Parada ng Kakanin

This festival originates back in the Spanish Era where the people of San Mateo Rizal offer kakanin (native rice delicacies) as a sign of prayer and thanksgiving to the Nuestra Senora de Aranzazu.

Back in the days, San Mateo Rizal was surrounded by rice fields which is their main industry and source of income. Thru this abundant resources, cooking kakanin had been a part of every rizaleneos life.

At present, different industry had sprung up in the city such as poultry and livestock, but still, San mateo Rizal holds firm to their specialty, the kakanin. READ MORE...

Chocolate Hills of Bohol

Your trip to Bohol will never be complete without taking a glimpse on the famous Chocolate Hills.

On your way to the Chocolate Hills, you will be welcomed with the beauty of Bohol’s Man Made Forest. Planted initially to prevent flash floods in the area and maintain ecological balance in the remaining natural forest, the man-made forest of Bilar is the largest man-made forest in the country. Thousands of mahogany seedlings were planted during the time of Governor Lino Chatto on a cleared area of 857.4 hectares in Bilar and Loboc towns. The tall Mahogany trees can be seen along the road as you travel to Chocolate Hills.

The story behind the formation of the chocolate hills? Well, about 2 million years ago, most of the island of Bohol was below a shallow sea. Coral reefs, similar to these found offshore of Northern Bohol, thrived and extremely covered the sea floor. During stormy days, fragments of coral reefs and shells derived by waves from the reef were deposited mostly by the landward side of the reefs. The coral and shell fragments formed relatively thin layers surrounding the live coral reefs.

Slowly, the land rose causing the coral reef formation to emerge out of the sea. The Southern section of Bohol had been uplifted more than the Northern section. READ MORE.