Last week, we left off at finding “I Balo-i” in the heart of Mindanao. This week, more of Mindanao, more specifically the lovely city of Cagayan de Oro.
My BFF Noreen, her cousin Nora, and I were hosted by a former Jakarta expat, Lolit Cua, who runs the family owned Casa Canitoan, named after the area where it stands.
We arrived there in the evening of August 15, and were housed in a French Colonial country house standing in the midst of much lush greenery.
Lolit’s family welcomed us – she was still in Iloilo and would arrive the next day still. As it turned out, she arrived early on the day after the next day, which, as it further turned out, was the day in Marawi I wrote of last week.
Our second day in CDO was spent on a pilgrimage to Divine Mercy Hills, where there is a towering statue of Jesus. This was upon the suggestion of my CDO-based “kid” Jerome Soldevilla, who was one of the Participating Youth (PYs) in the Philippine Contingent to the 1992 Ship from Southeast Asia Youth Program (SSEAYP), a contingent that all called their National Leader – moi -- “Mommy.” As we explained to Lolit, Noreen, and Nora.
The Divine Mercy Hills overlook the Macajalar Bay in the El Salvador area of CDO. There are steep steps that allow pilgrims to climb to the heart of the statue of Jesus, where His “heart” is also located. There was a long line to get there and a long line to get back to the foot of the statue.
The view of the bay, especially from the top of the steps, is in a word: spectacular. At the base, there is a chapel where prayer petitions are accepted and a nearby spring outlet where we filled bottles with water the pious say can heal.
Perhaps the best summary of goings on at this shrine is by Jessica Soho, in a GMA feature early this year (search #KMJSPinoyMysteries).
This I can say. There is a deep sense of peace on those quiet hills. I felt it, so did Nora and Noreen. We agreed too that we felt a sacredness to the place and an abiding religiosity in CDO City as we likewise felt in Naga City.
We throw the idea around that the religiosity comes from those centuries of Spanish dominion in our islands. We all came away from the pilgrimage with mementos of it, of which mine will arrive in Baguio, Noreen’s in Jakarta, and Nora’s in Taguig.
The rest of our visit in CDO City was spent doing other sights and sampling these pleasant restaurants built on the hills. One was called High Ridge, which was just beautiful at night, especially since we could see CDO City alive with lights from where we ate, thank you Jerome and Lolit. Another was Hugo’s, from where one can paraglide and/or eat. We chose the latter, bakets all after all.