Antique’s smallest volcano hides a forbidden love affair

WHEN the Visayan Islands were still part of the Shri-Bishaya Sultanate and the majority of the inhabitants of Panay Island were the Aetas and called the island Aninipay (after a sea shell that was later used in making capiz windows and capiz home decors), there lived a woman named Anini, the beautiful daughter of a Malayan chieftain in the southernmost tip of Hamtic, the original name of the province of Antique. Nogas, a handsome former slave and farmer’s son with the body of a warrior, fell madly in love with Anini. Theirs was a forbidden love affair, for Anini belongs to the maharlikas, the royalty, while Nogas is a descendant of the uripons, or slaves. And so the love affair ended in a tragedy – Nogas was killed and his body thrown into the sea, where an island appeared and was named after him. Anini died out of loneliness and was buried along the rocky seashore facing the island that was once her lover. On her burial site appeared a hot spring and a small volcano. The hot water represents her tears while the volcano is her heart, still beating for Nogas.

I’m not really sure if this is the correct folk tale of Anini and Nogas. I heard this story many years ago from a friend who came from that place, and I had also read a children’s book in Kinaray-a about it. But since I fancy myself as the poet of love, I can always make my own version of the story. Every time I’m in Siraan, this love story would always play out in my mind. Anini-y is the southernmost town of the province of Antique, which hugs the western coast of Panay island. It is where you will find the Siraan Hot Spring, a famous seaside excursion spot for Antiqueños especially those from the capital town of San Jose de Buenavista, an hour and a half drive along dusty rough roads. Some visitors also come from Iloilo City, about two and a half hours away. The main feature of the resort is an old and mossy swimming pool with warm water that reeks of sulfur. Downwards on the rocky shore are bathtubs with hot spring water where you can enjoy the soothing effect of the sulfuric hot water on your body. It is believed that the hot water of Siraan can cure aching bones and muscles, as well as skin diseases like eczema and fungal infections. Just past the gate, there is a tiny mound about the size of a regular bungalow which is actually a sleeping volcano. Many of my friends would not believe it, but after seeing the abandoned Phivolcs station beside it, they would stare in awe. Indeed, there was a time when Anini-y town would experience a lot of earthquakes in a day. Perhaps, this little volcano really poses no threat. After all, there is a Marian grotto on the tip of the volcano. After Phivolcs abandoned their station, the municipal government of Anini-y which manages the resort transformed the structure into a small club house. As a child growing up in San Jose de Buenavista, there were two or three occasions when our family along with other relatives would rent a rusty jeepney and go to Siraan for an excursion. Just before sunset, we would go home happy and tired with sunburnt skin. As an adult working in Iloilo City, and now in Quezon City, every time I’m in Antique I would always invite my friends to go there. We would swim, talk, laugh, eat and drink while we are there. It is a great opportunity to catch up on each other’s lives. The problem with Siraan Hot Spring as a travel destination is that the roads going there are in terrible condition, whether you are coming from Iloilo or from San Jose de Buenavista. It is very rough and dusty during summer, and slippery and muddy during the rainy season. The cottages are also badly in need of the services of an interior designer. The food in the resort’s only canteen are barely edible, and most of the time, the blaring karaoke would disturb the entire resort. The province of Antique is becoming more aggressive in promoting potential tourist destinations like Siraan, but with these sad and sometimes irritating realities, I don’t think visitors are likely to flock to this place. Sometime last year, just before the end of the rainy season, I went to Siraan with a dear friend. There we talked all afternoon while sharing a bath tub of hot spring water and enjoying the sights of the sea and the forest. We stayed there for two nights and three days. On our second night, it was raining heavily. The habagat made the waves quite restless. I opened the door of our cottage and looked at the dark sea. I could see the flickering red light of the parola in the island of Nogas. If indeed the hot sulfuric water that fill the pool and the tubs of the resort are Anini’s tears and the tiny dormant volcano is her heart longing for Nogas, it occurred to me that across time, every evening in that part of the Visayan sea, the star-crossed lovers would share an intimate night together—Anini’s tears flowing to the sea reaching the island that is Nogas, and Nogas professing his unending love through the blinking of the light house. This is the only acceptable ending of their forbidden love story, now that hundreds of years have passed, and now that the rains and winds can no longer harm them. I closed and locked the door. I could hear the soft snoring of my friend on the other bed competing with the sound of rain on the cold tin roof, the impersonal and almost threatening whooshing of the wind, and the rough singing of the waves. I went to my own bamboo bed and willingly submitted myself to sleep. – YA, GMANews.TV Photos by YASMIN D. ARQUIZA