Sunday, 12th of January, 2014, Fluvial Parade took place in Valencia City, a municipality in the province of Bukidnon, a landlocked province located in theNorthern Mindanao region of the Philippines. Fluvial parades are basically only in the Philippines. It is a symbolic boat parade along a river or seashore participated by the locals of the area for festive events such as commemoration, town fiesta, celebration, thanksgiving, river protection & the likes. During the early civilization of the province, the Pulangui river played a big role in the survival of the ancestors & folks from different tribes. The river served as their fastest mode of transportation, trading businesses, food & a lot more. It is also the longest river in Bukidnon and one of the major tributaries of the Rio Grande de Mindanao (also known as the Mindanao River, the 2nd largest river system & the 2nd longest river in the country).
As an outdoor enthusiast who grew up in Valencia City, I didn’t miss the opportunity to take part in this year’s traditional Fluvial Parade. For four years now, Valencianos has been doing this practice to continue this tradition of floating in the Pulangui River. Unfortunately, this year, this event didn’t get support from the local government so the Senior Citizens group of this small city sponsored it for the sake of keeping the tradition alive. I joined the group of men who annually & bravely sail this unpredictable & sometimes fierce stretch of the river. Traditionally, this kind of Fluvial Parade begins with a “Pahinungod” (Offering) which are conducted by the different “Datu” (chieftain) from various tribes of Bukidnon & blood of animals were flowed in the river as offerings. This year, it didn’t happen. Instead, the group said prayers before sailing. The group was composed of 17 people aboard two wooden rafts (2 persons per raft were floating using rubber tubes with ropes tied to the raft so that the team stays together) since we could not afford a rubber boat. Equipped with a life vest, helmet, my EOS 600D inside a dry bag, cellphone & some essentials (water, chocolate, antibiotic cream, rain jacket, small amount of money, etc.), I hopped on one of our two wooden rafts & we started sailing on that large brown river.
We sailed on, had fun & paddled as if we were dancing in the seemingly calm but strong waves & current flow of the brown river. The two rafts were separated due to the strong current & we were way ahead from the other team. An hour later, we were then approaching a concrete bridge in a distant. Our team paddled & paddled to achieve our target of passing in between the 2nd & 3rd big posts of that bridge. Everything happened so fast! I wasn’t even able to manage to catch a closer shot on my camera. It’s like the waves were pushing us towards another direction & as if something was pulling us to collide in that big structure! I was sitting in the front part of the raft & we had a head on collision against the concrete post! It was too late for all of us for an escape from the impact. I can’t remember me screaming or anything that would cause a big panic to the group. Probably, I was in a shock mode at that moment. Next thing I knew, our small boat capsized & I was already trapped underwater with zero visibility & unable to open my eyes nor breathe. Shortly after the collision, I felt some bumps underwater. I was thankful enough for my helmet that protected my head from any injury. Although I was struggling to escape from wherever I was, I remained calmed & composed in that scary underwater, stayed focused & held on to my presence of mind. The first thing I thought of was AIR. I told myself “If I could manage to find even a bit of air, maybe I could hold to my breath longer while finding an escape way back above the water”. I decided to remove my helmet because it hindered me from positioning my head upwards to find air. I was like already kissing the floor of the raft, desperate to find even a small hole to breath. It gave me the opportunity to breath once. The water pressure underneath was like pulling me under & kept on getting inside my mouth. Luckily, I found a small hole where I managed to take one breath & the water poured in again & had me unconsciously drank some dirty river water. Although I felt very nervous down there, I remained calmed & conscious of what I was doing. I was like gracefully dancing underwater while continuously moving my body hopeful to find an escape route. Then I found another small hole again where I managed to gasp some air (one breath) & the water poured in again. Very shortly after that moment, unconsciously, my mind was already flocking with a lot of thoughts. My family, my past adventures & outdoor trips, it was kind of chaotic. I felt like I couldn’t hold my breath anymore & was almost giving up. I could still remember probably bargaining with the Divine Being begging for a possibility to get out from that small trap. Mentally, I was pushing myself to hold my breath longer. I believe that helped me a lot during that moment. “Staying Calm & Do Not Panic” were the keys to my survival.
I was continuously struggling to find my way out. I felt a sense of stopping already because I couldn’t hold my breath anymore, but I heard myself telling me that I was not ready to go yet. I wasn’t ready to die. Not yet. Then I felt a sign of hope. I felt a hand touched my left lower extremity & I turned my body & moved towards that direction. Then in a matter of seconds maybe, it may sound strange but I saw only all white & then gasp as many air as I can. I was already out in the air! Later, I then knew that all of them were already all out hanging in the sides & riding on the capsized raft. I was the only one missing in the group. One of them instinctively served as the pointer & after his head count, he shouted that someone was missing. They then realized that I was still missing. They didn’t see me floating in the raging river. Although the guys struggled in saving their own lives, some of them attempted to swim down again with one hand hanging on the side of the moving raft to search & grasped me underneath. The guys later on told me that one of them was able to catch me underneath through my life vest but was unable to bring me up since the water below was fierce enough to move him away as well. A relative of mine was the one who was able to touch my lower extremity underwater. It was the time that I managed to go out on the other side. That hand served as an instrument of hope which led me towards the direction to escape from that trap. It brought me back to the reality that I can still can make it.
