NAPO TO BABAG TALES XXX: Manwel's Graduation Day

I GAVE A PROMISE to Manwel Roble, my young friend and future trail guide, that I would visit him on the occasion of his graduation from elementary where he invited me earlier to celebrate with his family. It had been a long time since I have last seen Manwel and his siblings Jucel and Juliet and it was on December 27, 2009.

We have been obsessed since January of a discovery of a new route from Guadalupe to Napo wherein we were afforded of a good trail that will not trudge on a hard surface of the concrete road to Napo. Given that, we tried to link this route to that of the trail passing by the Roble homestead going to Mount Babag. It wasn't easy. By the time we reached Napo we were already spent.

We tried hastening our pace one time but we turned back and spent a very late lunch in Sapangdaku River instead where there is a natural spring. At another time, in my solo sortie on February 28, 2010, I was able to reach the Roble homestead and delivered mangosteen and lanzones fruits but the children weren't there and I backtracked, too tired to go on to Mt. Babag.

So on this special moment – today, March 31, 2010 – I took a half-day from work since it was a weekday and go out to the hills again. I will have a perfect company in the person of old buddy, Ernie Salomon, and we met at the back of Our Lady of Guadalupe de Cebu Parish at 1:00 PM.

I bought two kilos of well-milled corn and 50-peso worth of bread for Manwel, Juliet and Jucel. It should be hot at this hour just after lunch and I feel the heat bouncing off the asphalt pavement. We decided instead to ride motorcycles-for-hire for Napo to save our shoes and our feet from walking on a hot surface.

Reaching Napo, we immediately set out to crossing the now-dry Sapangdaku River and into the Napo Main Trail going into the second river crossing. We reached it in 27 minutes, the fastest time we have done so far. As we took rest, I refilled my drinking bottle with the natural spring that still gush water even when this has been one of the hottest summer.

After this, we set to climbing the ascending route towards the house of the Robles with its mango-tree lined trail giving us shade from the glare of the high afternoon sun. We reached the Roble homestead after a little more than thirty minutes of climbing and it is 3:00 PM. This will still be our playground even when we have added a new interest in bushcraft and survival.

Both me and Ernie enjoyed our well-deserved rest on the bamboo benches and I happily parted away the milled corn to Manwel's mother who immediately arranged the firewood in her wok. Jucel claimed his deserved place with us and began to badger me with several probing questions until I could not handle it anymore and surrendered away the bread to him.

Fele, their father, slew a rooster for the occasion while me and Ernie decided to boil water for coffee. A hot coffee always give you that added pep to keep you awake and enjoy this moment with joyous vivacity. Manwel, meanwhile, is all smiles as he hurdled the last of the barriers in his elementary studies with his graduation. He is floating like he is in heaven right now.

From my backpack, I produced a long bottle of local brandy and two bottles of a popular soda energy drink and mixed these in a pitcher. It is a perfect match, smooth and non-volatile even without ice and magnify conversations into a lively and animated affair. I love this drink and the brandy glass moved like a tennis ball bouncing back and forth between me and Ernie.

An hour later, the meal is served. Free-rein rooster is best cooked in soup with horse radish and green papaya and it is steaming as it is laid down in a small table. There is also the chicken adobo to contend with plus the steamed well-milled corn. There was silence as everyone helped to himself until we stuff ourselves full.

Afterward, we resumed and finished the brandy to help digest the food we ate. It is already late afternoon and the sun made long shadows among the hills and valleys. Before we left, I parted away a cash gift for Manwel courtesy of Camp Red and we made this day memorable for him.

We left at six in the evening towards the lower valley and we didn't use flashlights. Even when there is no moon rising, the trail we followed are very clear in the dark. We didn't hurry but we walked cautiously and raised our feet higher so we would not trip onto something. Just the same, we reach Napo an hour later.

From Napo, we walked down into Guadalupe on the concrete road until we reached the back of the church at 15 past seven and, from the church, we went straight into our favorite watering hole where we were joined by Boy Toledo. After finishing four 1-liter bottles of Red Horse Extra-Strong Beer we decided to call it a day.

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LED BY CHARITY: Climbing for Manwel Roble

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FOR THE LAST few months or so of 2008, my activities and those of Boy Toledo's and Ernie Salomon's would revolve between Guadalupe and Mt. Babag and back. It was by chance that Ernie brought Boy T and me to this particular trail and I kind of liked it the first time I tread my hike shoes there. Boy T felt the same way. That was on August 17.

