A Curious Twist to the Cave Fish Story

Last year, when Liloan Trippers first started, one of the things that Swerver and I wrote about was the story of a primordial fish living under the San Fernando Rey Church. This was said to be the kugtong, a giant fish that can swallow a man whole. It is one of the two reasons cited in this entry about annual disappearances of a bather in the Suba Channel, right next to black fairies.

Swerver expressed doubt that the specie ever existed in history of man. Actually, I found out that it is merely an abomination of the delicious delicacy called pugapo, a type of grouper fish. Doesn't ring a bell does it? How about lapu-lapu? Yes, folks, according to folklore as cited in this blog by Rankm the early Filipinos believed that the kugtong was a giant pugapo or lapulapu, and it swallowed men whole.

So, we could say the kugtong exists but in a smaller scale.

Last night, the co-founder of the Cebu Anime Manga Society that I am currently spearheading made a few comments about the kugtong legend. She lives in Opon, just like Swerver. And just like Swerver, she also been to Liloan many times. She said something about the kugtong that I didn't expect to hear.

One is a detailed description of how the kugtong looks like. She said it's merely a giant lapulapu, but with a twist: it has razor sharp teeth with which it tears apart its prey. Perhaps the normal pugapo does have that, but the kugtong has bigger ones. The other description is that its scales are as hard as the barnacles that stick to the columns that you see partly submerged in water at the pier. To be brief, you can describe the kugtong from now on as a huge, armored lapulapu.

This has led me to speculate on the exact size of the kugtong. Since it can swallow a man whole, it could be as big as a great white shark or perhaps even bigger. Who knows? What we can say is that the kugtong is so big that it ends up living underground and not moving around.

As if this wasn't scoop enough, Ren13 shared another surprising revelation about the kugtong. She said there is a kugtong that lives below the General Milling Corporation compound in Mactan Island, and that she was surprised to read that it is also found in Liloan. This is quite curious because, the way I look at it, there are two kugtongs in the islands of Cebu province.

Now, this is merely my interpretation of the story. At first glance, you will think that it is just the same story spoken in different places. It's entirely possible, because we're dealing with folklore here and not facts. However, I cannot help but speculate that, somewhere in time, there may have been more than one kugtong that traveled the deep waters of the Tañon Strait.

Let us look at the similarities. First, both live in underwater caves. In the case of the GMC kugtong -- which I dub it thus -- its cave terminates right below the GMC compound. The Liloan kugtong on the other hand lives right below the San Fernando Rey Church. Ren13 again shared something with me which she got from her late uncle, that there is a big hole in the basement of General Milling Corporation covered in glass. As the Trippers have heard from some stories in Liloan, there is also a supposed hole in the San Fernando Rey Church.

Swerver tried to interview Fr. Eric Jecong of the local parish but, typical of the Catholic Church, the priest shut the story down and denied the legend. This is the Catholic Church we're dealing with, after all. You can read Swerver's entry here, for a recap.

Here comes the differences. They are quite subtle. According to Ren13, there is rarely an incident that somebody disappears from the seas adjacent to the General Milling compound. According to her, the kugtong is fed by a whole live pig annually to prevent it from swallowing someone whole that year. If that doesn't happen, it's either the GMC kugtong throws a fit and shakes the ground, or -- you guessed it -- some poor soul will disappear from the waters of the Strait.

In Liloan, however, it is already part of folklore that somebody will disappear each year. They attribute it to two reasons: the black fairies or the kugtong, as mentioned in our earlier blog. If the body is not found, then it's the kugtong who has taken that poor soul. If you compare it to the Mactan version of the kugtong legend, the difference lies in the sacrifice. The Catholic Church will not condone such superstitious actions as it is not part of the doctrine, an inaction which one can attribute to the yearly disappearance in Suba Channel if we treat the kugtong as a real, living creature and disregard the black fairy version entirely.

I couldn't help but speculate. Are these two stories separate or just one story that was spread down to other places. How come, however, we don't hear such stories in other northern towns like Danao, etc.? What's curious is that both kugtongs live in similar conditions, yet act differently. Could there be something behind this? Are these two kugtongs separate and are actually long-lost siblings that have been driven to seclusion because of the rise of modernization and advancements in technology?

