"Bangkerohan"

Once upon a time, in the sleepy province of Surigao del sur, at the town of NPA-infested Lianga, there were two happy and prosperous barangays named Diatagon and St. Christine. The two barangays were separated by a river.

The two barangays possessed complementary facilities and structures with each other. Barangay Diatagon has the hospital, wet market, catholic high school, main office of the logging company and the Catholic Church with a resident priest. On the other hand, Barangay St. Christine has the beach, the motor pool, veneer and power plant of the company and lastly, the public High School of Fisheries.

The only bridge connecting Diatagon and St. Christine was a lone massive wooden bridge constructed and used by a logging company. The problem is that, the wooden bridge happened to be located far and outside the center of each Barangay. People from each barangay have to walk a mile or two just to cross the bridge and vise-versa.

The problem opened an opportunity for enterprising fisher folks. They built wooden banca “baroto” and established a ferry station called “bangkerohan” in the closest point between the two barangays.

Bangkerohan was a scene to remember for highschool students who lived in one barangay and went to high school located in the other barangay. An overloaded “baroto” that capsized in middle of the river is an event to remember.

In my case, I used to lived in St. Christine and attended at Diatagon Catholic High School. My parents happened to be jobless and cannot afford to pay the of 4.00 pesos monthly due for the service of Bangkero. It took me sweet and tears to walk several miles to and from school just to cross that far wooden bridge.

I could remember the heat of the sun punishing me while I walked and enduring the pain of hunger from school. A breakfast of “Kamote” and “Kalibre” were simply not enough to sustain until lunch time. There were times when I was tempted to swim across the river just to save time and effort of walking far to that wooden bridge. Many times too I almost got drawn because I have to swim with one hand while the other hand was holding my things and clothes up high so it wouldn’t get wet.

That river has claimed many lives of young adventurous kids. The logs floating and the water current are treacherous for the careless ones. Good thing I was a good swimmer. I enjoyed crossing that river once in a while, although there's always fear in me of being grabbed by an “Okoy” (Mairman) or bitten by a “Tangkig” (Seasnakes). He he

Now I can afford to pay that unaffordable 4.00 pesos monthly pay over for bangkero’s service or even many times over. Given that chance, I wouldn’t dare change a thing of my past. I am more or less a contented person now. I cherish and treasure my memory and adventures simply because I can’t afford the fee for “Bangkerohan”.