Hi, ka-Hivers I’m back at it again with my 5th blog.
New words to be unlocked
- Libjo- the place where the cave is located
- Libjoanon – refers to the local people of
Libjo
Did you know that this cave was discovered even before World War 2? Quiet too old right?
But it’s true, it was discovered even before World War II. The Libjoanon started to make this cave serve its purpose and that is to be a hidden place during World War II.
Why would they hide?
They hide because American soldiers with their weapons reached Libjo (soon I’ll share about their contribution to Libjo). Some of the locals were too scared so they chose to find a place away from the soldiers. They’d rather stay in the cave rather than in their houses. My great-grandmother, my grandmother, and her sisters are some of those locals, they experienced hiding in this cave and chose to leave their home.
This cave became significant to Libjoanon as it became their safe ground during World War II. In addition, This cave also became an evacuation center for every typhoon. Especially during Yolanda or typhoon Haiyan, the nearest locals benefit here more because they can just easily run and go to this cave.
The entrance of this cave may look small but according to the elders, it has a wider space inside. You can cook here, sleep, and you can even stand inside the cave. There’s a table-like stone formed inside too.
Why was I there?
Well, I have been looking for some cave that is within my reach for our cultural mapping. I have asked my grandma and some elders if there’s a cave and they gave me information about this cave. Together with my mother and brother, we hike up to the mountain. Our house is located on the upper part of Libjo and the cave that we’re looking for is on the topmost that it needs to hike up for an hour. As we reached the top, there were some houses and we asked someone where the cave was exactly located.
We went down to this terrace-like landscape but it was destroyed so it was very difficult to get down.
The cave isn’t that obvious but when you go close, just wow! I haven’t seen such an opening of the cave. When I was in High School I tried going into a cave I forgot where it was exactly but it had a bit narrow entrance, tho you could stand inside.
When we reached this cave, we said "Tabi, tabi buyag". I wanted to see what was inside of it. It looks so super cool from the outside! I was so curious that I wanted to touch what was inside. I wanna take a picture of what was inside the cave. I wanna know how it feels to be inside this cave where our ancestors found this safe. Truth be told I would agree the inside is wide although it’s only the nearest spot I can see because the rest is already dark.
My grandma warned us not to get inside if it’s only us my mother, baby brother and I in the nearby area. Maybe a snake or some creature is living there. Well, I understand my lola because my mother when she was a baby some creature hid her on top of a stone with a very rocky path under a very big lumboy tree (or Java Plum if I'm not mistaken). Luckily enough, my mother was found because the people nearby helped to make a noise. It was a belief that if someone is missing just make too much noise and you will find who you're looking for. When they found my mother, she said my lolo was the one who brought her there, but, my lolo didn’t. He was harvesting corn at that time and my Lola was grilling some corn with my mother when she just suddenly disappeared. So, they think some creature copied my Lolo’s face and took my mother. If my mom wasn’t found until sunset she would be taken by the creature for real. That’s why my parents and my relatives feared if I went to something unknown. It was a superstitious belief that if my mom wasn’t able to get by some creature the firstborn would be taken.
So sadly to avoid any problem I didn’t enter the cave. Although I think the cave is safe, it is safer if some local/s are with us who have been there already or if more people are going inside.
Soon, I really want to go hike up again and explore the inside. I want to try sleeping inside a cave and study its overall features. Because I really love how natural the cave was and the surroundings are so natural too. It wasn't known to be a tourist attraction yet, but it was and will always be a safe Hive for the people living in Libjo!
Nature is amazingly beautiful!
That’s all for my Cave-Hivers blog. Thank you and Shalom!✨🤗