Timeless Samboan....

Samboan is a 5th class municipality in the province of Cebu, Philippines. The municipality is bounded on the south by municipality of Santader, on the north by municipality of Ginatilan, on the east by municipality of Oslob and on the west by Tañon Strait. Samboan is an abbreviation of the word Sinamboang, the origin of the name of the town. Sinamboang is a means of fishing commonly used by fishermen of the village. Like other Cebu towns’ legends as to how they were named, Samboan’s also came about from a language barrier between colonizers and natives. It seemed that some Spaniards came upon a group of fishermen who were engaged in sinamboang. Curious about the place, they asked for its name but the natives thought they were asking about what they were doing, and they promptly answered: sinamboang.

Samboan is a small town on a hill. But it used to be very much bigger, with Oslob and Alegria under its territorial jurisdiction. In fact, people of Alegria were made to render forced labor for the construction of the Samboan church. It was only some time during the middle of the 1880s that the two towns were separated from Samboan. The main source of livelihood by its locals are mainly farming and fishing.

Samboan is about 140km from the queen city of the south, Cebu City. It is famous for its beautiful crystal clear waters along its coastal barangays. It has a very rich marine ecosystem as can be seen in its Colase Marine Sanctuary in Barangay Colase where it is managed by the Municipality together with a fisherfolks organization. Samboan’s effort for nature’s protection is proven by this marine sanctuary’s existence for almost two decades already. You can visit the fish sanctuary or dive for a fee where you can experience the most preserved marine ecosystem where sharks often visits, dolphins plays, whales often traverse and all kinds of fish visits the most shallow part of the shore unprovoked by man. Imagine yourself standing in the beach side and colorful fishes come to your eyes as clear as if you are swimming with them. Aside from Colase, other coastal barangays include Tangbo, Dalahikan, Suba, San Sebastian (Bato) and Poblacion offers the same experience generally. One of the now-famous natural treasures of the municipality is the long-kept secret of Samboan: the Aguinid Waterfalls in Barangay Tangbo. Aguinid Waterfalls is composed of five different levels in one Tangbo River. Each level has a unique waterfall. One can never reach the peak or last waterfall but to pass and climb the limestone walls of each waterfall from the lowest up to highest level waterfall. Plus you can never climb towards the top without getting wet and with an adrenaline rush adds to the excitement. One hotel and travel magazine would describe it as like climbing all the falls by tracing the long waters like the hairs of Rapunzel. In the neighboring Barangay Bonbon, you can also see the equally beautiful Bonbon Hidden Falls which some visitors call it the Triple Drop Falls. Another unique spot to visit is in the northern part of Poblacion where a natural formation in Samboan can be found: the Ponong Hidden Lake. It is not actually a lake, but a type of a closed lagoon. Its water is brackish. It is unique in the sense that it is where a certain kind of bird - the manolong - dives into its salty waters and stays under for a long time in order to escape the hunters. Also near the Poblacion (town center) at the hilly portion lies Sitio Calina-ay where you can also take a deep swim in the cool lagoon of the Balay’g Sawa Falls. It is a smaller waterfall but has a bigger lagoon for swimming. In the mountain portion of the municipality is the newly-paved road connecting Samboan and Oslob town which is named Calderon Highway after the famous Samboan Assemblyman Pedro Calderon. It is perfect for mountain biking, riding and even hiking to the Samboan mountains. One of the famous mountains here is the magnificent Mt. Bartolina in Barangay Monteverde where one can climb the peak and see both sides of Cebu, facing Bohol Strait to the East and Negros Tañon Strait to the West. Bartolina Mountain is the highest peak in the south of Cebu where the islands of Bohol, Negros, Siquijor, Mactan, Bantayan, and Mindanao can be seen. From there, you can catch both the rising and setting of the sun. In Barangay San Sebastian, the popular Bato Wharf of Samboan serves as the gateway to Negros Oriental. It is quite near the neighboring island where on clear days one can see the figures of the people on the opposite shore.

One aspect of interest is that of Samboan’s cultural heritage left by the Spanish conquerors. It has its Spanish built church made of coral stones carefully crafted to form the facade of the St. Michael Archangel Church, one of the oldest churches in Cebu. Beside it is another Spanish structure, the Spanish Watch Tower which is also made up of blocks of coral stones. Such watchtower was built in the side of the hill to watch the Moro Invaders to the island. It is the tallest and most preserved in the entire island of Cebu. Another old site which leads to the Spanish Watch Tower is St. Jacob’s Ladder that connects that beach area (sea level) to the said watch tower up in the platue of Samboan over a hundred meter above sea level which direction going to the area of the municipal plaza and the Samboan Church. It rises 147 steps from the sea level near the beach up to 200 feet above sea level. It is about 300 years old. It is otherwise known as Escala De Jacobe (Samboan/South Coast) as a flight of stone stairs built in 1878, which leads up to an old watchtower on a plateau about 65m above the town. From here, one can get a magnificent view of Tañon Strait. The watch tower (also coral stone-built) was used to guard against Moro sea pirates. The Samboan WWII Volunteers Monument, found at the center of Poblacion at the National Highway, was built in honor of the many Volunteers fighting for the freedom of the Philippines. In addition to the richness of Samboan’s Heritage, one can visit barangay ‘Bato’ San Sebastian Stone Walls where one can take a look at the old stone structures near the San Sebastian Parish Church. This is maybe the reason why this barangay is popularly known as ‘Bato’. Another Spanish structure which may be unnoticed by many is the old coral stone-made believed to be an old mark as Spanish Boundary Post which stands along the highway in Barangay Tangbo beside the Tangbo-Bonbon River Bridge serving currently as boundary of the said barangays. It was believed used to mark the boundary limit of old Poblacion but now serves to mark the boundary between Barangay Bonbon and Tangbo.