You’ve probably heard or read about or seen photos of Pagsanjan Falls. When I was very young, my parents went with friends and did what most visitors to Pansanjan do – “shoot the rapids”, the term used to describe the boat ride from the shore through the rocky Bumbungan River and onto the falls.
What most people don’t know is that Pagsanjan Falls is not really located in Pagsanjan but in the town of Cavinti, also in Laguna. And the falls is locally known as Magdapio Falls. A website dedicated to Pagsanjan quotes from a book by Gregorio Zaide. Okay, I’m not a Zaide fan in the context of history but we’re talking about folk legends so let me quote parts of the story.
Long, long ago, recounts one legend, there were no falls. There were only the foliaged highlands, the twin rivers, called Bumbungan and Balanac, and the alluvial delta (where the town of Pagsanjan now nestles). On the eastern bank of the Bumbungan River lived two old brothers named Balubad and Magdapio.
For many years, the two brothers enjoyed a rustic life of peace and happiness. But one day calamity struck. A terrible drought brought ruin and death. No rains came for successive months…
Balubad and Magdapio suffered immensely. Day and night, they prayed for rain, but the gods did not heed their prayers. The older and weaker of the two brothers, Balubad, died of thirst. Magdapio, with a sorrowing heart, buried him on the slope of the mountain overlooking the river delta. This mountain is now called Balubad.
Left alone in a waterless world, Magdapio agonizingly trekked to the upper region of the arid riverbed. He reached the high rocky cliffs, after an arduous journey. To his utter disappointment, he found no water.
‘Ye gods!’ he sobbed bitterly, ‘Where is the water?’ In despair, he angrily hurled down his big cane among the rocks. Suddenly, a spring bubbled on the spot where the cane fell. Rapidly it grew bigger. The fresh waters roared down the canyon walls, soon becoming a booming waterfall.
According to the same article, an apparently geographically clueless missionary visited the falls in 1902 and wrote about Pagsanjan Falls in a newspaper. The name stuck and that’s how this famous tourist spot has been known since.
Right, a famous tourist spot. And what is it like visiting this famous tourist spot? The town of Pagsanjan (the town, not the site of the falls which is Cavinti) is peppered with tourist police and billboards. Apparently, because people come looking for the falls in the town of Pagsanjan, there has to be enough tourist police to point them toward the right direction.
And the billboards? Are they for geographic navigation as well? Not exactly. Many are obvious campaign billboards with the face of Jeorge Estregan (a.k.a. E. R. Ejercito), Joseph Estrada’s nephew and son of deceased actor George Estregan. Others contain warnings that are reproduced in the official website of Pagsanjan:
“Don’t stop and deal with illegal boatmen flaggers running along the road. Go straight to any resort/hotel or visit the Tourist Information Center. Pagsanjan Falls boatride rate P1,000.00 per person, standard roundtrip rate. In case of emergency, harassment, overpricing, forced tipping by boatmen, call…” And phone numbers are provided.
Emergency? Isn’t that a strong word to use? Not really. See, we were among those clueless people who got lost last week. We were looking for La Corona de Pagsanjan and knew it was right by the river leading to the falls. We went to the town of Pagsanjan not knowing that the falls was located in Cavinti. Heck, I was still a gradeschooler the last time I was there. So, we had to ask for directions. We talked to the tourist police who were very helpful and we drove to Cavinti to look for La Corona. We left the main road and turned to a steep narrow lane that went down and down. When we got to La Corona, the guard told us that the scheduled re-opening in February did not happen and the place was still closed.
We drove up the steep narrow road from which we came. Where the narrow lane met the main road were two men in a motorcycle and they were partly blocking our way and trying to flag us. Smart, aren’t they? They knew we’d go looking for other accommodation once we found out that La Corona was closed. And they were already lying in wait. We would have been dead bait had we not read all the warnings on the billboards that we saw earlier. We didn’t even give them the chance to make eye contact with us. We just drove past them.
The question is how did they know where to find us? When we talked to the pair of tourist police, there was no one else within earshot. Did these men in motorcycle follow us or were they tipped by the tourist police? We’ll never know.
The presence of these shady characters is not unique to Pagsanjan. Their kind abound in most tourist areas. In Tagaytay where many visitors want to go on a boat ride to Taal Volcano, these roadside flaggers with their exorbitant fees are a dime a dozen. If it’s not a boat ride or a guided tour, it’s some other service. At the Cagsawa ruins, it’s a souvenir photo or booklet. All terribly overpriced. Some even wore some kind of ID to make them look “official.”
