30lipata-- — FEAST FOR THE EYES The sun sets on Sicogon Island. HAZEL P. VILLA /CONTRIBUTOR

CARLES, Iloilo—From the late 1970s to the early 1980s, Sicogon Island was a mecca for tourists long before neighboring Boracay Island became a household name.

A coup d’etat in 1986 that left about 300 foreigners stranded on the island and the political instability that followed dealt a deadly blow to what could have been Panay Island’s crown jewel.

But Sicogon has retained its original attractions that had once drawn many to its chartreuse and turquoise waters ringed by other island gems, most notable of which are the Gigantes Islands in this northern Iloilo town. Having survived Typhoon Undang on Nov. 5, 1984, Typhoon Frank on June 21, 2008, and Super Typhoon Yolanda on Nov. 8, 2013, also gave the island its resilient and durable character.

5-star training

Elsie Andrade, a former chambermaid of Sicogon Island Resort since it opened in 1977, recounts how Sicogon’s shimmering white sand was made finer after workers carrying huge square sieves would sift the sand so walking on a portion of the 3.5 kilometer beach would be much easier for tourists who came all the way from Europe, Japan and Singapore.

In its glory days, the resort was home to 150 cottages maintained by a staff trained in five-star establishments, catering not only to a foreign clientele but celebrity guests, jet-setters and powerful people with droppable names.

Today, that white beach in the village of Buaya has been pushed further to the shore, exposing bigger grains of sand. But walking along the shore is still a pleasurable experience, as one stumbles across myriads of starfish dotting the strip.

Visitors enchanted by the sights for the first time often return, and they have every reason to do so. Across Buaya Island is Tumaquin Island that is easily accessible during the low tide, where one can have one of the best vantage points for viewing the nearby Gigantes Group of Islands.

Then, there’s Mt. Upao, (from the Visayan word meaning bald) so named because its peak looks like a bald spot on a man’s thinning head of hair.

For the adventurous, but definitely not the faint-hearted, motorized pumpboats are available for rent if one wants to explore Gigantes Islands’ lake and caves.

Just recently, tourists Mary Jane Faune Locsin and her daughter Annika Ashley stayed overnight in the private resort of the Sarrosa family in Sicogon and were pleasantly surprised with a “Life of Pi” moment.

Like the lead character of the popular movie, they could hardly believe their eyes as they walked toward the beach one early evening at low tide and were mesmerized by the sight of what looked like blue fireflies flitting in the water. It turned out to be bioluminescent plankton that glowed around their feet but which quickly disappears when touched.

Mixed harvest

“I also enjoyed joining the locals while they looked for marine creatures for dinner during low tide,” Locsin said, adding that she once saw a mixed harvest of squid, baby octopus, a variety of fish, mollusks, shells and other edible marine creatures by the buckets.

For now, only bed-and-breakfast accommodations are provided to tourists by enterprising Sicogon residents after the only public rest house on the island was washed away by Yolanda last November.

Plans for 5-star resort

Currently on the drawing board are plans by Sicogon Development Corp. (Sideco) owned by the Sarrosa family to develop the family-owned 809 hectares (out of the island’s total 1,160 hectares) into a five-star resort with a seaport and airport.

But the planned P10-billion project, a joint venture with a foreign partner, has hit a snag with a group of residents claiming Sideco had ejected them from their homes, forcing them to live on the island’s forested land which they claim is public land and which they can freely occupy.

Iloilo Business Club executive director Lea Lara said Sicogon Island had a great potential as a tourist destination.

Left untapped, the once idyllic playground of the rich and famous could deteriorate into a wasteland, she warned.

GETTING THERE

The easiest and fastest way to get to Sicogon island is via a bus bound for the town of Estancia, about three hours from the jump-off point at Tagbak Terminal in Iloilo’s Jaro District.

Tourists have to be at Estancia port before 8 a.m. to catch the motorized pumpboat that will take them to Sicogon at P60 per person. Sicogon is about 45 minutes away from the port. If they miss the regular trip, they can hire the boat for P2,000.