Masbate readies for Rodeo Masbateno

MASBATE CITY -– How would you drive a herd of cows in a three-kilometer stretch with not one breaking away from the pack?
The cowboys very well know how and this admirable skill will be tested in the Cattle Drive, a new event added this year to the old array of games being played in the yearly Rodeo Masbateño competitions.

The new game would test the skill of a participating cowboy in driving at least 50 cattle heads through a three-kilometer stretch from a certain point to the Rodeo Arena at this provincial capital, the center of the five-day festivities for the Rodeo Masbateño Festival slated on April 9 to 14.
“We have plenty of homegrown cowboys who are experts in the traditional way of driving herds of cows within a distance. They do it almost twice a day, from herding the animals out of its holding area during night times to its grazing sites in the morning and back in the afternoon,” Manuel Sese, the president of the Rodeo Masbateño Inc. over the weekend said.
In the Cattle Drive competition, a participating cowboy on horseback would herd between 30 to 50 cows through a three-kilometer stretch from Barangay Matungao to the Rodeo Arena. There would be 45 participants to this game, Sese explained.
“This will be a very exciting demonstration of skills by cowboys especially for the thousands of visitors from different parts of the country and abroad who are expected to come around for the festival and not familiar with rancho activities,” he said.
They will see real cowboys slinging their ropes on their shoulders and steering their broncos in galloping cadence behind herds of dashing cattle, according to Sese.
Apart from the Cattle Drive, 10 other western style rodeo events traditionally being stage in the competitions, among them the lassoing on foot, horseback wrestling, two-person carambola (free for all), bull riding, bullwhipping, casting down and load carrying will feature cowboys and cowgirls in colorful outfits slugging it out for the national championship.
“A daring attitude and a thinking stance against brute force are what it takes to be a certified ‘Pinoy’ cowboy, the Masbateño brand characterized by elegance behind audacity,” Sese said.
Now on its 19th year, Rodeo Masbateño had been a success all those years earning for the island province of Masbate the title “Rodeo Capital of Asia,” a label strengthened by its affiliations with the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association of America and participation in the National Rodeo Finals in Las Vegas.
Organized in 1993 by the Rodeo Masbateño Foundation, a group composed of local leaders and ranchers led by then Gov. Emilio Espinosa Jr. the week-long festival has raised the province’s self-esteem as it hosts one of the country’s unusual socio-cultural events.
It has been is an opportunity for the local audiences as well as tourists and visitors to enjoy the different rodeo events, engage in homecoming celebrations, explore investment opportunities and visit more tourist destinations in the province.
Masbate boasts of several natural wonders that offer striking tourist spots. Among them are the Limestone Hills in the gold-rich Aroroy town, the underwater cave of Boca Engaño and Ki-albay River and beach in Claveria, Matangtubig Spring in Monreal, Bat-ongan Caves of Mandaon, Catandayagan Falls in Ticao Island and Alta Vista Falls in San Fernando.
Limestone Hills is believed to have been inhabited by the Kalanay people, the early inhabitants that practiced jar burials. Excavations in the area yielded human bones.
The Boca Engaño underwater cave features an undersea that during high tide takes even an unskilled diver only a few seconds to enter the cave; it is neck-deep during low tide. Inside the cave are well-sealed human caskets carved out of solid wood believed to be 500 years old that still contain human remains. Each caskets measures 24 inches in length and 12 inches in width.
The Ki-albay beach extends east-southeast from the town proper of Claveria with an approximate length of one and a half kilometers of sandy and well-polished pebbles ending on Ki-albay River, a place believed to have been inhabited first by people from Albay.
Matangtubig Spring is unique spring with three sources. The spring comes out of a rock with lush vegetations that give shade in the area while Bat-ongan Caves is perfect for daring and adventurous visitors. It is approximately 10 kilometers from the subterranean river to Mandaon town.
The well-known Catandayagan Falls is one of the most beautiful the province has to offer. Its water cascades from 60 feet down to its base, where multi-colored fishes cavort. Catandayagan is accessible within an hour by motorboat from here.
Alta Vista Falls is one of the most unique falls in the country. It is a zigzag cascade from 45 feet to its base where multi-colored fishes cavort.
The province also have various man- made historical wonders like the Bugui Point Lighthouse in Aroroy town which was constructed during the Spanish era, the Jintotolo Lighthouse in Balud that its picturesque with its 19th century architecture and the Colorado Lighthouse, also of Aroroy which built during the Spanish era but was renovated during the American Regime. (Danny Calleja)