Laak, Compostela Valley opens its Third cave festival

LAAK, Compostela Valley (Nov 20) – For the third year in a row, the major caves of this highland town will be the scene of party and fun, not the regular raucous type that is, as the municipality opens Thursday its annual cave festival.

“Who says caving is not fun?” commented Janice Ollave, Laak tourism officer, whose seemingly fragile physique belies the fact that she can slither in and out of caves like any experienced cavers.

Ollave explained that based on accounts her landlocked municipality hosts more than 100 caves of which only less than twenty have been explored.

Laak is 50 kilometres from Tagum City in Davao del Norte, the main access to her town.

The annual festival is focused on at least 12 caves – six in Sto. Niño, three in Andap, and three in Sisimon – where more than 300 graduating high school students in the municipality of Laak and other cave enthusiasts in Davao  Region will converge starting Thursday (November 21) for their three-day immersion on the cave environment and exposure on the importance of protecting, preserving, and conserving this significant part of the terrestrial ecosystem.

“The immersion and exposure, as well as tree-planting in the cave vicinity, are the serious side of the festival, the fun is in the get-together nightly activities in the Municipal gymnasium that feature the usual search for ‘Mr. and Miss Caverandia, and of in the second night the Caver’s Show down, singing, and dancing,” Compostela Valley caving coordinator Prescila Decena said.

The festival works on a simple formula targeted to have a long-term impact on the environment, Decena explained. “Mayor Reynaldo Navarro designed the festival to complement his campaign to protect the environment starting with the municipality’s young men and women,” she said.

“When they grow up and raise their own families these young people will be able to pass on to their children such values as protecting caves and their subterranean environment to sustain the ecosystem and life,” Decena said.

Caves host a rich biodiversity including cave bats that help in the pollination and spread of seeds like the durian. Laak is one of Compostela Valley’s major producers of durian and other fruits. 

Cavers are not allowed to venture inside the underground chambers without a guide to make sure they will not get lost in the dark, disturb denizens and their habitats, and damage sensitive rock walls and formations that took centuries to build.

Laak hosts one of the most pristine caves in Davao region. The cave, Bongloy Cave, is found in the tribal village of Sisimon.

An underground river flows within the cave while coiled banakon (Philippine cobra) sleep, indifferent to intruders. Rim stone and drapery decorate the cave walls.

Stalactiflats – a shelf of flowstones some forming canopies, false floors, and hanging bathtubs - lie undisturbed. Topping the formations are thick stalactites shining in brilliance from embedded materials carpeting the walls in gold and silver sheen.

Entering Bongloy cave, which is regulated to protect its virginal formations, is to tread the very cold waters of a shallow flowing river that begins somewhere in the womb of the cave, deep at several points. Only two kilometers have so far been explored by organized caving clubs.  (JPA, PGO-TSS)