Back to Ili Rock
WHEN a door is slammed shut in front of us, the advice given is to look for an open window. Or to say it in another way, during times of trouble, look for opportunities somewhere else. Or try seeing the good in bad situations.
Consider the famous Ili Rock in Boljoon in southern Cebu, a bald mountain looming over a portion of the national highway and the shoreline in the town.
Two years ago, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) slope benched “critical sections” of Ili Rock because the magnitude 7.2 earthquake that hit Cebu and Bohol in October 2013 had made these sections unstable, posing danger to commuters passing by the highway below them. The slope benching or carving of the mountain naturally altered the look of the mountain.
Some town folks, many of them not included in consultations that DPWH officials held with officials of the Boljoon Municipal Government, complained about the slope benching because it not only altered Ili Rock's features but also polluted the nearby sea. But the damage had been done. There was no way Ili Rock's old look could be restored despite the flak DPWH got.
What got largely unnoticed at a time when the controversy erupted were the opportunities that the carving of Ili Rock offered. It was only in March this year, during a meeting attended by Boljoon town officials, DPWH officials and town folks critical of the slope benching project that these opportunities were presented and grabbed.
By constructing concrete steps and iron railings on the benched slope going up, the public is given free access to the higher portions of the mountain where a good view of the sea, the neighboring islands and the town proper could be had. Seeing the number of people going up Ili Rock's top prompted Boljoon Mayor Merlou Derama to quip: “Hasta ang nagreklamo sa una nag- selfie na diha.”
Ili Rock's development is not complete. Plans to build there a view deck with a telescope, a Virgin Mary Shrine, a lighthouse, coffee shop and souvenir shop ( at the first level) and even a 200-meter zip line have been considered. Now, the future is bright for Ili Rock and Boljoon's tourism industry.