Exploring Philippines 58 - Pandan, Antique (Post 1 - Bugang River)

I came to know about Bugang River when I watched a local environment tv special featuring the prized pristine places in the Philippines, how they affect the lives of the people, the measures to preserve and prosper them, and the issues they face about climate change and the growing demand of the local populace. It was on this show when I learned about the Bugang River which has been regarded and declared as the cleanest river in the Philippines. And one time, when I had this chance, I really spent a day to explore this place.

Bugang River is located in Pandan, Antique. From the town proper of Pandan, we went to the public market where tricycles for hire are parked and asked around for the trip going to barangay Zaldivar. We told the tricycle driver that our drop off point would be at the Bugang river. When we were at Bugang, we asked around for the Bugang river and we were directed towards a community where the Bugang river can be found. As we followed the road, we were actually going towards the end part of Bugang river where the river meets the sea. When we asked around about the source of Bugang river, we were told that it is two kilometers away from our current location. And so we hired a tricycle for 100 pesos in going there because of the scarcity of the public utility vehicles in the area. Visitors of the place oftentimes have their own vehicles because it is quite far from the main road.



To cut the story short, we reached the Malumpati resort. The Malumpati resort is a favorite picnic place where the water of its pool comes directly from the Bugang river. The water of the resort is a flowing one, just like a regular river and it was restructured in order to hold as much water as possible where it is several meters deep. And since its water comes directly from the river, the first time of feeling it is just like touching a water that comes out from a refrigerator.


When we got there, we hired a local tour guide to bring us to the very source of the river. The tour guide charged us 100 pesos and he simply said to us to follow him. I was anticipating that our tour guide had some stories to tell about the place as we follow him but it seemed that his role was just to lead the way. Not much for a tour guide, I must say.