Katooga Team organizes by the founder Mr. Mike Zuniga in partnership with Department of Tourism of Camarines Norte along with 11 Manila bloggers is set to discover the yearly celebrated event in Camarines Norte which is "The Bantayog Festival 2019".
It's the 15th Bantayog Festival and the 99th Camarines Norte Founding Anniversary dubbed as "Nagkakaisang CamNorteno Tungo sa Bagong Siglo" it's more than a month celebration that starts from April 2 to May 6, 2019. Various activities are scheduled every day and some of these are I'm going to share in this blog.
Our journey begins last April 26, 2019. We left Manila past 9 pm and arrive in Daet around 5:30 am. It's an 8-hour trip if you ride with the Van and less stopover. I remember we stop once only in part of Quezon province just to urinate, rest, and eat for some snacks. You can ride also some provincial buses available in their designated terminal in Cubao or Pasay but I don't how long it gonna take for buses before you can reach Daet Camarines Norte.
This is our Day 1 to Daet Camarines Norte and before we head up to our scheduled activity for the day, we stay first at Jocelle's Garden and Tourist Inn located at Diego Linan St. Brgy. 7 Daet, Camarines Norte. We stay here for a while to rest, take a bath and eat our breakfast.
After our refreshment, we are ready to start our trip to some of the highlight events of the Bantayog Festival. Our first destination is the Bangkathon located at The Community Fish Landing Center Brgy. Mangcamagong Basud, Daet Camarines Norte. It's a 30-minute travel from the hotel where we stay.
Bangkathon - is a boat race competition showcasing the talents of Bicolanos in maneuvering their respective boats from the start up to the finish line. Since Bicol is surrounded by bodies of water it's become a tourist attraction for Bantayog Festival every year. This is a 2-day that consist of different race category. We witness one race category which is a head to head match up. Two racers will go around the obstacle course that they need to pass fighting the waves of the sea up to the finish line.
We just stay for almost an hour only here in Bangkathon so we could reach the other activities of the Bantayog Festival.
Our Next Stop is the "The 1st Bantayog Angling Competition" located at San Jose, Talisay Camarines Norte. It's a 45-min ride from Brgy. Mangacamagong up to here.
"Angling" is another term for (hook fishing), participants are given a limited time to catch as many fish as they can using their fishing rod and of course their skills. After 3 hours of fishing, the time has come to declare who wins the competition. To determine the winner, participants will submit their caught fishes and will put on a weighing scale and whoever gets the highest weighted fish wins the competition regardless of the quantity or size of the fish caught. The aim of this event is to measure the cleanliness of the seas which enormously important for the people of Camarines Norte.
After the two events, it's already lunchtime so we went to Bonita's Lechon Haus to have our lunch. They serve different varieties of viand and their specialty is the "Lechon Sinigang and Brown Rice Coffee". Next to our launch is a tour to Daet's Capitol Plaza and the famous landmark monument of Bantayog dedicated to our national hero Dr. Jose Rizal.
The Rizal Monument in Daet, Camarines Norte was the first monument built to honor José Rizal and is the oldest surviving such monument in the Philippines. It was designed by Lt. Colonel Antonio Sanz with the help of Ildefonso Alegre of the Philippine Revolutionary Army and through the financial contributions of the locals of Camarines Norte. The three-tiered stone pylon with its square base supporting a triangle in two stages was the first monument and memorial marker in memory of the Philippines' National Hero.
The construction of the memorial marker started on December 30, 1898, 2 years after the death of Rizal and in compliance with a decree of Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo to observe the said date as a national holiday in the "Free Philippines."
It was declared as a historical landmark in 1961 by the National Historical Commission and was declared a national monument on 9 July 2008 by virtue of Resolution No. 12 by the National Historical Institute (now the National Historical Commission of the Philippines).
Three Stars and a Sun
Standing at about 20 feet, the three-tiered stone pylon has a cube for a base, a three-sided pyramid in the middle, and a triangular pyramid which tapers off to a point at the top. Pinned on top is an eight-ray sun and on each of the three sides (middle) is a bas-relief of a golden star. The famous "Three Stars and a Sun" was originally a symbol of the Katipuneros fighting for the independence of the country. (By Christa Dela Cruz)
The phrase "A Jose Rizal" (To Jose Rizal) can be found on two of the sides of the middle tier (no inscription at the back).
The podium was inscribed with the titles and publication year of Rizal's novels: "Noli Me Tangere" (1887), "El Filibusterismo" (1891), and "Morga" (1889). The last is not really an original but an annotation of Antonio de Morga's "Sucesos De Las Islas Filipinas" (1609), which he copied verbatim from the British Museum.
One hour later we reach Bagasbas Beach which known to be the surfing and kite spot. On our way to this beach, we pass on the longest Boulevard in the Philippines with approximately 8.7 kilometers stretching the towns of Daet, Mercedes and Talisay.
The president Cory Aquino Boulevard serves an access road to the various tourist destinations in the province of Camarines Norte. It is situated along the fine shores of Bagasbas Beach with wide boardwalk cast from semi adobe bricks intended for tourist view deck.
A few moments later we went back to our hotel to rest for a while and for some refreshment. Around 8 pm we are summoned to have our dinner in Dulzenia Catering and Restaurant that receives an award for the official caterer for Bantayog festival in 2016.
They serve us their best selling dishes like pancit, spaghetti, sisig, and many more. Right after our dinner, we went again to the plaza to watch the variety show program. This concludes our Day 1 here in Daet Camarines Norte.
Watch out for our Day 2 Adventure. For more information visit: https://www.facebook.com/GoCamNorte/
To God Be the Glory!
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