As Kagayanons should be

Renato Tibon .

“Cagayan de Oro – The Adventure never ends.” (Tourism Tagline)

I WAS in Grade 4 when we moved from Marawi to this city in 1964. Over 50 years in residence should qualify me a Kagayanon by affinity, although twice I considered leaving the city for good. Feeling the squeeze during the economic crisis in 1983 with only a few financial establishments granting access to restricted loans, I and my associates along with our families decided to transfer business operations to Davao City.

For a time, I thought life was good in the Durian Capital but a growing nostalgia of the City of Golden Friendship whence I spent most of my adolescence, yearned for home. Envious of the rapid growth, competitive opportunities and amenities of an emerging business hub in Northern Mindanao which my previous associates were by then enjoying, I decided to return in 1994.

The city was bouncing back with a vengeance as investments poured in and with the influx of immigrants occupying new subdivisions and villages and taking up work in the city, the local economy was abuzz like never before. More people would mean more business opportunities and better income.

Still, the desperation persisted. The second time I contemplated leaving was during the last electoral exercise. I thought if our earnest campaign efforts would be trumped by vote manipulations and votes of a gullible and hoodwinked electorate and the competition winning despite corruption cases and charges of incompetence, “that’s it, I’m out.”

That would be too sweeping but I was mollified by the fact that the elections were generally peaceful and orderly and that a good number of citizens, unperturbed by the vote-buying frenzy gripping the neighborhood right up to their doorsteps, have voted with their conscience and dignity intact. There are still good and responsible Kagayanons I surmised, so there’s still hope. Would I have made good with my threat of leaving the city permanently? I think the answer should be obvious.   

I have grown to love Cagayan de Oro since my childhood, carefree days.

I had my share of jaunts missing elementary classes (sibat-sibat)to pick wild fruits (guavas, caimotos, camachiles, lomboys, etc.) which were plentiful and best of all, free. Owners of land in Balongis to Balulang and as far as the hills of San Simon didn’t fence their farms nor disallowed anyone harvesting those fruits during seasons (tiempo) which were only rotting if we hadn’t gotten to them. They were almost everywhere before humanity seeking permanent shelter invaded those vast spaces including what used to be marshes (basakan).

In the late ’60s, who could forget the warmth and conviviality of our neighbors in Barangay Carmen similarly situated renting small lots along the river banks where we shared common washing or bathing/diving platforms made of bamboo slats or “lantays”? Used to be along the banks and under the old Ysalina Bridge were countless huge logs floated downstream from where we stripped barks for firewood. We used to swim across the shallow side of the river, dredging up sand and gravel or chasing timbers and wood branches, braving the river’s current, murky after some heavy rains. These communal endeavors provided us and the neighborhood with a small source of livelihood.

Cagayan comes from the word “kagay” and would mean a place with a river. Thus, people who lived nearby or around this great river are called Kagayanons and aptly, it is what we became.

I and my family would walk the distance from our residence to St. Augustine’s Cathedral, just across the bridge, for Sunday masses or when our Catholic traditions required us to participate in Flores de Mayo, Holy Week and Christmas festivities. If fun and frolic were sought, Gaston Park was the place to be or the beaches in Lapasan or Bonbon which used to be pristine and uncrowded. Camping or outings would be to the verdant hills in Kabula or Malasag where we commune with nature’s quiet or among the chirping of birds and insects. Weekends would mean a visit to Amphitheatre where they held regular singing programs or extravaganzas, quaint and far from the present permutation with all sorts of entertainments available at modern malls, uptown or downtown. This familiarity is just too remarkable and priceless.

The general feeling is that of home. My father, having retired from military service, decided to stay and hence, it’s in the city where I acquired all my education, learning and experience which I used in good stead to start my own family. Cagayan de Oro is my place, my home, where I want to be for good. Would I have said goodbye to this city? Not without tearing a part of me to shreds. Not without leaving a legacy as true Kagayanons should be.

This will be my paeans to commemorate the city’s Charter Day on June 15^th.

(Renato Gica Tibon is a fellow of the Fellowship of the 300, an elite organization under Centrist Democracy Political Institute  [CDPI] with focus on political technocracy. He  holds both position as political action officer and program manager of the Institute. He is the former regional chairman for Region 10 and vice president for Mindanao of the Centrist Democratic Party of the Philippines [CDP].)