This trail is different from all the other trails that criss-crossed Metro Cebu's backyard for it is quite difficult and the ascent is compounded by steep trails of 65-70 degree inclines. This trail is a perfect area for training and is sooooo accessible. Along this trail is a lone house that sits on a hill that is in the middle of the route to Mt. Babag. In there, we find good company with a boy named Manwel who volunteered to guide us and shared his knowledge of the trail.

We climbed there twice in September and we decided, the three of us, to give Manwel a guide fee each time we climb the Babag Mountain Range. A good start to nurture a future trail guide and a chance to help out a poor kid to earn an income to help in his studies and his family. “Teach Pedro how to fish” is the best term for it. Likewise, in October we passed by that trail twice, which I now call Ernie's Trail, in reference to my good friend Ernie (Of course, who else?).

On November 16, I went up on a day trek with Dr. Abe Manlawe, Boy T and Ernie to Mt. Babag again. I brought Manwel four used textbooks and a pair of shoes which my son have outgrown and bread for his family. Doc Abe, Boy T and Ernie opened packs of chocolate crackers for Manwel and his younger sister and brother while Manwel's father climbed a coconut tree to provide us water and meat from young coconuts as his token of appreciation towards us.

Later, during lunch at Babag Ridge, Doc treated Manwel with spaghetti and sandwiches while I provided a 12-ounce Coke for him. They're just small things that matter to a boy like Manwel. Lasting impressions that would carve in a kid's heart that we mountaineers care not just the environment but the people living therein. Lasting impressions for a mountain-bred boy like Manwel that there are still people who cared.

On another trek on November 29, Boy T, Doc Abe, Ernie, Boy Olmedo, Glenn Lao and guests from bisdakcentral.com – Vince, Dusty and Wally – went with me to Mt. Babag. It was an official climb of the Cebu Mountaineering Society. We passed by Manwel's house and we brought them bundles of joy. Doc, inspired by my act of generosity last time around, brought many old textbooks, some used clothings of his now U.S.-based sons and a lot of snacks.

I carried my own bundles of joy, some of it thru the courtesy of Tata Caumeran. I bought them bread and a kilo of brown sugar. We ate our lunch outside their place. Again, as was before, Manwel's father provided another set of young coconuts to supplement our packed lunch which we consumed appreciatively.

After that, we proceeded towards Mt. Babag and we rendezvoused with Ben Lao who carried with him his guitar and harmonica and our tired bodies were swept away with new vigor as Ben serenaded us. Altogether, we set up camp on an unnamed peak where it afforded a 360-degree view of Metro Cebu and the Bonbon River Valley. The peak, located just a couple of hundred meters from Mt. Babag, have not seen the stake of a tent yet and is virgin ground for campers. We jokingly named the campsite “Manwel's Peak” and we stayed there overnight.

Manwel and his cousin, Santi, sourced drinking water and two live native chicken for our supper and we paid cash for those. We cooked the fowls, barbecue style, on an open fire stroked to life by Ernie and me. We ate voraciously during the “boodle-fight” session using abaca leaves as our plates and all felt nourished and full to the brim. The air from up there was very clear and the city lights were a sight to behold.

We left Manwel and Santi with two kilos of rice, canned goods and lots of biscuit after we left in the morning of November 30.

Feeling restless for two weeks, Doc, Boy T, Sam Lim, Glenn Domingo, Ernie and me finally found the chance to climb again on December 14 and embark on another mercy mission. Coming with us were Vince of bisdakcentral.com, Aldinson, Lisa, Andrew and Jim of O.N.E. Cebu, an outdoor club. Tailing along with us with a leash is “Shadow”, a Siberian Husky! It was a strange crowd but with the same giving heart.

As agreed, we spent our lunch at Manwel's place. Vince, Aldinson, Lisa, Andrew and Jim brought out and donated their stuffs like backpacks, old textbooks, used clothes and shoes and foodstuffs. A hard-bound four-volume “High School Self-Taught Books” were part of the package given away by the kind-hearted Aldinson to Manwel. Glenn D, not to be outdone, gave away used clothes and some slightly-used and new toys while Doc, Ernie and Boy T shared food to the children.

I brought two kilos of rice, a pack of chocolate drink and bread to Manwel's family. We were playing Santa there and surprised them with our gifts. It fattened our hearts to extreme proportions seeing tears of joy coming from Manwel's mother as the children found themselves giggling and laughing their hearts out to enjoy this occasion. They exchanged those with another set of young coconuts and “Shadow” loved the coco meat and water so much and found himself competing eating space with us.

