The long climb to Tabla.
What I remember most about Tabla are its roads. Winding rounds that undulate up and down. Off-camber blind curves. Long descents with spire-sharp rocks. And there is that 1.2km steep, non-stop climb on the way to Tabla Elementary School.
Tabla is a town of scattered houses. Its U-shaped topography cradles the livable area of the barangay, which in turn, braces a lush, green valley in its middle.
One of Tabla's valleys.
Many people in Tabla live through farming, either scraping the most corn from their small patch of land or rolling-up "inadlaw" (literally "daily") wages from the bigger farms. Unfortunately, it is not everyday that farm hands are handy.
So some people, the lazier ones, make their living with through habal-habal. Those who do not have the money to buy their motorcycle, or those wives and children who want to augment the meagre income of their husband or father, make bamboo sticks.
In Cebu, where there is sky, there is also faith. This proves true in Tabla. They have their Chapel situated just meters away from the barangay hall. It was built in the '90s during the time of some Padre Manayon.
They have their mass every Sunday. At present, the masses are presided by a Father Jumao-as, who might be celebrating his last at the barangay this Sunday, November 28. As overheard from a local lady, the collection is not encouraging enough for the priest.
The chapel in Tabla, Liloan.
Ang Balay nga Tabla
Before, the land that spans Tabla is a part of another barangay in the flatlands. In 1975, the place became known as Sitio Tabla.
Tabla is Cebuano for wood planks. The place was named thus because of the "Balay nga Tabla," which is its first landmark. Situated just across the school, the house was owned by a Cabesa Ingkoy, a local leader during the later Spanish times.
Cabesa Ingkoy's front of the tabla house became a place for trade gatherings, known as "tabo" (meet). When people were asked where they were going, they would reply "didto sa balay nga tabla."
Where the balay nga tabla used to nestle.
Population increased over time and in 1980, the first dirt road was bulldozed up to the balay nga tabla and some kilometers more pass it. As time moved forward, the tabla house crumpled down into antiquity. It is in 1986 that the last woods of it were seen.
By then, there were enough people to consider Tabla a new barangay. Somewhere in the '80s, a handful of people submitted a petition that Tabla become a barangay of its own. (Will still have to refer to the municipal hall in Liloan for the exact year since the interviewee was uncertain of this part.)
Path leading to the house of Cabesa Ingkoy's descendant.
