68. DOT AT DIVI & MACO

DOT AT DIVI & MACO

Dr. Troy Alexander G. Miano

13 July 2018

The Department of Tourism (DOT) in Region II, headed by Director Virgilio M. Maguigad, spearheaded the conduct of a five-day Product Development Workshop for Municipalities of the Northern Sierra Madre Natural Park (NSMNP) from July 10 to 13 at the Tourist Pavilion in Divilacan town. Five Local Government Units (LGU) participated; the City of Ilagan, the Municipalities of Tumauini, Palanan, Maconacon and the host town of Divilacan.

The following topics were discussed during the pre-workshop: Republic Act 9125 (NSMNP Act of 2001), Situationer Report of Divilacan, Republic Act 10816 (Farm Tourism), Executive Order 111: National Ecotourism Strategy and Action Plan (NESAP) and Tourism Rapid Assessment (TRA) Tool. After the lectures, the participants were grouped into three for the benchmarking trips in Divilacan tourist areas. Group 1 went to Dicatian Coral Shelf, Crocodylus mindorensis (Philippine crocodile) sanctuary, goat and chicken farm and Greggays Place Resorts & Spa in Maconacon. Group 2 proceeded to Dibacong White Beach overlooking Estagno Island (Honeymoon Island) private international airport & Dipudo Private Island Resort. The last, Group 3, reached Dilakit Mangrove Forest & Strait, Divuguan Waterfalls, Flying Foxbats Sanctuary, Dipterocarp Forest and Lubigan Hanging Bridge. After the trips, the three groups presented their output followed by the presentation of suggested itinerary with short lecture on itinerary making.

I reached the two coastal towns via a flight from Cyclone Airways in Cauayan City. The six-seater plane reached Maconacon Airport in 20 minutes and I proceeded to see the young lady municipal mayor, Hon. Ma. Lycelle Kate Domingo-Vicente, and handed over historical research materials of the province followed by the discussion of potential tourism sites and issues that may arise upon the opening of the Ilagan-Divilacan Road. The same gesture was made with the local chief executive of Divilacan, four-termer Hon. Venturito C. Bulan.

Co-incidentally, the regular Farmers Congress of the Provincial Government of Isabela for the two municipalities was held on July 11, Wednesday, and all the offices of the provincial government were represented most especially the BRO (Bojie-Rodito Opportunities) Office which offers a 13-point program for the small farmers of Isabela. I stayed for three nights at a homestay owned by a retired policeman and his wife who is a public school teacher, Mr. Valeriano and Mrs. Lolit Culili.

I had earlier researched the historical development of the twin-towns of Divilacan and Maconacon which I used as entries to my book, “Chronological History of Isabela” published in 2011. Maconacon and Divilacan together with Dinapigue were created as municipal districts by virtue of Republic Act 5776 enacted without executive approval on June 21, 1967. Section 1 states: The barrio of Dinapigui in the Municipality of San Mariano, barrio of Divilican in the Municipality of Tumauini and barrio of Maconacon in the Municipality of Cabagan, all in the Province of Isabela, are hereby segregated and separated from said municipalities, and each is hereby constituted into a distinct and independent municipal district, to be known as the Municipal District of Dinapigui, Municipal District of Divilican and Municipal District of Maconacon, all of the same province. The seat of government of each new municipal court shall be in the present site of each said barrio.

Any provision of law to the contrary notwithstanding, all neighboring sitios within a radius of thirty kilometers from any of the herein municipal districts shall form part of the territorial jurisdiction of the municipal district concerned. The Provincial Board of the Province of Isabela is hereby authorized and empowered to fix the boundary limits of the herein created municipal districts. 

The first municipal officials were elected on November 8, 1971 with Hon. Wenceslao A. Alaska as the first mayor of Divilacan and Hon. Victoriano R. Eduarte as the first mayor of Maconacon. Former Governor and Isabela’s Lone District Congressman Melanio T. Singson played a significant role in the creation of the three new towns by sponsoring the bill in the House of Representatives after conducting a survey of the coastal areas of the province and saw the development of the communities along the Pacific shores.

