Calicoan Island makes a splash among surfers

By Vicente Labro
Inquirer

TACLOBAN CITY, Philippines–Efforts to promote Guiuan, Eastern Samar through a sports competition are paying off as more tourists and adventure lovers are coming down to sample the town’s delights.

Over a hundred surfers from different parts of the country are expected to join the 4th Eastern Samar Surfing Crown: Odyssey Waves Surfing Competition, which will run from Monday until Wednesday.

The three-day surfing event was organized by the provincial government of Eastern Samar headed by Gov. Ben Evardone, municipal government of Guiuan headed by Mayor Analiza Kwan, the Department of Tourism regional office here under Director Karina Rosa Tiopes and the Surfriders Club of Eastern Samar Inc.

Some 30 members of the Surfriders Club of Eastern Samar will be joining the competition, which will take participants to the swells of Calicoan Island facing the Pacific Ocean.

As in the past, a huge crowd is expected to show up in the island to witness with fascination how surfers ride the swells with grace.

The competition this year is expected to bring surfers from Baler, Daet and even Manila in Luzon; Lanuza and Siargao in Mindanao; and from Tanauan, Leyte in the Visayas.

The Department of Tourism and the provincial and municipal governments have been organizing the annual surfing competition in Calicoan Island, Guiuan to get enthusiasts to see what the town could offer as a destination.

Aurora delos Reyes, investment and tourism officer of Guiuan, said Guiuan Mayor Analiza Kwan has been very active in promoting Guiuan as a tourist spot, banking not only on the waves but also the town’s rich historical, pilgrimage and cultural sites.

Guiuan, which is one of the bigger towns in Eastern Samar and composed of 60 barangays, is 157 kilometers away from Tacloban City, the regional capital of Eastern Visayas.

Guiuan is a two- to three-hour road trip away from Tacloban City, where commercial flights from and to Manila are available. Calicoan, meanwhile, is just a 10-minute drive from Guiuan town proper.

According to a handout prepared by the National Statistical Coordination Board in Eastern Visayas, Calicoan also has “six lagoons ringed by forest, the largest being 30 hectares and on the northern tip of Calicoan are wetlands like the Everglades, teeming with fish, shrimp and crabs.”

Visitors to the island also noted that monkeys and iguanas abound in the area, some of them crossing the road in full view of the happy tourists.

Aside from the waves, tourists in Guiuan can also check out its history as the town boasts of an airport that was heavily used during World War II and a 15th-century Catholic church and belfry.

The airport’s 2.08-km long and 26-m runway built by the Americans can still be used despite its age. The apron and terminal are undergoing construction so that commercial flights can operate in Guiuan, making it more accessible to tourists.

Some P30 million has been released for the airport rehabilitation project and another P70 million is expected to come in, Delos Reyes said.

She noted that it was in Guiuan, specifically Homonhon Island, where Ferdinand Magellan and his men first set foot, thus marking the “discovery” of the Philippines on March 16, 1521.

Incidentally, some 423 years after Magellan’s arrival, another historic event took place when a company of American soldiers landed on Homonhon Island on Oct. 17, 1944 to pave the way for the coming of the Allied forces led by Gen. Douglas MacArthur.

Three days later, on Oct. 20, 1944, the Allied forces landed in Leyte, signaling the start of the liberation campaign in the country.

Delos Reyes said that Guiuan also became an important naval base during the liberation campaign.

On Dec. 1, 1944, several ships and barges arrived at Guiuan Bay to unload different kinds of heavy equipment for use in the construction of a big naval base, which was then considered the biggest in the Far East.

By the end of 1944 or early 1945, several battleships and warplanes started taking off from Guiuan.

Aside from the airport, one of the few remnants of Guiuan’s wartime history is the foundation of a flagpole of the big American depot in Barangay Ngolos in Calicoan Island.

On Oct. 17, Barangay Ngolos will again be the site of the commemoration of the Liberation of Eastern Samar, which is dubbed as a “Sentimental Journey.”

The activity is held each year to commemorate the Filipino war veterans and the members of the Allied Liberation Forces, especially those who served in Guiuan.

The officers and members of the Veterans Federation of the Philippines (VFP) Sons and Daughters and some foreign dignitaries usually attend this event marking the great battle.

But today, just about a kilometer away from Barangay Ngolos, Guiuan will witness the start of another “battle.”

This time, however, it will be a friendly competition among some of the country’s best surfers.

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