Camalaniugan in Cagayan

 The town of Camalaniugan in the province of Cagayan is home to the oldest bell in the Philippines and the Southeast Asia, forged in 1595, the Maria Sancta, also known as the Bell of Antiquity.

In the early days, the church of Camalaniugan, dedicated to Saint Jacek of Poland, now a beautiful ruins that can be witnessed near the Cagayan River banks, was destroyed by typhoon and earthquake in 1845, because of the threats of the river overflowing, they abandoned the old building and erected the modern San Jacinto de Polonia house of worship just nearby.

For the eerie part, the lore says that a headless priest is said to be guarding and roam the place, other apologue has it that the ruins got treasures entombed when the church disintegrated.

  The oldest bell is now housed at the belfry right beside the new church.There are also other antiquated bells placed within, dated 18th and 19th century.

 The Maria Sancta has no traces of how it arrived in Camalaniugan, historical records only says that it was exhibited in the International Eucharistic Congress in 1937.

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Aparri shown

Aparri in Cagayan is located at the northen tip of Luzon island. In the olden days, it was an important trading port in the Philippines, exchanging goods from Mexico in Latin America - the Galleon trade, that is. Aparri is about 2 hours from Tuguegarao City.

There were no records showing how the town got its name, One story says that Aparri got its name from the word "apparian", a derivative of the Ibanag, because of the presence of the priests. Another story says that Aparri was derived from the word "aparte", meaning separate, because it was a part of Camalaniugan and Buguey. 

The town may be sleepy but the people are nice and funny. Funny in the sense that I crack up at the back of my head picturing Jollibee customers ate their spaghetti with a spoon. Yes, fork on one hand AND spoon on the other. Of course  there's nothing wrong with that, I just find it waggish and somehow made me smile broadly. 

Real adventure may be found in an island administered by the municipality of Aparri in the Babuyan archipelago, Fuga Island.  Aparri is where "the river meets the sea".