On September 8, a Saturday, we had the chance to visit Mulao, Compostela again. This was our second trip to Mulao in over five months.
On this trip, all officers and members of the Board except for Mr. Marimbao, joined us. Those who went with us included Mr. President himself, Boy Moreno, Lea Villegas, Nilo Villaflor, Vin Jayme, Gabe Deligero, Jorge Matig-a, Rudy Monleon, Desiderio Benitez, Mar Carloman, this author, plus the two prospective Trustee candidates Douglas Torefil and Artemiano Altamira (one as a replacement and another as an addition to the current set).
Without our own vehicle to transport us, we flagged down a passenger jeepney that plied between the city and Compostela and negotiated with the driver to take us there for a set amount and fetch us back in the afternoon. We’re all glad he didn’t give us a hard time to convince him as he readily agreed after a short negotiation. Actually he was the third driver we negotiated with after the first two refused our offer.
We set off a few minutes past eight from Wireless (Mandaue), our assembly point. The unit was a multicab so the speed was kind of leisurely. And we didn’t mind it anyway. There’s nothing to catch up to so we enjoyed our trip through engaging ourselves to a light conversation.
We stopped by Lilo-an town proper to buy some food. I had the opportunity to relax and stretch my already cramped leg muscles. That was our first stopover. After a few more kilometers, we had to stop by Nilo’s house in barangay Cotcot, the northernmost barangay in Lilo-an bordering Compostela town. We stopped for good 10 minutes there.
Then upon reaching Compostela town proper, we had to stop again to fetch one member, Pompeii (or is it Pompee?) Bolivar. She texted one of our members to wait for her until 9 A.M. to which we readily obliged. We parked our vehicle across the municipal hall (as she said she’d be waiting) to spot her easily. While waiting for her, we bought two kilos of pork belly inside the town’s wet market. Upon our return, not a hint of Pompeii’s life was evident. We waited for a few more minutes but Pompeii was still an enigma. Was she trying to play tricks with us or she simply wanted to give us an opportunity to test our patience?
We texted her so many times earlier that we’ll wait for her until 9:15 but got no reply from her. At 9:15, seeing not a life or even a spirit of Pompee showed, we decided to proceed to Mulao without her.
We reached Mulao almost half an hour later. The sun shone so bright and we’re glad to see a sunshiny weather for the rest of the day. We allowed ourselves to relax a bit before we could start the meeting. Then hunger got the best of us so we grabbed some finger foods to pacify our starving stomach. Boiled sweet potato (camote) and cardaba (a species of cooking banana or plantain) with the mouth-watering pork cracklings (chicharon baboy) and bunches of young coconuts beckoned us.
While engrossed in our pre-lunch feast (actually a snack), it suddenly rained until it became a downpour. Initially it dampened our spirit but we took it lightheartedly as we cracked jokes to entertain ourselves to while away the time. Thank God, the rain stopped shortly after.
So when the broiled pork belly and the frigate tuna (tulingan), along with the spicy pickled sardines (kinilaw nga tuloy) were ready, everybody decided to eat our lunch early so that nobody would complain about a grumbling stomach, as alleged, while the meeting is ongoing. What a clever excuse! The real reason why the group unanimously opted to have our lunch so early was because the sight of the mouth-watering pickled sardines and the tempting aroma of the juicy grilled pork belly were too much to resist. Call me a liar if you may! Wonder why no pictures ever taken during our lunch? Go figure out.
The meeting ensued immediately after the hearty lunch. Just before our meeting drew to a close, someone’s mobile phone rang out. A text message from Pompee asking where can she find us. It’s already a few minutes past 1:00 P.M. Her text message came after more than 4 hours when we last sent her our text message. I was wondering what time zone she was in during that time. Maybe she was trapped in a time warp? We could only surmise. So we texted her back not to worry about catching us up in Mulao and told her instead that we’re already wrapping up our meeting anytime soon.
The meeting lasted over an hour before we went to the field right at the back of Boy Moreno’s house to
transplant papaya (solo variety) seedlings in the prepared plots. Everybody got the chance to plant his own papaya. I wonder if all those seedlings will grow into female trees. Will they still bear fruit without a male tree to pollinate them? Can someone give me an answer to this question?
Then off we went to survey the site where we would locate our banana orchard. It would be located near the eastern border of the estate. We also checked on the stream where we would source our irrigation as an alternative to deep well. Interestingly enough, the stream was said to have not dried up even in the worst drought that hit Cebu in recent memory.
Our attention was drawn to the structure that spanned the stream not far from where a lone water buffalo was enjoying a dip. It was a hanging bridge. Ironically, the bridge spanned the stream in what appeared to be the shallowest portion of the stream where even a toddler can cross without wetting his feet. 
Maybe the bridge is only used when the stream swells during rainy season. At first glance, the bridge looked like a joke because who would think of building a bridge where not even a soul would care to cross as there seemed to be no socio-economic importance from the opposite banks of the stream.
Maybe the captain at that time who built the bridge had a different sense of humor. Unfortunately, only a handful of his constituents were amused. Frogs and toads might also be singing a happy tune.
