Last Tuesday, March 19, 2019 I had the opportunity to visit again my birthplace, the town of Esperanza, Agusan del Sur after the passing of about 48 years. My youngest sister visited our home city of Bayugan and I went there too last week.

I have visited Bayugan City back again countless of times since I left the place during my high school days during the 70s. But I have never visited again the town of Esperanza where I was born some 11 kilometers away from Bayugan.

So I told my brothers and sister about my interest to visit Esperanza again after a long while. I was curious about how the place would look like now. I heard there was a bridge already that connected the town of Esperanza to Bayugan. During my boyhood years during the early 60s, I remember that people needed to cross the river on a boat to get to this town. In my imagination, it was such a remote place.

I do remember once or twice maybe when I was with my dad and we travelled by speedboat to Butuan City and back to our home in Esperanza through the Agusan River. From what I can recall, my dad owned several speedboats with several powerful outboard motors back then. This was when we lived in Esperanza, a river town back then. We moved to Bayugan later on.

I also remember that I went to the Esperanza Central Elementary School during the first half of my grade 2 in elementary. Then we moved to Bayugan where I completed my Grade 2 schooling.

I do remember that Bayugan was once part of Barrio (now called Barangay) Maygatasan which was a part of the town of Esperanza. But then Bayugan became more progressive as it is located along the national highway and it soon became a town and now a city. My dad had a part in the early days of Bayugan being the first Tiniente del Barrio of Bayugan.

During our visit to Esperanza, it was interesting that we met one of the pioneers of the town. By chance, we met the eldest son of the former town mayor, Mayor Enad. That family name is familiar to me. We have the same age at 64 and he knows one of my classmates when I was in Grade 2. What a coincidence!

Although it was unplanned and just a spur-of-the-moment visit, it was a great visit to my birthplace after the passing of some 4 decades. It was something. It was great to recall some moments in time when I used to live there as a young boy. I was also amused because my youngest sister was also excited to visit the place although she was born in Butuan City hahaha!

According to Wikipedia, it is at the Wawa River in Esperanza that the famous Golden Tara was found. That’s interesting. That just goes to show that this town was a trading center centuries ago when the major means of transportation back then was through the rivers. I imagine that through the rivers, foreign merchants (Spaniards, Chinese, Indian, etc.) reached the deep jungles of Agusan and Davao through the Agusan river and its tributaries. I continue to believe that the first mass happened in the port of Masao, in Butuan City and not in Limasawa. But that’s another story hahaha!

I’m glad I visited my birthplace again, the town of Esperanza in Agusan del Sur.