FROM Surallah in South Cotabato to Amas, Kidapawan City in Cotabato Province, I decided to culminate my January 2022 with a trip to Mati, Davao Oriental (DavOr) to visit my cousin Josephine Pizarras and hubby Edgar “Ega” Lopez with their kids Eleazar “Mikee” and Julia Louisa.
It was an extremely fast drive from General Santos City to Tagum City via the Pan-Philippine Highway/AH26. According to Google, General Santos City to Tagum City is a long stretch of 193.4 km and could be covered in 4 hours and 14 minutes. We arrived in Tagum City in less than four hours. Swell!
Tagum City was our first destination since Bryan Villalongja, a cousin-in-law – our guide to Tagum – was with us and was going home after an extended Christmas 2021 and New Year 2022 break in many parts of Mindanao ending in General Santos City.
Since we were already in Tagum, Bryan decided to give us a short tour. We passed by the city hall and cruised the newly-opened Tagum City Flyover. Interesting tidbit: Tagum City Flyover is a 1.625-km long high-level road bridge implemented by DPWH-11. Reportedly, it is the biggest flyover in Mindanao.
The flyover serves the provinces of Davao del Norte, Davao de Oro, and DavOr. More importantly, it eases traffic congestion of two national roads: Daang Maharlika or Agusan-Davao Road and the Surigao del Sur-Davao Road.
Moreover, Google informed that proceeding to Mati from Tagum will only take less than two hours – to my surprise – hence, we decided to drive leisurely. We passed by Maco, Mabini, Pantukan, Banaybanay, Lupon, and finally, Mati.
Our Boholano tourist driver, Fred, was delighted by the 4-6-lane roads during the entire trip. He said, “If only all roads in Bohol were like these.”
We reached the residence of our hosts – a spacious, well-ventilated, and apparently a house constructed ahead of its era with its green architecture characterized by daylight streaming in from the open upper wall highlighting the entire living room, sealed only by decorative iron grills instead of wood or concrete – a modern structure built in the seventies which when I first visited in 1991 really awed me!
I still feel the same sentimentality as I stepped inside the house – you know that sensation when you feel like you are transported to another time and place, and yet you are literally in the present! I just love being swept in these moments. It resonates with my soulfulness if you can call it that!
This historical home is the ancestral house of the family of Enrique Lopez and former Vice Mayor Virgincita “Virgie Solis” E. Lopez.
As usual, I was talking non-stop – the quintessential storyteller, huh! – until it was time to ready for dinner. Dinner at Parola Restobar, owned by Joseph Lopez, a nephew, served delicious food. You should check Parola when in Mati.
The next two days were spent touring Mati starting with the famous surf resorts in Dahican, the Subangan Museum, and the well-developed Mati City Baywalk with my indefatigable cousin Josephine as guide! How I wish General Santos City will have its own baywalk in the near, if not, far future.
By evening of the first day, I also met couple Patrick “Pyk” and Ney Sibbaluca, long-time friends since my National Grid Corporation of the Philippines short-term work engagement days, where by reason, most probably of our shared Visayan language, Pyk and I became friends, haha! We shared some tea and lots of stories. Lest I forget, Flynn, their first kid with his spurt of energy, was with them.
The following day, we proceeded to Panombon Agri Ventures, Inc. in Barangay Don Enrique Lopez, Mati for lunch courtesy of Ega Lopez.
We were served food cooked via “lut” or cooked inside a bamboo pole. Native chicken soup, shrimp soup, and rice were cooked inside cut bamboo poles and served. The process definitely brought out the tastiness and flavor of the food.
After another round of discussion that still covered politics, we proceeded to Villa Lopez, home of the late Davao Oriental Governor Leopoldo N. Lopez and former Governor Rosalind Y. Lopez. Leopoldo was the scion of Don Salvador Lopez, former Mati mayor and Doña Maria Ngo Lopez. It is safe to say that the political history of the Lopezes in Davao Oriental began in this villa.
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Writer can be reached at belindabelsales@gmail.com. Twitter @ShilohRuthie./PN