Unethical? Yes. Screwed up? Yes. Bad for tourism? Probably. Criminal? Not exactly. Tourism-related services do not fall within the label “basic commodities” so price ceilings cannot be fixed. In fact, if we consider the exorbitant prices charged by some resorts and hotels, they’d be in the same shithole as those illegal boatmen – they just charge more.
The bottom line? Be smart so you don’t end up being victimized.
I remember encountering such shady characters in Batangas port en route to Puetro Galera. They’d swarm around you like bees on the attack. And if you’re used to dealing with so many people talking endlessly at the same time, you’d either lose your temper or soil your self in panic.
So it’s best to really plan ahead and give your fellow trekkers some orientation so that no one may even fall victim to these opportunists.
Now on the misplaced Pagsanjan falls, the tourism department and the local government of Laguna should do an information campaign in order to finally correct this mistake and save the future tourists a world of trouble whenever they go and visit the falls.
It’s really one wrong turn and you’re lost. From Kalayaan, once you reach the intersection where the church is, turn right and you’re in Pagsanjan; turn left and you go to Cavinti. If you turn right, you won’t know you’re lost till you see the boundary of Santa Cruz.
Hi Ms Connie,do you think these tourism-related services not being grouped with basic commodities thereby not making them subject to proce ceilings can be a subject of a law-school thesis? i think it can be a good topic although it might be a policy issue rather than a legal issue
It’s probably more apt for an economic paper. Like the impact of overpricing on lost tourism opportunities. I doubt that tourism related services can be lumped other basic commodities like food. Ergo, no price ceilings. Laissez faire.
And to think you are in our country how about the foreigners?
It was almost the same thing that happened to us 16 years ago but in our case we talked to this agent/flaggers and we agreed on the price but later we found out that we still have to pay extra for the life vest and when we are in the middle of the river then the drama begun we the boatman will leave us if we don’t agree to pay 100 US$ per head we were 5 silence and we were shocked for 30 mins. We haggled and down to half then he took us to the water falls.
I thought that was over but after the ride we found that we were in like a colony of gangster like area I found out that my car was ransacked and they will not release my uncle together with our blonde guests asking them again for more money. My uncle asked them for mercy because if our guest are rich the will not stay with us and we are also fellow Filipinos.
Unforgettable yes because I was so happy to see the magnificent falls and the excitement waving through the barriers but most of all we came out alive after passing through shirtless men who surrounded us and o us harm if my companions will not give in to their demands. Scary.
Our country has a lot to offer but unfortunately we are far behind our neighbors. Tourism is big industry but we should ensure the safety of local and foreign tourists and our country should benefit form it not gangsters.
Pasyensya na po Ms. Connie napahaba comment ko naiinis kasi ako at napahiya then tried to explain to our guest that pwedeng mangyari ang naranasan namin kahit saan mapa Brazil man to Russia pero sa bansa natin di ko matanggap.
No need to apologize, Ana. I think your experience should make us aware that the problem is far more serious than a mere case of overpricing.
hey, that was kidnapping with ransom, don’t you think?
Yes, actually.
oops, kidnapping FOR ransom pala. grabe naman. ER’s billboards gave us the impression pa naman that he’s doing a good job…kakahiya…at nakakatakot
oops again (sorry). this was 16 yrs ago pala. so before ER’s time. but the incident below..? hmmmm…di pa rin pala na professionalize yung boat industry. at yung ginawa nila, konti na lang, kidnapping for ransom na din…
Yes exactly Kidnapping with ransom nga but I remember that there were bill boards at that time warning visitors na may mga PTA accredited hotel with boat rides but it just the same marami modus operandi.
Nakakahiya talaga but I heard from my cousin na mas masahol ang panloloko sa mga Japanese and Korean Tourists lalo na hindi sila magaling mag English.
Ang nakakainis walang tutulong sa iyo nakatingin lang mga tao kasi parang given na ganun ang kalakaran dun. Too sad.
So same billboards but new faces kung sino ang nakaupo.
I went there last december. I think we paid more than 1000 pesos per person and sa resort na yun so even they are not following ung set price. tapos in the middle of the river merong parang kainan ung boatmen we had to pay for their lunch pa. then dun sa raft nanghihingi pa ung mga lalaki. Minsan nakakahiya maging pinoy pagka ganun yung ginagawa nila. pagbalik sa resort para silang gangsters nanghihingi ng tip which, to think, dapat voluntary lang kung natuwa kami sa service nila. It was not such a good experience. I hope their local government does something about it.
Wow, that’s pretty recent. That’s plain extortion when you’re in the middle of the river and have no choice but to give in to their demands (or be left stranded).