Special Feature

A Forgotten Corner of the Philippines-
Text and photos by Tilak Hettige–

The plane hit the ground with a hard jerk, and momentarily we all strained against our seat belts. We had landed unsteadily in the Tacloban Airport. Seeing the anxious look in my eyes, my fellow passengers, Kevin and Joy, assured me that there was nothing to worry about. Himself a pilot, Kevin explained that unlike on other runways, the landing strip here was short, so our pilot had needed to hit the brakes abruptly. Knowing the facts comforted me.

We then drove for about three hours, passing the San Juanico Bridge (the longest bridge in the Philippines) to the historic Guiuan, which is at the far end of the island. As we passed the vast expanse of green lands, I felt very calm and peaceful. The serene roads, where hardly any buses pass, were a rare treat to a traveler coming from Manila. When we arrived at our destination, I saw the breathtaking beauty of the pristine surroundings. It was simply a paradise, undiscovered by most people in the country.

We stayed at the Calicoan Island’s Surf Camp in ABCD beach. I photographed closeups of nature as well as landscapes, taking my time to explore the treasures around me. One evening, when I went to take a photograph of the sunset, I met some other travelers – a Spanish gentleman and a German lady. I was surprised to see two foreigners in the area. So while I was waiting for the sky to clear up and the sun to peer through the clouds, I struck up a conversation with them.

It turned out that John, the Spanish traveler, was organizing a year-round informational exhibition about the travels of his hometown hero, Elcano. Elcano was assistant to Magellan, the Portuguese navigator who convinced Spain he could find a western spice route but who was killed in what would later be known as the Philippines. After Magellan died, Elcano rode the ship back to complete the first circumnavigation of the globe. When I met John, he was on a mission to retrace the route of Elcano for an exhibit in Spain to make his countrymen aware of this part of their history.

I found that Leyte and Samar have other treasures beside nature. There are many interesting crafts including weaving mats, called banig. Most of the points of interest of Tacloban were introduced by Imelda Marcos, the former first lady, herself a native of Leyte. Tacloban is one of the larger cities in Leyte.

I continued to explore the place, taking the opportunity to do more travel photography. In travel photography, everything you come upon in a new place is a potential subject. Everything you experience is interesting, whether it be a minor detail or a significant encounter. It’s just a matter of how you link everything and how you put the pieces together and what you focus on.

Recently, I saw this TV advertisement which said that a photograph can only tell so much and that the rest we just keep in our hearts. I would rather believe that to be a good photographer, you must include everything in the image you produce – the emotion, the tone, the atmosphere, the mood, or just anything you experience while you are taking that photograph.

If you are a travel photographer, when you want to capture something interesting, you are limited to what you have in your backpack. Therefore, make sure your backpack contains everything you think you will need, and then some – camera body, lens (wideangle or long lens), extra memory cards, extra battery, etc. The rest is how you make use of what you have in a given time frame and come up with your best images, rain or shine.