Parola

The first stop on my itinerary; I honestly didn’t know what to expect and I was just taking it literally, a simple lighthouse obviously by a body of water. After I met up with my tour guide, anxious about the day ahead I started interrogating my tour guide on how the people are, questions basically about how life is in Tanay. While he was enthusiastically answering every question I threw at him he was also signaling me to turn left or right at the same time, cruising by neighborhoods and small side streets, taking my time taking in the scenes we were passing by.

Then suddenly we were at the sea. Amusingly surprised by the fact that I forgot that we were heading here and true enough, it was a befitting “first stop” by all means. Entering the gate, I noticed a sign attached, saying that there was a certain time where vehicles could not enter the dike leading to the lighthouse, I was about to ask my guide about it but I was taking in too much scenery that it just escaped me. We passed rice fields where their respective farmers were already working on their crops and I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if they were there since the crack of dawn. Livestock such as goats and cows also seemingly getting ready for the day ahead, lying around and taking in the sun, scenes of fishing boats, fishermen and fisheries quarried and made with bamboo, looked from afar as tall white grass sprouting from the sea. All of it caught me off guard because it all seemed so surreal being that near to the town proper and I was expecting a longer drive. I can only describe what I felt as this: The entire scene seemed to have suddenly been dropped in front of me from the heavens without warning, I was truly in awe.



The Lighthouse, commonly known as the “Parola” or “dike” by Tanay’s locals is as poetic and fitting as a foreground for any painting of any landscape I have ever seen, an adjective snatcher. A working vanguard to incoming sea bearing vehicles, it sits proudly perched on the Laguna de bay and was built in 1960 under the administration of then Mayor Hon. Theodulfo Bernados, painted bright blue and white (truly a maritime color scheme), its a four-story spire, with a wrap-around spiral staircase all the way to the top, elegantly simple in its design.

Although it is the centerpiece of the entire area, for me it wasn’t actually what sets it apart from any lighthouse that I‘ve been to before, what sets it apart to me are the events or a much better a word, “rituals” that happen there and what the dike means and represents to the people who live near and around it. I arrived late sadly, a few minutes short of witnessing the daily ritual of whole Tanayan families and individuals alike, of taking in the fresh sea air and basking in the early light of morning. I then remembered the sign we passed and how it all made sense that they restricted vehicles entering the area, reserving it exclusively for people alone to enjoy the untainted fresh air that would all be replaced by gas fumes if they would have been allowed to enter, that little thing made my heart smile.

Though pictures of what I have missed did somewhat quench my imagination of what that would actually feel like to be there I’m sure it would never even come close to actually being there among all those people. Nevertheless, I could see why it would be the perfect place to start the day.

Although I did arrive a few minutes too late, there were still a few groups of people still hanging around, getting ready for the day ahead with coffee in their hands, chatting and sitting around the edges of the dike, little food stalls still filled by patrons having breakfast by the sea. A bunch of kids in school uniforms apparently finishing their assignments, helping each other out before heading in for first period were on a bench across from where I was sitting and writing down notes and ideas, observing and listening to the music emanating from the lampposts surrounding the entire dike and simply just being “there”, relaxing after a long commute on a structure recently built by the SK (Sangguniang Kabataan) with help of the local government, endearingly called by the locals “Asotea” or back porch. A quaint Spanish inspired shade with benches and tables welcoming and ready to receive.

Looking around the edges of the asotea, I could see it was wrapped in light and I began imagining this entire area coming to life at night and being told that videoke/karaoke machines were put out during the night right were I was sitting for everyone to enjoy, completed the picture in my mind. A picture truly Filipino; of lovers meeting, people unwinding after a days worth of work, friends simply enjoying each others company, sharing collected stories from the day that was about to pass and singing the night away nestled in a picturesque landscape as this.

Written by Alexander "Tuts" Calinawan    
Source:  Tanay Geographic