Last 26th of May, 2019, I went to another historically-significant place. This time around, I was in Maragondon, Cavite. I went to retrace Procopio and Andres Bonifacio’s final steps at Mt. Nagpatong where a shrine was built to commemorate their execution at the hands of Emilio Aguinaldo’s men. Joining me in this trip was my fam and their 80’s activist-friends. (Yes, I was the only Millennial in this trip, hehe).
Mt. Nagpatong is a very easy hike. Together with Mt. Buntis, these two are usually climbed as twin hikes. Historians are still debating whether Bonifacio was executed at Buntis or at Nagpatong, but locals there would say the latter. Since the two are somehow far apart, a traverse trail can be an option. However, since most of my companions at that time were non-hikers, I only settled for Mt. Nagpatong.
The mountain and the shrine itself can be accessed through a road. But since some of my companions, including my family, wanted to have the probinsya-feels in retracing Bonifacio’s steps, we opted for a hike instead. Starting from the centuries-old Maragondon Church, we descended towards Maragondon River and crossed to the other side. From there, we walked towards the barangay hall and made a left turn going to the grass fields.
The small mountains of Maragondon can be seen from this point. Our guide, who is also the shrine caretaker, pointed the different mountains there, the names of which I couldn’t remember. We continued walking on the grass field until we entered a bamboo forest. As we kept walking along the trail, the scenery transitions from fields to bamboo forests.
We, then, descended into a brownish stream. After crossing it, we made a final ascend until entering a grass field once again. There, we reached the road going towards the shrine. It was only a few seconds later when we arrived at the locked gate of the Bonifacio Shrine complex. There, our companions who opted to go there by vehicle were already done taking their pictures and breakfast. I took the chance to explore the area.
After a few minutes of exploring and taking pictures, we went through to the summit of Mt. Nagpatong. It was still a 15-minute assault from the shrine. We went towards the left side of the shrine where a very obscure trail can be seen. It’s actually very hard to spot the trail if you haven’t been there. Just a few minutes of entering the trail, the continuous ascent ensues. Nonetheless, it was still easy, and after just a few minutes, the final leg of the hike commences. Here, one needs to negotiate a very steep section filled with roots, large boulders, and a ravine. After that, we reached the overgrown and ridge-like summit of Mt. Nagpatong (<100 MASL) at exactly 8:00AM.
The summit area offers a view of the very low Maragondon mountain range. Mt. Buntis, as well as several summits, can be seen from this point. The mountain ranges are filled with broccoli-like trees! A sad part though, was that quarried parts of the mountain range can be observed. I was also trying to find Cavite’s mountain frontiers – Mt. Marami and Pico de Loro, but to no avail.
We descended after a few minutes of picture-taking. Then, we had our breakfast at the shrine. After eating, we went on towards Patungan Cove and Papaya Island. There, I spotted the famed Pico de Loro and its famous parrot beak rock formation.
Just some final thoughts about the place: I hope more and more people would appreciate the value of the shrine. As someone who admires Bonifacio, I find it very sad that the place is seldom visited. Hopefully, the town of Maragondon will highlight this sacred and historically-significant place. I hope, too, that quarrying will stop, as the place looks so promising.
“Love your Country next to God, your honor, and most of all yourself.”
Andres Bonifacio
Itinerary
03:00AM Departure from Malolos
05:45AM ETA Maragondon, stopover at Andres Bonifacio’s Trial House
05:55AM Arrival at Maragondon Church, wait for guide
06:00AM Start hike towards Mt. Nagpatong
07:30AM Arrival at Bonifacio Shrine, take pictures
07:45AM Start assault to Mt. Nagpatong summit
08:00AM Mt. Nagpatong summit, take pictures
08:30 AM Descend, breakfast
09:00AM ETD Patungan Cove
Highland Reflections: Kaisipan, Karanasan, at Kamalayan 