A Jewel of Northern Samar

Mondragon: My Hometown


With several travels I made to different places in the Philippines, I thought of writing my experience in each travel. I had written travelogues and they were published somewhere else but they are no where to be found online. Thus, a re-write comes in to my mind, and this time, these will be in my own blog. Write-ups for those travels may be a bit late but as the saying goes, "...better late than never." 

To begin, I thought of putting a feature of my hometown on top of my list as this gives me a sense of fulfillment to be able to write something about the place where I grew up. 

Mondragon. That's my hometown. It's one of the municipalities comprising the province of Northern Samar. It was known as Quinay long time ago and I forgot when the name was changed. Its people are sometimes called "Mondragenios". The town is rich in agriculture and I guess that is the main source of livelihood by most people. When you get the chance to roam around, you will see vast of lands used for farming and also rivers and seas where people go fishing.


My dad is a son of farmers who own hectares of land but he chose a different path. Apart from farming, he spent most of his time fishing, and I am proud to say that he's the best fisherman in town. 







When school is over, most kids spend their time playing either on streets or in their yards. I remember when I was a little, I spent my childhood doing household chores, selling fish on my free time, going to the beach or listening to dramas aired on radio stations. What I'd like to do the most was swimming. Well, our house is by the ocean so it's very easy for me to sneak out and go to the beach with other kiddos. 

This is the "Kaldera Beach" that most people call the place. Kaldera refers to that big round thing that's made of steel.

There are no tall office buildings and schools in the town as compared to what we see in big cities, and this is typical to third class municipalities like Mondragon. However, in terms of road constructions, we have smooth and concrete road ways all from North to South. Hence, transportation is not a problem in the town.

Mondragon is a neighboring municipality of the provincial capital. It's 13 kilometers away from the capital and about 15 km from the airport. It's accessible by both air and land transport.  There are buses in Cubao, Quezon City that hold their regular land operation to transfer passengers from Manila all the way to Mondragon up to Catubig, Northern Samar. It takes a minimum of 19 hours to reach the place, inclusive of stop-overs. Now, if you are not fond of long trips, tiger airways has its regular trip to Catarman, the provincial capital.



The Beaches and Monbon Island:

The town is also known for its beaches and a sandy island called Monbon. Most of the locals would hold their gatherings such as family reunions in Malobaroc beach, 90 meters away from home. As that beach is now managed by private owner, some would just bring picnic tables and food and gather in what we call "Harapit", an open beach adjacent to Malobaroc. That way, they don't have to pay for cottages rental and other fees.

  


Those who own or can rent a boat prefer to spend some time in Monbon during low tide. Monbon is an island that's composed mainly of sands that could be used as components for building bricks. As the place is near where I live, it's my favorite local destination. I could see it from my house and its view is just so terrific that I would always want to spend some time there and relax and ponder things. The only con of the island is its being an open area. Hence, there are no trees, no plants or caves that can give anyone shelter from direct sunlight or rain, not to mention windy environment. So, it's not the best place for an over night camping or a longer stay.   

Life in Mongradon is so simple. Everyday I see kids going to school except weekends and holidays or vacation. I also see people doing their regular business to earn money. Some go to the farm. Some go fishing. Some just stay at home and attend to some business. Whatever it is that every individual does, I could see a happy spirit inside them despite scarcity of so many material things, whether it be digital or automated. Maybe that's the basic foundation of being happy - the simplicity of life.