Sohoton National Park - Basey, Samar

Photo Credits to : Region VIII , Eastern Visayas Facebook Page- no copyright infringement intended 

Sohoton National Park - Basey, Samar 
Photo Credits to : Mr. Gerry Ruiz of Calle Zaragosa, Tacloban City

           

            Samar Island which is the 3^rd largest Island of the Philippines is truly rich in nature’s beauty.  The town of Basey located at the south coast of the island is bounded with much richness.


            Let us try to check one of travellers and tourist favourite destinations in Basey, the Sohoton National Park.

Photo Credits to : Mr. Gerry Ruiz - Calle Zaragosa- no copyright infringement intended

Sohoton National Park 

            This is situated in Sitio Rawis, Brgy. Guirang part of the town of Basey. The park is bounded with caves, rockholes, freshwater rivers, underground rivers and pools, limestone boulders and other rock formations. A must-visit place when you travel to Basey.

            Sohoton comes from the Waray-Waray word “Sohot” which could possibly means bend over and pass through.  Because Sohoton is a place where there are lots of caves and you need to bend over just to pass through, so the place is called Sohoton or a place where you need to bend over just to pass through.

Photo Credits to : Mr. Gerry Ruiz - Calle Zaragosa- no copyright infringement intended

                    

            As of today, there are four major prominent cathedral-like caves in Sohoton Park, namely Sohoton Cave, Bugosan Cave, Panhulugan Cave I and II. These four caves offer spectacular rock formations and bountiful flowstones and dripstones. And a visitor should know also that there are other caves part of Sohoton National Park like the Bugasan and Kapigtan Caves which houses protected ancient remains.

Photo Credits to : Mr. Gerry Ruiz - Calle Zaragosa- no copyright infringement intended

 Sohoton Bridge

            An atypical curve rock that bridges two mountain ridges spanning the Sohoton River. The bridge is 40 meters long and 8 meters wide and with a vertical clearance of 23 feet. When you visit the Sohoton Cave, then you will definitely pass through this bridge with rock formations on one side and forested on the other side, what a stunning view about nature.

Photo Credits to : Mr. Gerry Ruiz - Calle Zaragosa- no copyright infringement intended

 Sohoton Cave

            This is one of the main attractions of Sohoton National Park. The entrance of the cave is parabolic-arc-shaped and with the height of fifty (50) meters. The cathedral-like entrance chamber of the cave is definitely inviting with its fantastic view outside and the cool breeze emanating from the cave. The flat door is about 20 meters by 50 meters

            Spiky-shaped and other shape of stalactite will be observed in its ceiling and wall. From the cave you can see a natural swimming pool where most of the tourists loved to swim and do the binge eating after.

Photo Credits to : Mr. Gerry Ruiz - Calle Zaragosa- no copyright infringement intended

Panhulugan Cave 1

                        The cave has plenty of chambers with a variety of rock formations and is geologically active evidenced by the droplets from the stalactites to the stalagmites. This is one of the must see features of the cave, from the different formations and images of the flowstones and cave crystals. The main chamber of Panhulugan Cave 1 is up to 49.2 feet high.

Photo Credits to : Mr. Gerry Ruiz - Calle Zaragosa- no copyright infringement intended

Panhulugan Cave 2

            The cave offers a different way of convincing visitors because of its snow-white and crystalline stalactites of different formations and images. This cave is divided into four areas, from A to D. The cave is 16.4 feet meters high and around 164 feet in length. The cave is a fantastic tunnel of stalactites and stalagmites formations in its ceiling, wall and floor. Basaynon, people of Basey, must be very proud of having such enormous beauty of nature.

Photo Credits to : Mr. Gerry Ruiz - Calle Zaragosa- no copyright infringement intended

Panhulugan Cliff

            The cliff is located right across Panhulugan Cave 1 and from the cliff you can see and appreciate more the beauty of the Sohoton River and its forestry.  

            Panhulugan comes from the Waray-Waray word “Hulug” which means drop from atop or push it down. The explanation is that the Filipino guerrillas used the cliff as an ambush site during the Filipino-American war wherein when Americans are planning to charge on to their hideout, from the top of the cliff the rebels will drop boulders of rocks and other heavy loads preventing the intruders to ransack their hideout.

Photo Credits to : Mr. Gerry Ruiz - Calle Zaragosa- no copyright infringement intended

 Bugasan and Kapigtan Caves

            These are caves smaller to Panhulugan and Sohoton caves. This caves have concavities where ancient remains had been found. This remains are protected and it forbidden for public viewing because some of the artifacts were found out to be used during the Stone and Irone Age period.








Photo Credits to Mr. Gerry Ruiz  - http://gerryruiz.callezaragosa.com/

~

Basey6720

Name Origin of Basey

People are wondering on how Basey got its name. The word “Basey” comes from the vernacular word “Baysay” which means beauty. This is in docility to the most beautiful quondam inhabitant Bungansakit.

A competition in honor of Bungansakit on adoption of name for the new town so the original village of Balud was renamed to “Guibaysayi” which means most beautiful.

There is a presumption that the word “Basay” was pronounced by the Americans, when we were colonized, as “Basey”. The last syllable “say” was pronounced “sey” because the Americans have difficulty in pronouncing “ah”. Say means “to utter” in the English language. The locals trying to mimic or ridicule the way foreigners speak the word so Basay is popularly pronounced as Basey. People from generations to generations passed this way of reading the word Basay to Basey unwittingly.

The people of Basey decided to use Basay rather than Baysay for the convenience in conversation, in addition to, the Spanish corrupted Basay to Basey in their documentation to suit in their formal writings.“Basey” is always found in Spanish records relationg to town from early maps of the Philippines to the Church bells of St. Michael Arcangel which date back as early as 1858.

Photo Credits to : Joseph Gaw- no copyright infringement intended

 People now in Basey still tends to use Basay when conversing to others in regular chit-chats but basically, the word Basey is more predominant and more formal to use in daily operations and serviceability.

~

Basey 6720

History of Basey : The Legend of Bungansakit

Every now and then, people would always ask and wonder about the history of Basey especially the Basaynon, people from Basey.

Generation to generations have passed but the legend of the beautiful Bungansakit will always be a part of the history. The Legend of Bungansakit is truly a story that reflects the origin of Basey. A book written by Mr. Wilmo C. Orejola was published entitled 

“A Mat Weaver’s Story: the Legend of Bungansakit” manifests the stronghold of the history of Basey through its writings and research.

The story begins to the childless couple Kadiko and Guilanda in the village of Omit which is presently called Bgy. Magallanes. This couple had been praying and dreaming of having a child for so many years but unfortunately they were not blessed even by just one. But one day in the woods, the couple finds a very beautiful baby and as what others said, the baby was an unwanted white baby or probably an albino. 

The couple was very very happy because their prayers have been answered. They name the baby, Bungansakit which means “fruit of sorrow or sacrifices”.  The couple have been praying for a child for around twenty years and that day was the answer for their sacrifices and devotion.

The baby grows unusually very beautiful and possesses distinct foreign features that the villagers think the child as an offspring of a fairy and a mortal parentage. That idea about bungansakit brings much attention because of her atypical and extraordinary features that people of power and influence try to subdue or capitalize on her. 

Bungansakit falls in love with Suguihon, a consciencious and skillful bachelor living near to the village. They were married in a Christian wedlock.  The story ends tragically when a envious and covetous Moro suitor plunders the Christian villages of Omit and Balud and abducts Bungansakit to Moroland.