Come to think of it, how deep are the waters of the Tañon Strait exactly? I seem to have heard vague rumors years ago that companies can drill for oil in its waters. I'm not sure, but isn't that very deep enough indeed, almost like the sea or ocean? Who knows what secrets the Tañon Strait has beneath its waters? One thing is for sure: there are still creatures there, like the kugtong, that live deep down as they are more acclimated to the cold and frigid temperatures of the deepest parts of the sea.

And so, the legend lives on...

- Immortalundead

Liloan Trippers Goes to Bebot Alegre's Shop

... I wonder if we'll be called Opon Trippers because of that? Ultimately, we'll turn into the Cebu Trippers when we start touring more and more places within the province. Not really, I think. Liloan Trippers is a trademark, or a brand, that marks our nature as travel bloggers because that is what we really are: Trippers at heart.

Actually this is just a plan that is being hatched. This is educational, as usual. We're planning to go to Bebot Alegre's guitar shop in Pajac, Lapu Lapu City. I have been there two Sundays ago as described in a previous blog that I limited to certain contacts because of the things I described. I'm still going back despite my negative experience with my companions, because of two reasons:

First, the Liloan Trippers have been inactive lately and we need a new adventure. Second, I've always wanted to write about how guitars are made ever since I saw the workshops beside Bebot Alegre's showroom. I thought this coincides with our Trippers project: although the trademark will always be connected to Liloan, this can be taken as an extension of our interest to within the entire Cebu province as a whole.

Plans are still being made, but I'm making sure this will definitely push through. Keep your fingers crossed.

Immortalundead of the Liloan Trippers

Reunion with Liloan, a New Fan and Future Plans

As mentioned earlier, the Liloan Trippers composed of Swerver and me went back once again to Liloan on November 22nd. Eyean sadly was not around because of a photoshoot in Dumaguete that necessited his skills. However, Darmae joined us as well as a newfound fan: my friend Roniel, also from Lapu-Lapu.

True to our cause of putting Liloan on the map, I invited Roniel along to introduce him to the wondrous halo2x of Liloan. The only reason I planned this return to Liloan was for me to relive the experience of Liloan's halo2x along with revisiting some sites. The itinerary seemed apt as we were introducing the place to Roniel who admitted "passing through the city without a thought" on the way to the other northern towns; no different from what I was before in relation to Liloan.

Swerver had told me and Eyean that there had been some changes to the Liloan lighthouse. The Sugba sa Parola has been renovated. Darmae said the renovation and rehabilitation was financed with funds coming right from the municipal government. The place has a high chance of recovering its fame; the lighthouse once again would be an ideal nightlife den. Yeah, one of the changes there is that you have to stand on stage if you plan to sing in the karaoke. I'd like to try that one day.

We introduced Roniel as well to the old lighthouse. It seemed appropriate to visit the old lady while visiting her daughter, so we did the same to the two lighthouses. Something funny happened though... we almost lost the way but a young cow that we had seen on the road earlier followed us. It seemed as if he wanted to show us the way because he kept calling us. The moment we realized we were lost, we turned and the cow was walking through another path. We decided to follow it. The cow remained behind when we found the right path. Coincidence? You judge, but we did say our thanks to the cow.

We spent a few minutes on top of the old lighthouse, strong winds and all that discussing what we could discuss. Roniel and I made plans to return with another friend but just lately we scrapped the idea because the guy had expressed desire to jump from the cliff and into the rocks below. After that, we went down and went to where I originally intended to go: Hanz Halo-halo.

While we ate our dinner and our halo-halo, we realized the world is round as the conversation revealed that we had a few common acquaintances between us, all of them from the University of the Philippines where Swerver graduated from college. We made plans to return again, since Swerver and Roniel both wanted to take a dive in Suba Channel. Swerver originally wanted to dive, but the water had a lot of dirt so Darmae talked him out of it. Next time, they said. Well, definitely not my cup of tea lol.

Besides, we still have to find that missing falls in Liloan that one of Swerver's contacts had pointed out to us earlier.

~The Immortal Undead