When I went out from the water, my colleagues said that my face was full of mud & some small soft debris. I was thankful enough that while I was struggling underwater, I wasn’t hit or injured by any debris carried by the heavy flow of water from the uplands. They said it took them more or less 30 seconds to see me again after the head count. We were already away from the bridge & continuously flowing by the time I went out, an estimation of 20-30 meters away from the bridge. Everything happened so fast! When we were all able to composed ourselves & the water flow slightly calmed down, the group later on decided to docked somewhere in the river sides while it’s still possible. The group lost a lot of items: 2 helmets, 2 head gears, 3 pairs of sandals/slippers, 1 sunglass, 1 water tube, the 2 containers that served as floaters in the sides of the raft, 3 paddles, mobile phones & a lot of cigarettes. I lost my head gear, helmet & had my mobile phone wet, got some bruises & wounds, but I was thankful enough that I didn’t loose my life. I was thankful that I was with a group of trusted & reliable people who rescued me from that death chamber.
When you are in the midst of life & death situation, you experience things that are beyond comprehension. For more than a decade now, I’ve been loving the outdoors & been doing a lot of adventures. I’ve had several encounters with dangers & life- threatening situations, but this was the scariest experience I’ve ever had. Down there in that huge, fierce brown river which nearly claimed my life, I escaped death.
I’m writing this to share to the world my real life near death experience & how I managed to survive it. It also proved me right in my perception in life. “Live now. Tomorrow we die”.
I'm also writing this as a petition to the Valencianos to continue this kind of tradition so that the future generation can still experience the practices that our ancestors has left us. Let us keep this important part of our history. No matter what happened in Valencia City's fluvial parade this year, the Fluvial Parade tradition of the Valencianos must go on.
The following are some insights & realizations I gained from that experience. Weird & Strange, but true.
1.) Friends who supported the activity managed to fetch us to the dry land where we docked. It might be weird but they accidentally hit a duck along the way & it died. No one exactly knew but I believed that it was probably also the time when we met an accident in the river. Since there was no tribal ritual done before we sailed (which is a tradition common in historical activities like the fluvial parade), I strongly believed that the duck served as an offering. If it might be true, I’m thankful enough that no life was claimed during that fateful day.
2.) Usually, when I spend time in the outdoors or do things with nature, I respect some supernatural beliefs like asking permission from whatever creatures that might be living in the area. Since we will be sharing the place or probably invading their silence, I value the thought of respecting them (the creatures that are not like ours, beyond what the human eyes can see). Ironically, during that day, I forgot to say anything to the environment. After much reflection after the incident, I unexpectedly came up with several questions for myself. Since I was the only one documenting the event, I was the one who usually requested the guys to do some shout outs. Did I unconsciously disturb some supernatural beings around the area? After all the guys managed to go back up & held on to the capsized raft, I was the only one left & trapped inside. Did “they”(the other beings) chose me for that? The answers: I don’t know. It’s beyond my comprehension.
3.) While I was documenting the activity, I took some shots & footages while we were still approaching the concrete bridge from a distant. Strange & weird, but in my mind, I was planning of putting a caption “An attempt to pass by this bridge” in the clips that I’ll make for this trip. Today, as I reviewed the materials that I shot, I couldn’t find the video footage that I took with that bridge, but I’m sure I took a video of it. I literally got some chills upon realizing it. Freaky.
4.) A lot of people that are like me exist in this world. The “Unstoppables”. I can be as bad as I wanna be & as good as I wanna be. I know some rules so I can defy them. I go out & do things whenever I want to (even beyond my family’s approval). Not even a menstruation can stop me from doing such outdoor activities. In this trip, I had some hesitations at first. Something inside was stopping me from going to this trip. My menstruation even arrived a night before this trip. However, my strong desire to document this event overcame those hesitations & so I went. This wasn’t my first water activity but I just had this strong desire to experience what this fluvial parade is. Lessons learned after the incident: Follow your instincts. Respect what human nature tries to tell you.
5.) If it is your time to go, it really is. No matter what you do, even if you are just staying indoors & careful enough, one slip may take your life. It wasn’t my time to go yet. I still have to live a life full of purposes. Even if nature almost claimed my life, I will still continue loving & living in the outdoors. All of us will die, but if my time will come, I wish to take my last breath with Mother Nature.
Photos of that fateful day:
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