A return to Bohol, where memory meets new horizons

The island's changing landscape offers both the comfort of the familiar and the excitement of discovery

- FELICIANO RODRIGUEZ III

Our first trip to Bohol came in 2010, when a friend from Tagbilaran extended an invitation to explore the island. The flight landed at the small city airport, a modest terminal set right in the middle of town. From there, it was only a short walk to the host's house, a reminder of how compact and unhurried provincial life could be.

What struck us then was the harmony of the community. People were warm and genuine, the streets were clean, and there was little of the commercial clutter that had already crept into other towns. Tagbilaran felt orderly and proud, much like Marikina, standing in sharp contrast to our own hometown of Sta. Rosa, Laguna, where rapid development had begun to crowd out the old charm.

Like many locals unsure of what to show visitors, the host turned to a friend - a doctor assigned to Bohol under the Doctors to the Barrios program - for suggestions. That set the group on the familiar circuit: the Tagbilaran Museum, the old city church, and a restaurant where the staff, all deaf and mute, served with quiet grace. Dinner that evening was at the Bohol Bee Farm, where herbs, flowers, and honey flavored the meal.

Over the following days we saw the places every first-time visitor wants to see. Panglao's white-sand beach. The Loboc river cruise. The Chocolate Hills. And the tarsiers, of course (back then, visitors were still allowed to hold them). Baclayon Church, its stones weathered by centuries, was unforgettable.