Closing the year with a climb, we went back to Mt. Babag on December 28. Boy T, Sam, Ernie and I were joined by Nathan Cannen and Myla Ipil of Kompas Lakaw Mountaineers. It was a good time to shed away the “party fats” which we have accumulated during the Christmas season. We took each step earnestly knowing that the load we carried uphill will be lightened. We passed by an upland community and I left five used textbooks there to the delight of the children. Seeing them so amused I shared two of my three chocolate bars with them.

Climbing on, we reached Manwel's house at last and glad to shed off the post-Christmas gifts we brought to Manwel and his family. Ernie, Sam and I unveiled our packs to reveal a hoard of used clothings. I also brought them and gave away a dozen chorizo, bread, two kilos of rice and an old Coleman 4-liter jug filled with ice-cold orange juice which I prepared especially for them. We ate lunch there and we were treated again by Manwel's father with a bunch of young coconuts.

As you noticed, all my climbs are confined within the Guadalupe-Babag area and I wouldn't trade it for another spectacular climb. If you find our climb boring and monotonous, that's your opinion. I see Ernie's Trail as a chance to exercise and breathe fresh mountain air regularly which most of you could do only once a month, at the most. I don't have to spend a lot of money and time to go to another place or buy expensive specialized gears. I just divert my spending to help other people instead and at the same time enjoy my hobby and get lots of sunshine. I have blazed a new trail which, in this lifetime, I have not seen yet. It is already prepared UP there.

God bless all mountaineers...practice charity!

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MANWEL ROBLE, THE BOY-GUIDE

I HAVE A NEW FRIEND. He may be about 12 or 13 years old and a sixth grader of Napo Elementary School, located in Sapangdaku, a mountain barangay of Cebu City. Everyday he wakes up at four of dawn to help his mother prepare breakfast and packed lunch for him and his younger sister. At half-light of 5:00 AM, he and his sister starts to go down the trail for Napo and reaches their school several minutes past six. Then they go home after five in the afternoon and reach their home in darkness at almost seven in the evening.

They do that five times a week of each month for nine months of a year and repeats the process until they have graduated from elementary. It is different though when it is raining in their area. They reach their destinations late and sometimes they skip their classes if the weather is found unfavorable for them.

In my new friend's case, hopefully, he will be graduating in March or April next year- 2009. I asked him where would he study high school after graduating? He shrugged his shoulders and, courageously holding back tears, he told me that his parents could not support his studies and it all depended upon his father if he could earn enough income from his farming. I was moved and I wished at that moment I am Bill Gates or John Gokongwei. But I am not.

For your information, my friend's house is located on a hill between the trailhead in Napo and the tower area in Mount Babag. It is in the middle of nowhere and nobody's going there except they and us backpackers. But only few city-dwellers have traveled by my friend's house for the trail that passed by there is not known yet to most of our weekend-strutting kind. The trail also happens to be the most challenging and most difficult trail around here. It is different from the numerous trails that criss-crossed at the back of the Guadalupe church.

Ernie Salomon led me and Boy Toledo to this trail and I named that trail “Ernie's Trail”. It is marked by very steep ascents and quite slippery when it is raining. I have made this trail as a training area and to keep fit everytime there is a lull in our mountaineering activities. Now, back to my friend. I would like to help him in my own little way by endorsing him in my weblog and other sites where, hopefully, like-minded individuals would extend their generosity to give my friend an opportunity to make a difference in his life.

In my friend's case, he do have a name and a face. His name is -

MANWEL ROBLE

A face:

And a contact number:

09285821157

It's a SMART number and SMART has a strong presence there being one of the relay steel towers found atop Mt. Babag. Call or text him. If you want him to respond immediately, pass a load to him through SMART Load or PasaLoad. If you prefer the latter, well and good. Just type his mobile number in your keypad, and a space and the amount (2, 5 or 10) you intended to pass (ex. 09285821157 10) and “Send” it to 808. Better yet, copy his number and save it in your cellphone directory and share it with others.

You see, everytime we climb Mt. Babag, Manwel would lend his knowledge and familiarity with the terrain and partly guide us. In return, we would give him a little amount. Or, at times, we would bring bread or snacks for them to eat. Or, sometimes, we gave away some canned goods, discarded textbooks and reading materials, used shoes and clothes. So, in this context, I would appreciate it if we give something back to our less-privileged brothers like Manwel here by hiring them as our “official” trail guides everytime we visit their area and give them something in return for their labor even if WE already know the way. For sure, we have other Manwels in our mind.

Right now, we'll start from here. Let's help Manwel.

God bless you all!

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