my father's hometown, trinidad, bohol

ever since i was a kid, my father told me stories of their life in bohol. my father came from a little town in bohol known as trinidad. his stories is all about how nice is it to live in that place. he always mentioned of the river where they always went for fishing and the crocodiles living there. i know my father had a very happy childhood because whenever there is time for us to talk, he always reminisces of the good times he had with his siblings and his cousins. it is a little bit funny though, that we cannot trace our genealogy on my father's side. even older people have no idea who their forefathers are. during the last grand reunion of the Puracan clan held in our great hometown, trinidad, we can only trace up their grandfather's name. nothing more.

during my first visit to our holy ground in 1977, i was full of excitement given the chance to finally see for myself my father's birthplace. add to that the feeling of having my first ride on a boat. the trip to bohol was indeed nice but really difficult. we need to travel to butuan city from davao to catch a boat going to jagna, bohol and another 5 hours of busride on a dirt road going there. i really had a nice time there. people simply walk from one destination to another, sometimes we rode on a karomata. i met a lot of relatives, lot of them. one thing i cannot forget about trinidad is how religious our relatives are. sundays are holy. we got nothing to do but spend the day in the church and we didnt ran out of church activities. i also had experienced the way they conduct the DVCS (daily vacation church school). i really had a lot of fun there.

i took my kids there in 2003 and same with what i felt then, they loved the place. probably it is one of those places wherein people really care for each other, relationships with fellowmen is more important than anything else. as the old adage do remind us, there is no place like your father's hometown.

by the way, here's a little trivia about trinidad.

In 1820 Trinidad was yet a barrio in the northern part of Bohol inhabited by a small group of settlers under the leadership of Macag. It was once named Cabigon but the abundance of ipil trees in the area caused it to be referred to as 'Ipil' thus becoming an offcial name when it became a town.

But Ipil became a barrio when it was annexed to Talibon on October 31, 1903 by virtue of Act 968. Several attempts to reestablish Ipil as municipality failed but in 1947, through the combined efforts of the people led by Juan Gonzales and aided by Sen. Oligarion Clarin, Ipil regained its former status as a town and was renamed Trinidad in honor of the wife of Pres. Manuel A. Roxas who issued the EO No. 80 s. of 1947, restoring the community to its former status as an independent municipality.

Trinidad at a glance
Population:	25683
Number of households:	4707
Land area:	9472 ha
Number of barangays:	20
Distance from Tagbilaran:	98 km

if you are planning to visit bohol, include in your iterinary my father's hometown and you find the real meaning of the word, peace. it is really peaceful in there. everything is within your your reach. it could be you retirement haven. enjoy the place.