The catacombs of Dimiao

The catacombs make up the walls of the ruins.

It’s amazing what I have discovered in Dimiao town, in the island-province of Bohol at noon today. I discovered catacombs! I never would have thought I would find them right in our own backyard, so to speak. For me, catacombs belong to another era and place.

        

Over the years, I have frequently travelled along the Dimiao highway on my way to Valencia, my father’s hometown, until I left Bohol in 1988 to pursue my professional journey. Whenever I visit my old man’s hometown, I always pass by Dimiao. However, nobody ever told me about the “Ermita Ruins”. On hindsight, maybe it was not meant to be. I had to discover and experience it for myself sans invitation.

Today, I drove to Dimiao from Valencia to fetch a cousin. Behind the church, I suddenly chanced upon the ruins! Serendipity, my favourite expression, is really my middle name. It looked surreal from a distance. I decided to explore the ruins following our lunch invite.

         

        On the drive back to Valencia, we stopped by the ruins. We parked by the ruins’ entrance. I must search and investigate. I was very curious. The scene reminds me of Intramuros in Manila and the Pikit Fort in faraway Pikit in North Cotabato.

                   

It was eerily quiet as we entered the place. Maybe it was a holy spot in another time but what caught my breath were the catacombs. It was quite mind-boggling. The ruins were situated in a spacious area across the Catholic Church of Dimiao town. There was a structure that looked to me like the ruins of a chapel. It was situated in the middle of a square-shaped piece of land surrounded by the catacombs that made up the walls of the entire area. Upon the entrance, there was a structure that I could not quite figure out. My best guess would be a sacristy. It looked like it.

        

          I tried to imagine what Father Enrique de Santo de Villanueva had in mind when he built the structures from 1800-1815. Was it a burial place complete with chapel and sacristy? The chapel was where the burial rituals would have been held. Since there are no historical data available for the catacombs in Dimiao, we will never know what Father Enrique had in mind.

         

The broken marker said, “The researchers were surprised why no graves were found in the tombs“. It further said, “But even before it was completed, it could be possible that a catastrophic event occurred or an epidemic perhaps, which explains…skeletons excavated from the…” It ends there. I presumed it said, “…which explains why there are no skeletons excavated from the site.”          

          I have lived outside Bohol for over twenty years, but this is my first time ever to see the catacombs of Dimiao. I hope that this rare historical site will be given the prominence it rightfully deserves by the concerned government agencies.

 

Side entrance of the ruins that looked like a chapel.

The altar of the chapel

Catacombs up close

The sacristy

The entrance to the ruins. On the right with a broken wall are the ruins I presumed to be the sacristy.  The  ruins of the chapel can be seen from the entrance.

Orchids of summer

Summer maybe extremely hot in the Philippines but it's also the  season when many flower varieties are abloom. The flowers that thrive in summer are really a sight to behold. Kalachuchi or Plumeria rubra, bougainvillea, birds of paradise, orchids, and what have you.

I have this thing for orchids for the longest time, thanks in many ways to my departed mother who grew orchids in our garden while I was growing up. When she passed away, my father took on the full responsibility of tending and nurturing the orchids that mother left behind.

I must say the orchids in our garden loved our parents, inasmuch as my parents adored them. It’s a mutual affection and admiration.

Now whenever I see orchids abloom, I cannot help but smile. They so remind me of my parents and their devotion to the orchids of my youth.

Celebrate the life phase you're in

Everyone goes through a life phase. We start with infancy, childhood, teenage, young adult, adult, the forties, fifties, sixties, and old age. 

Much has been written about the forties. The famous line that captures the imagination is: “Life begins at forty.” I wonder why. It is really no wonder. Forties is the life phase where an individual is supposed to know himself better if not, best. Let’s take the perspective of a woman (no offense meant to the male readers) of my column. She knows her strengths and weaknesses at this age. She is equipped to manage both. This is also the phase when a mom’s kids are either teenagers or fully grownup. Now she has sufficient free time to pursue a dream, an interest, a hobby, return to school, join an advocacy, be active in church, and the like. Well lady, don’t expect full support from the people around you. Some will even criticize you. It’s normal. Just press on and pursue that aspiration. Along the way, you will meet people who will be more supportive and inspired by your pursuit. Eventually, your critics will transform into admirers and believers. They will start appreciating your dogged determination. What is life without critics anyway? Critics make us human. Critics make us humble.

           

 If it is not our habit to evaluate every life phase we’re in, let us start now. The assessment process will enable us to appreciate the good stuff and evaluate the bad stuff. The bad stuff becomes the lessons that we grow from.

Some people will face a crisis upon reaching their forties. This is the phase where personal and professional insecurities and inadequacies come out and are most prominent. If we do not talk about it and simply ignore it, I guarantee our world shrinks, we feel choked, and ultimately swallowed. Thus, it is important that we keep a strong support system that understands what we are going through. We need a confidante or two to listen to our woes, pray with us and for us.

For the sixties and above, this is the phase where our folks need our love, care, and attention. They want to feel loved and needed. If our folks are still alive, we should exert effort to visit them often, spend time with them, and celebrate life with them. Family rituals are very important to old folks. We should make them feel a part of our life.

           

For the techie-savvy teenagers, we must be cool moms and dads to them. I have heard so many mothers and fathers complain about the behaviour of the young nowadays and they blame it on the environment and the ubiquitous internet. I can empathize. How can a parent compete with the pervasive internet? It is quite a challenge to become a cool parent in this day and age. The key is good old-fashioned values. I strongly believe in embedding good old-fashioned values in parenting. When kids appreciate positive values at a young age, this value system will stay with them until old age. They will probably deviate from time to time, but they never disregard it. Good old-fashioned values become their beacon to stay on the path, and return to it, if and when they stray.

           

This is only a glimpse of the phases we go through in life. You may be going through your own unique life phase right now. Embrace the moment. Do not limit God. Maximize the experience. Jot down the gems. Discard the garbage. Keep a brave heart to go through the trying and difficult times. Celebrate the good times. Above all, possess a grateful heart. With gratitude attitude, you can never go wrong.

Doctor's visit

I was at the hospital early to sign up for the 9:00 A.M. check-up. While there, I met my sister-in-law and brother. Surprise! We got to talking about school and job. I am the fourth patient for the day. Not bad huh!

By 9:30 A.M., I drove back to the hospital for the actual check-up. Like in the past, I had to wait. It is past 11:00 A.M. now and I am still waiting. To optimize my time, I communicated with some important people via text. When I was done with that, I played card via my laptop. When I was done with card playing, I started writing this blog.

For a few seconds I was thinking what to write about, then I thought the best item to write is my doctor's visit. It's fresh. It's new. It's real.  

I started to think about why many people are afraid to see their doctors. For some, if not for most, they are scared to know that they are sick. Sickness like death is one scary occurrence in life. Having lost both parents to cancer, I thought for some time that the same illness would claim my life. After mother’s death, I was traumatized for a while. I had this nagging fear that very soon I will follow. I got over the fear, thank God.

When father died in 2009, I was no longer afraid of cancer. I have come to terms with dying. It is an eventuality no one can escape. It happens to everyone: rich, poor, good people, bad people, slaves, tyrants, adults, kids, old people. There is no exception. The earlier we come to terms with the reality that death is a natural part of living, the sooner we overcome our fear and get on with life. 

             

 Finally, my name was called. Ah, the rewards of blogging.