PILAR. – What has Pilar, Danao, Loboc and Catigbian own in common?

Ziplines. The latest craze in extreme adventure tourism that gives the adventurer the pleasant feeling of freedom, finally swings its momentum and the building speed appears to draw more town-takers of this thrill ride. Ziplines come in a many different names. Pilar calls theirs; the Sky Ride, Danao calls theirs the Suislide, Loboc names theirs, the Zipline while Catigbian calls their ride The mountain Slide. Beyond that, there is not much of a thread that could sew those four names under one heading. Except for Pilar and Danao, which both figured out in the life and exploits of a home-grown hero Boholanos commonly call as Francisco Dagohoy. Both towns share in the golden age of Bohol during the heights of the Francisco Dagohoy uprising in 1744 to 1829.

Francisco Dagohoy earned his nickname from his rare fighting skills lent by an amulet that allows him to waft like the breeze (Dagon sa Hoyohoy) and jump off the cliffs, walk the valleys and forge the Isumod ang Wahig or Pamacsalan Rivers in wild abandon and still live to tell the day he escaped the pursuing Spanish soldiers. While the cliffs of Magtangtang in Danao provide Dagohoy’s lairs, and its network of caves which provide the perfect hide-aways to fight it out, the plains of Pilar, was a source of provision for the insurgents in their sorties against Spanish fortifications. Oral traditions in the valleys of Pilar say that one reason the revolution stretched for 85 years was because during rice planting season, there would be “ceasefires.” This happens accordingly because the warriors would lay down their weapons momentarily to work on their farms. The war continues while the rice is planted and pauses again during harvests. When Danao hosted the anti-Hispanic rebels, history tells that the remnants of the Dagohoy warriors led by his son Estaca, fled Danao and put up ambushcades, rolling huge boulders along the way to the hills of Sigpit; that stretch of mountains from Pamacsalan to Sierra Bullones.

Slowly feeling subdued, the warriors retreated and scampered off to a cave hide-out in Inaghuban. The cave, now called Tugpa, is also named after Dagohoy’s trusted right hand man. Located about a hundred feet from the ground, Tugpa cave can be accessed by climbing the face of the cliff. A cave with countless other chambers, Tugpa still possesses signs on a possible interesting spelunking destination which presents an estimated kilometer-long walk with enough challenge for the uninitiated explorer. A very narrow portion of the cave was said to be where Tugpa, the heavily built warrior stuck on their way to the egress. With him blocking the only way and his inability to backtrack due to his size, the rest of the men could not pass through. History says that the trapped men put up a gallant stand at the mouth of the cave until the pursuing Spaniards built fires at the mouth of the cave and smoke suffocated all the warriors inside. So when Danao’s main eco tourism activity approximates the extreme adventure exploits of the Boholano warrior during the Spanish era, it would be no wonder why Pilarnons, descendants of the warriors, build their zipline to relive the same experience.

The Pilar Sky Ride starts off tower rising 76 feet above the large impounding. Ride assistants strap the adventurer with the harness to secure him to the roller which would also freely swing him on his zip down the other end of the time about 150 meters away. Riding the line is safe, even perhaps, without the harness. The height is not as scary and a falling off ends in the water, but Pilarnons know their courtesies. The zip is only a few seconds but the same feeling of stepping off into full trust of the wonders of technology still sends goosebumps to the first timers. The ride ends in the islet, and from there, a motorized banca gets one back to the parking lot which ends the thrill. Now, when Danao has suislide, Pilar’s sky ride wishes to evoke the pleasant feeling of riding the wind. (30)