Know My Place: Maasin City

I told you already a little bit about me, hence it's time for you to learn a bit about my place: Maasin City. This city is probably less known to you than other cities such as Davao City, Manila, Cebu City, Batangas etc. Therefore, let me take this opportunity to tell you something about Maasin City.

Compared to Manila, Cebu or Davao, my city Maasin is just a small place. It is one of the oldest towns in Southern Leyte and became its capital. Nowadays, it is called Maasin City since August 10, 2000. Maasin City is characterized by relatively flat lands along the coastal areas and rugged and mountainous towards the interior. It has seventy barangays, that is, administrative units. You can find the list of barangays in Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maasin_City). I live in barangay Malapoc Norte.

We, people living in Maasin City, are called Maasinhons. We speak Bisaya, in a kind of Cebuano or Boholano dialect (says Wikipedia), but I think it is also a little bit different, so it is our own dialect. Most people here are farmers and fishermen. Maasinhons really possess the characteristics of true Filipinos. They are hospitable and they know how to entertain people especially the tourists. They are hard working and will always find a way, difficult or not, just to earn money. They are loving and caring as evidenced by their families. Some other characteristics of a Maasinhon are respectful, kind, responsible and helpful. Whenever their neighbors have a problem, a Maasinhon is willingly and ready to help. And the most important thing that I can proudly say about Maasinhons is that they are religious. Approximately 90% of us are Roman Catholic. In fact, most of the Maasinhon couples are members of either Couples for Christ or BEC. The youth also are active in many religious encounters.

Maasin City is accessible by land and sea. Regular boat trips from Manila to Maasin takes 27 hours while watercraft services from Cebu bring travelers to Maasin in almost 4 hours (via Bato or Hilongos, or 6h overnight via Maasin directly). There are also buses running the line Maasin-Tacloban (ca 5h) or Maasin-Manila (I think that takes nearly 24h). You can find more information on this website: http://www.maasincity.com/gen-info.htm

There are also few tourist spots that make Maasinhons so proud of. One of these is Danao Tree Park, also known as Maasin City Forest Park. Many tourists visit and love its beauty. Some Maasinhons spend their family day here instead of going to the beach. In fact, Regional Jamboree was held here and there are some rumors that National Jamboree will be held in Danao. Maasin has nice and wonderful waterfalls such as in Cagnituan. Its water is cold and refreshing. Maasin has also places that tourists will really like to go especially for religious people. The Mother Mary Shrine, a big statue of Our Lady Of The Assumption, located at the top of a hill, can be accessed by a long stairway. The Shrine is visible for many miles. There is also the Diocesan Shrine, located at Montecueva, Basak, Rizal, Maasin City. It is officially called the Shrine of Our Lady of the Assumption and the Precious Blood of Jesus. Masses are held here sometimes, in a cave. There is also Hanginan where people go to pray for St. Francis of Assissi. You have to walk for more or less two hours before you will reach to the top of the hill. And most of all, an important edifice that brings pride to the Maasinhon is the notable old Maasin City Cathedral, our church from the Spanish era. Masses are held here daily.

 

When you got hungry while roaming around Maasin, that is not a problem. Maasin has a Jollibee and restaurants such as Kinamot sa Abgao, Kinamot sa Pugaling, Supercha and Ati-Atihan. You sleep best in one of the pensione houses or hotels, such as Ampil, Villa Romana (see the picture above) and GV Pensione house.

When it comes to education, Maasin City has lots of schools, both public and private. Almost all of the Barangays have elementary schools. For highschools, there are few public schools in rural part. There are also private highschool institutions such as Saint Joseph College, College of Maasin and Maasin City Academy. We have only four colleges, namely Saint Joseph College, College of Maasin, STI and Maasin City College which was just established four years ago.

For you to know more about why Maasin is one of the good places to live,I interviewed some persons who are close to my heart:

"I like here in Maasin because Maasinhons are religious and the place itself is peaceful." - Fe Alico (My Mother)

"Maasin is one of the places that I loved since people here are so kind and friendly that's why I chose to study here." - Margarita Almeda (Bontoc, So. Leyte)

"Maasin is so good to live in because it is a peaceful place and the people are jolly, easy to go with." - Jeralden Bolo (Tagnipa, Maasin City)

In my own opinion, Maasin is worth and good to live in not because it is peaceful but it is where my loved ones are. Since they loved it here, I also do. Another thing is people are so disciplined; they followed rules and regulations. I'm so proud to be one of the Maasinhons. So, what are you waiting for? Come and visit Maasin City!