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In case you want something different for Good Friday, try the Pasyon in Dalaguete’s cool highland, Mantalongon, which now carries the title “Summer Capital of Cebu,” based on a 2006 Cebu Sangguniang Panlalawigan resolution.
Recall that the municipal government of Balamban wanted the provincial government to declare Barangay (village) Gaas, where Mt. Manunggal is, as the province’s summer capital. Like Mantalongon, the area also has a cool atmosphere, but it is more known as the crash site of the ill-fated plane that ended the life of President Ramon Magsaysay, the most beloved of the country’s presidents. The municipal government of Dalagute countered that Mantalongon has already been known as Cebu’s summer capital, albeit unofficially, since the prewar years. Respecting tradition perhaps, the provincial board decided in favor of Mantalongon. Thanks to former board member Carmiano Kintanar, who sponsored the resolution.
It should be remembered also that before the last war, talks of breaking up the province into Northern and Southern Cebu were afoot. Naturally, the issue where the capitals of two new provinces if realized were to be located also came out. An old Spanish article Dalagute Mayor Andrade Alcantara showed me (I read the English translation) says that Mantalongon, because of its location and Baguio-like climate, would have been the most common choice as Southern Cebu’s capital.
Near the Mantalongon Public Market is Cristo Rey Mountain Park, which is located within the four-hectare land owned by the heirs of the late Don Crispin Almagro. Filled with pine trees, it is perfect for meditation and prayer this Holy Week. Life-size statues depicting the Stations of the Cross were constructed some 50 years ago there by former Dalaguete mayor Conrada Almagro. According to PR Works, which organizes this year’s “Pasyon in Mantalongon,” Gilbert Bargayo, who usually gets himself nailed to the cross every Good Friday in Carcar, will have his annual act of penitence in Mantalongon this time.
Mantalongon’s Pasyon will start with a procession and enactment of the Stations of the Cross, following a 1.8-kilometer route from the old cross at Villa Caridad, another point of interest in Mantalongon, all the way to the park. The procession will be capped with the nailing of Bargayo to the cross and the “Siete Palabras”. A third generation member of the Almagro Clan in Dalaguete, “Joe Canton,” who represents PR Works, says that this year’s Pasyon in Mantalongon will serve as the first step for the eventual pilgrimage of the faithful, including tourists, who are attracted by the natural beauty, peace, and quite in Mantalongon during the period of Lent.
It will be a real sacrifice actually when you go Mantalongon for the Pasyon, which is just right for the Lent. First of all, of the 12-kilometer stretch of road from the poblacion to Mantalongon, only a third of the way is concreted. This is unfortunate because Mantalongon has lots of potential for tourism development, in addition to its being the “vegetable basket” of the province and source of coal that serves part of the needs of the power sector and other industries for fuel. Hopefully, this will be corrected soon. In his first official visit to Dalaguete for the oath-taking ceremony of the new local officials., Cebu 2nd District Rep. Pablo Garcia promised to finish the road concreting during his term.
Midway between Poblacion and Mantalongon is a short section of the road called Paling-Paling. The steepness of the mountainside from where this section was cut limited the road to just one lane of up to a kilometer long. Thus, when two vehicles, one from each direction, approach the area, one has to stop and wait until the other vehicle has passed. Paling-Paling road is also stony which makes your car rock from side to side when you pass. That is now corrected with the asphalting of that particular section before the last election. Works on Paling-Paling was started few years back. Lack of funding stopped the project halfway to its completion.
At present, you cannot find hotels in Mantalongon. However, rooms are available at the poblacion (Ocean Bay Resort and Just Inn Cottages) and in Manangal and Coro (Cebu Countryside Villa and Resort and Rockwalled Adventure Resort). With the once-popular Argao Beach Club gone now, there’s no more room to rent in Casay. Its white beach, however, under the care and management of the Philippine Tourism Authority, is still open to local and foreign tourists. Just bring your own provisions.
