Legend of my Hometown

Casaroro Falls

In the town of Valencia, Negros Oriental located  9.4 kilometers west of Dumaguete City lies the beautiful Casaroro Falls considered to be the most photographed waterfall in the entire Negros province. Casaroro Falls is lodged deep into the rock crevices of the rugged Valencia mountains. With an astounding height of 100 feet, the water plunges into a deep cold basin before it flows down to a stream. The waterfall is considerably narrow, instead of the usual wide cascade, but this is precisely what makes Casaroro unique. Though despite its narrowness, the volume of water that drops is heavy and causes a roar as it touches the pool. Around the basin are natural boulders huge enough to rest any traveler’s weary feet. Because of the volume of the water that drops into the water, it causes some accidents and some of them have died because the water that flows down into the steam, some of my friends told me that if you go to the water that flows down it will push you down and you cannot breath so it causes death. 

Filipino-Japanese-American Amity Memorial Shrine 

The Filipino-Japanese-American Amity Memorial Shrine marks the easternmost portion of the main defense site that runs west along the two ridges converging on the top of Mount Talinis, Negros Island‘s second highest mountain. It was here where the main elements of the 174th Independent Unit of the Japanese Imperial Army under the command of Colonel Satoshi Oie, properly positioned in a series of bunkers, dugouts, foxholes, and tunnels linked by connecting trenches had battled the combined forces of the 164th Division of the US Army and the guerilla elements of the 73rd Provisional Division of the 7th Military District of Negros Island.
The Battle of the Ridges commenced in earnest on April 27, 1945 and by the early part of June 1945. The combined Filipino-American forces captured these ridges from the Japanese defenders. The remnants of the Japanese Imperial forces withdrew from these ridges and finally surrendered by the roadside, north of the town of Zamboanguita, Negros Oriental on September 22, 1945, signaling the end of the hostilities in Negros Oriental. The Battle of the Ridges commenced in earnest on April 27, 1945 and by the early part of June 1945. The combined Filipino-American forces captured these ridges from the Japanese defenders. The remnants of the Japanese Imperial forces withdrew from these ridges and finally surrendered by the roadside, north of the town of Zamboanguita, Negros Oriental on September 22, 1945, signaling the end of the hostilities in Negros Oriental. 

Valencia: Cata-al War Memorabilia

The Cata-al World War II museum is operated by Porforio Cata-al and his son. The museum is only about 5 minutes away from Forrest Camp. When we arrived, we were fortunate that the son of the owner was still around as he was about to leave. We were informed that we can take pictures outside the museum but not inside. Before we did some picture taking we explored the inside of the museum.

The museum is located below his house. The floor space is only small but I believe it houses the best collection on the invasion of the Philippines by the Japanese and the rescue of the Americans of our islands. We learned later on that the owner is a World War II veteran, but he did not receive pension benefits because his belonged to a guerilla unit. He was the one who started to collect pieces of the war including his old uniform and some weaponry. His son took interest in his collection and started to collect World War II antiques. It was his son that expanded the collection. His son revealed that his first intention was to look for a portion of the famed Yamashita treasure which is believed to be buried in the mountains of Negros.

Most treasure hunters will not mind old war pieces and will simply disregard it, if they dug some. They are after the gold. Since his father was into collecting memorabilia of World War II he started to collect them also instead of focusing on the treasure. (Picture below taken from Cata-al Museum facebook page)

 Balinsasayao Twin Lakes Natural Park

The Balinsasayao Twin Lakes Natural Park is a natural park in thePhilippines surrounding Lake Balinsasayao and Lake Danao in the province of Negros Oriental, 14.5 kilometres (9.0 mi) west of Dumaguete. It covers an area of 8,016.05 hectares (19,808.1 acres), with heights ranging from 830 to 846 metres (2,723 to 2,776 ft). The park is located in the Mount Talinis range, also known as Cuernos de Negros, in the southern portion of Negros Island, and spans across the municipalities ofValencia, Sibulan and San Jose. It was declared a protected area in 2000. Lakes Balinsasayao and Danao are two small crater lakes separated by a narrow mountain ridge in a hallow surrounded by Mount Guintabon to the west, Mount Balinsasayao to the east, Mount Kalbasaan to the north, and Mount Mahungot to the south.They are located on the eastern slope of the Talinis mountain range which are volcanic in origin. Lake Balinsasayao has a surface area of 76 hectares (190 acres) and maximum depth of around 90 metres (300 ft). The smaller Lake Danao, on the other hand, has a surface area of 30 hectares (74 acres) and maximum depth of around 58 metres (190 ft).

 The twin lakes and their surrounding primary and secondary dipterocarp forests serve as the watershed for southern Negros Oriental. It contains the headwaters of five major river systems namely, the Amlan, Ayuquitan, Hinotongan, Okoy and Cauitan rivers that provides the water requirements and irrigation of the lowland communities.

The park also contains a portion of the 133,000-hectare (330,000-acre) Negros Geothermal Reservation of the Philippine National Oil Company(now Energy Development Corporation) which supplies the energy needs for Dumaguete and southern Negros.