and hiked their way to the camp just for the fun and memorial celebration. The hikers had a very tough walk up and down the steep mountains to get to the pavilion itself, and with over 700 some paver stones guiding the way down into the campsite, their hike proved their efforts.

Along the way there was a monument where the engine of the plane was mounted inside a cement block which supported a huge fluorescent lit cross. Beside this monument was the list of the names of all of the fallen passengers that were on the plane. Only one person out of the 27 passengers survived. Another monument was placed at the campsite in memory of President Magsaysay with a write up, in Cebuano, which commemorated his life in particular. The fall of the Philippine president caused great trauma to the country, but as they always seem to do here, they worked together and pulled through strong.

We were able to attend mass Sunday morning down in the town of Balamban at St. Francis of Assisi Parish. As expected, the church was completely full with people of the community. Though, the mass was given in Cebuano, we were able to tell that this Catholic mass was given very similarly to a Catholic mass in PA. One common difference that I loved in the church itself was the open windows and openings in the rafters that allowed a fresh breeze to blow through along with some birds. It had such an uplifting feel. It was a great mass. Unfortunately the rain started soon after and our afternoon trek had to be cancelled and since it was Sunday our options were limited for alternate things to do so we made use of the down time and got some rest to recharge for our final week in the Philippines.

Our last day in Balamban started with a drive into the city to be present for the flag raising ceremony held at the Balamban Municipal Building every morning. When we arrived every employee from the building was standing outside, lined up by their departments facing the front of the building. The first matter of business was any announcements that needed to be made. Then was the invocation, which is very typical for any activity in the Philippines that we have seen so far. They then sang their national anthem as the Philippine flag was raised. The national hymn was then recited while the municipal flag was raised. Each week a department is selected to host the opening ceremony and we introduced with a little bit about each member. Dave, our host, but also city councilor, presented an announcement and introduced John to give a little speech about our team. The final matter of business was to introduce and sing for anyone having a birthday this week. It seemed like such a fun business, yet personal affair.

The next stop was Tsuneishi Heavy Industries Inc., one of the two shipyards located in Balamban, Cebu that builds commercial ships. The company employs about 15,000 shipyard workers, with another 3,000 approx. employed in the business offices. A more unique part of this though is that only about 600 of those are employed directly by the company and all others are contracted out. The workers work 8 hour days, but rotate their weeks to include Saturdays. The workers and non-unionized and appear to be very happy with their jobs. This shipyard operates to turn out around one ship per month and takes around 8 months to build. We drove through the shipyard to see an amazing process of assembly from such simple parts to a massive amount of steel in one part. After assembly, the ship is ready to be in the launching area in either a graving dock where gates will be opened to fill the area with water, or a floating dock where the boat is sitting on a platform, but can slowly be lowered to allow the ship to float. At this point the ship cannot official be run yet, but can be tested with water to assure the vessel will float. The next step is a sea trial. At this point the insides of the ship are added. The final step then is the final delivery to its destination. The ship they were building at the time of our tour measured 300 yards and weighed about 180,000 deadweight tons. It was an impressive process to say the least.

Cebu is also known for its copper mining and is actually the top producer in the Philippines, so our next visit was to tour Carmen Copper Corporation. The mine opened in 1954 and has since been opened and closed depending on the price of copper, labor and accessibility. The process here involved around 46 1-ton dump trucks hauling the broken mountainside into crushing mills to be ground and later processed. The material that is being loosened contains not just copper, but also nickel, gold and iron that is also processed and separated out for revenue. The mine hauls out about 40,000 tons of material out a day. The process then is the primary crusher, the secondary crusher, the ball mill, floatation area (where chemicals are added to create bubbles and lift the copper to the surface) and then the filtering process before it is shipped out for industrial use. The pictures we took just don't the mines size justice. The equipment was huge, but the mine pits unbelievable. The one we were able to see is just one of two that they are running. With copper prices up the trucks just keep on moving. What a day.