Ode to the boatmen of Pagsanjan

MANILA, Philippines - The iconic Pagsanjan Falls is one of the country’s most memorable travel images dating back to the 1970s.

“Shooting the rapids” on the way to the fabled waterfall, also known as Magdapio Falls, is among the must-do countryside day trips for foreign and local tourists. 

This adrenaline-pumping activity, which has appeared in countless posters and postcards, remains on top of the bucket list of travelers. 

To relive its old glory, the town of Pagsanjan is welcoming summer with a refreshing treat with the Bangkero Festival which ends this weekend with the theme “Pagkakaisa at Saya Tungo sa Tagumpay.”

Now on its 18th year, the festivity is a tribute to the bangkeros or boatmen who skillfully maneuver the boat and shoot the rapids all the way to the picture-perfect falls and back.

Mayor Maita Javier-Ejercito said the festival showcases the town’s march to progress as a result of its tourism and investment promotional efforts.

The Bangkero Festival has won a string of awards from tourism bodies, most notably the Pearl Award of the Association of Tourism Officers of the Philippines from 2012 to 2014.

Activities of the week-long festival included a fluvial parade on the Bumbungan River with gaily-decorated floats made out of dug-out canoes, a sagwan (paddle) painting contest, local kakanin cooking contest, entertainment shows, native games, brass band parades, dragon boat race and a pageant for boatmen.

Festivities draw to a close tomorrow with a river regatta where boatmen will showcase their paddling prowess, and the Lakan and Binibining Pagsanjan pageant coronation in the evening.

Pagsanjan also takes pride in its Spanish-era Royal Arch built when the town was made provincial capital from 1878 to 1880. Other heritage spots include the Diocesan Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe Church and the well-preserved ancestral mansion of Don Telesforo Ejercito. 

It also has colonial-era houses which have found adaptive reuse as restaurants and shops, the most notable of which is Calle Arco restaurant.

 Pagsanjan was declared by the Sangguniang Panlalawigan as the “Tourist Capital of Laguna.”In the past two years, it welcomed some 140,000 tourists who did the Pagsanjan rapids tours.  

The municipality government was also conferred a Seal of Good Housekeeping (Silver Grade) by the Department of the Interior and Local Government in 2014 for its stewardship and sound fiscal management.