Treasures yet Undiscovered: LIBON, ALBAY

A first class municipality with 47 barangays. Lies at the Northwestern Quadrant of the Province of Albay. The distance is about 46-54 away from Legazpii City and approximately 546km south Manila. Travel time from Libon to Legazpi City is one hour, while to Manila, by land, about 10 hours. 

Libon: A Spanish Villa. The town of Libon in the province of Albay traces its recorded history to the Second Expedition of Captain Juan de Salcedo to the Bicol Region in 1573. With Villa Santiago de Libong as its former name christened by Capt. Salcedo. LGU Libon has launched its book entitled VILLA SANTIAGO de LIBON: Kabikolan's first Spanish Citadel written by a noted Bicolano writer, Danilo Madrid Gerona. 

Aside from its richness in history, Libon takes pride in promoting its rural tourism not just to neighbouring towns but also abroad. Libon is known as the Rice Granary Capital of Albay. Foreign scholars from Lee Kuan Yew University of Singapore, who came from Singapore, China, Hong Kong, Nigeria, Australia, Botswana and Great Britain had chosen this town in promoting rural tourism such as rice planting and coconut peeling.

Farmer's statue. Tribute to Libongueno farmers

Undeniably, Libon has a unique tourist attraction, the LIBON FLAMING WATER which makes visitors curious to discover this place. As a blogger named nightnarcissist would describe, "It was said that the flaming waters were discovered in 1962. During that year, Libon East Central School in Barangay Zone 2 Centro Poblacion was chosen as the site where a gauge that would help determine water volume will be installed. Drilling the pipes that will be utilized proved to be a difficult task due to the land's rocky underground. When they were finally able to penetrate the underground, water gushed out and the school ended up being flooded. Thus, they constructed a pond as solution to this problem.

One day, Mr. Julian Villanueva, the school janitor, went to the pond and washed his hands. He lighted a cigarette and tossed the matchstick into the pond. Imagine his surprise when it suddenly burst into flames. The story of the flaming water spread like wild fire in the municipality as well as neighboring towns." 

Libon flaming water

Buga Lake which faces Lake Bato is another tourist destination in Libon where you can have a boat ride while you immerse yourselves to fishermen and even have the chance to buy big indian carps, tilapia and tabios at a cheap price fresh from the lake. You can enjoy your boat ride around the lake where you can have a perfect view of Mt. Mayon, Mt. Isarog, Mt. Asog, Mt. Malinao and Mt. Masaraga. 

At the coastal area of Libon introduces its untouched beauty and preserved nature. Rawis beach which is an hour trip from Buga Lake. Aside from its warm waters and peaceful ambience, Rawis has "baura", a 232 hectare sand atoll. The best time to visit the baura is during low tide to enjoy the white sand and skin dive. Near the beach is a mangrove farm where the local government and the locals have been preserving can also be visited. along the coastline, you can see varieties of fish sold and dried at an affordable price.

These are just few tourist attractions that can be visited in this municipality. Libon is rich in its culture where majority of the residents are farmers and fishermen. Libon celebrates Paroy Festival on the Feast of St. James the Great as its Patron Saint. Each year the town celebrates its festival with different themes like last 2010: Spanish Invasion and such. Different activities are made not just at the poblacion but throughout the town. Different cuisines, product, cultural presentations of every barangay are always expected at the festival so everyone really participates in their festivity. These and many more can only be found in Libon.

This I can say, " Proudly Libon!".

By: Ma. Liezel Vasquez Taduran