In 1973, the Provincial Board of the Province headed by Governor Faustino N. Dy marked the boundaries of the four coastal towns through Resolution No. 50. On September 7, 1979, President Ferdinand E. Marcos declared by virtue of Letter of Instructions (LOI) 917-A that all forest lands within a 45-kilometer radius from Palanan Point in Palanan, Isabela, and such other forest lands as may later on be identified, selected and reserved for similar purposes are declared as Wilderness Area wherein a big portion of the coastal areas of Isabela including the whole of Divilacan and Maconacon, are covered. The wilderness area was expanded on April 22, 2001 into the 359,486 hectare Northern Sierra Madre Natural Park (NSMNP) by virtue of Republic Act 9125.

Prior to the creation as municipal districts and during the Spanish period, the Franciscan missionaries reached the Pacific side of Isabela by way of Casiguran. They founded Palanan and reached the Divilacan area particularly what is now barangay Dilaket where the Dumagats are concentrated. In the local history of Divilacan posted at the entrance of the municipal hall, the aforementioned friars reached the locality in the 1730s and were able to erect a worship center made of bamboo and nipa and eventually a church made of limestone and animal skins. Vestiges of the church can still be seen today. A big bell once rest half buried along the riverbank in Dilaket where fishermen tie their boats; however, in 1998 visiting foreign fisherfolks took the bell away.

In 1958, seven families migrated from Lasam, Cagayan in the forest covered locality along the Dirayrayan and Dimakonakon Rivers. In 1965, a giant logging company, the ACME Group of Companies, owned by a Chinese Filipino businessman Mr. Alfonso Lim was established. People from the province of Cagayan (Lasam and Claveria), Abra (Boliney), Masbate (Planas) and Bohol came to work in the logging company who later permanently resided in Maconacon town even after the closure of the logging firm.

Divilacan derived its name from two Dumagat words, “vili” which means “shell” and “ican” which means “fish”. The word “di” connoted origin. The name “Maconacon”, originally “Dimaconacon” (in some records “Dimakonakon”), is a Dumagat term which means “where conacon abound”. “Conacon” refers to the bellang plant or palma brava leaf (Heterospathe elata). The name later evolved to “Maconacon”.  

It is also interesting to note that six out of ten barangays of the Municipality of Maconacon are named after women, namely; Barangay Diana (Ms. Ladia P. Atiga & Ms. Nena M. Asuncion), Barangay Eleanor (Ms. Eleanor Blas), Barangay Fely (Ms. Fely Lacar), Barangay Lita (Ms. Lita Agustin), Barangay Reina Mercedes (Ms. Mercedes Padulip) and Barangay Santa Marina (Ms. Marina Viernes). On the other hand, all twelve barangays in the Municipality of Divilacan are originally prefixed with the syllable “di”; Barangays Dilakit, Dimapula, Dimapnat, Dipudo, Dimasalansan, Dibulos, Ditarum, Dicambangan, Dicaroyan, Dicatian, Dicabean (now Bicobian) and Disapinit (now shortened to Sapinit).

Isabela’s coastal towns, particularly the sister-towns of Divilacan and Maconacon, are so blessed with natural wonders and very rich natural resources from the Philippine Sea up to the rugged mountains of the Sierra Madre. Divi and Maco will soon be very accessible to mainland Isabela upon the completion of the Ilagan-Divilacan Road Rehabilitation Improvement Project. With the accessibility comes great danger of abuse, misuse and exploitation of the “wilderness area”. This prompted multi-awarded Governor Faustino “Bojie” G. Dy III to make the necessary precautionary measures to address this incoming hazard, peril and threat to the NSMNP by proposing the establishment of the Isabela Coastal Development Authority (ICDA) which will safeguard, protect and maintain the beauty of Coastal Isabela. Aside from the ICDA, all sectors of society are enjoined to police NSMNP and the seashore to make sure that our children and the next generations can still see and enjoy the beauty of our eastern shores in Divi & Maco.