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THE STEWARD OF THE MYTHICAL CALABERA CAVE
In the year of our Lord 377 A.D., the caves near Bitan-ag Creek in Camaman-an, Cagayan de Oro became both refuge and tomb. Within their dark chambers, the early Austronesian settlers laid their dead to rest, leaving behind skeletal remains, obsidian flakes, pot shards, and porcelain fragments that spoke of a people who endured. These caves, sacred yet silent, became a place where memory and mortality intertwined.
Centuries later, pestilence swept across the land, and families once again sought shelter within the stone walls of Camaman-an. Believing themselves safe from unseen forces, they fled into the caves, but the sickness followed. One by one, they perished, leaving rows of unburied skeletons, silent witnesses to despair. Generations passed, and the caves remained haunted by whispers of those who had died. Travelers spoke of strange lights flickering in the shadows, of voices echoing where no living soul stood. The elders called it a place of warning, a reminder of mortality.
But among these stories rose figures of destiny, Miss Camaman-an, chosen by fate to be The Steward of the Mythical Calabera Caves. Each embodied a unique strength, and together they were not merely guardians of stone and soil, but of memory itself. With grace and resolve, they carried the burden of the legend, ensuring that the caves were not forgotten as cursed hollows, but remembered as sacred ground where the past and present intertwined.
Miss Camaman-an walked the winding trail, through coconut groves and over snake-like paths, ascending hills until Bitan-ag Creek shimmered at their side. They knew each portal, each engraving, each pile of bones that spoke of lives once lived. The first cave, shaded by the Molave tree, whispered of Austronesians who dwelled before Magellan’s arrival. The second, larger and higher, guarded more bones, its entrance clutched by the roots of the Balete tree.
Their stewardship was not of conquest but of reverence. They told the legend to adventurers and wanderers, reminding them that the caves were not merely relics of death but symbols of resilience. The skulls, calavera, were not tokens of tragedy alone, but of a people who endured, who sought shelter even in the face of despair.
And so, Miss Camaman-an became the living voices of the caves. Where others saw ruins, they saw heritage. Where others feared shadows, they saw echoes of courage. The caves, once silent, now spoke through them, eternal stewards of myth, memory, and the spirit of Cagayan de Misamis.
Now, in the year 2026, the legend of the Calabera Caves lives again, carried not only by the pageant but by the voices of those who vowed to protect it. Congressman Rufus B. Rodriguez and Congressman Maximo B. Rodriguez Jr. introduced House Bill No. 3338 in the Twentieth Congress, declaring the cave an ecotourism site, a promise that its preservation would be written into law. At the same time, Barangay officials led by Punong Barangay Hon. Carl Harrison Galarrita walked its chambers with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), their steps echoing a pledge of guardianship. With SK Chairwoman Hon. Thonie Ann Cubillan, the Department of Tourism - Philippines, and the local government standing beside them, the Calabera Caves by Bitan-ag Creek are no longer silent relics but living heritage, embraced and safeguarded for generations yet to come.
#MissCamamanan #MC26 #CalaberaCave
#CamamanAnMahalNatingTahanan
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