LUBUAGAN, Philippines, 9 June 2006 — In this highland town in the northern Philippines, look-alikes abound and townsfolk have a ready answer: Tiwod Spring.
Located in the village of Canao, the spring is known to give life and love to childless couples, drawing visitors from far and wide.
Each day bustles with activity in the spring, which serves as a communal bath, washing and drinking area for the whole of Lubuagan.
In the narrow stone-covered walkway leading to a crevice of clear, cool water, people line up for their turn to take a refreshing refill.
Many still go to Tiwod either because plumbing innovations have not reached their home or for the quiet conversations with neighbors as they do their laundry and dirty dishes.
The spring water is for everyone to use, with plenty to share to anyone who wants to sample its refreshing taste or to find out if the local urban legend is true.
Elders believe that the spring was twice blessed by Kabunian, the Kalinga deity, and could give childless couples the gift of life — twice over with identical twins.
According to town Mayor Johnny Dickpus, in the Poblacion (town center) area alone, there are over 20 set of twins.
“Months ago there was a truckload of visitors who came from Bontoc (in nearby Mountain Province) just to take a bath here,” he said. Dickpus himself has been blessed with twins, An An and Charity Faith.
He said he and his wife were childless for some years until they started going to Tiwod to bath and fetch water to drink. Soon they had their twins.
Arlyn Odiem, also blessed with twins Ronan Arwin and Renan Arvin, says she too had been drinking from Tiwod.
The 4th class town thrives with a population of over 10,000 divided into 9 clustered barangays.
Dickpus hopes to boost the tourism potentials of the area with the yearly staging of the Amung Chi Vochong, a celebration of the traditional peace pact (called bodong or vochong) which is still practiced to this day.
Lubuagan used to be the seat of governance in Kalinga province and center of education before Tabuk, now the capital town, was developed.
The rich history of the mountain town dates back to 1900 when revolutionary Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo, president of the short-lived First Philippine Republic, established his headquarters in Lubuagan as he tried to evade pursuing American colonial forces.
Aguinaldo had to cut short his stay weeks later to avoid being trapped by his pursuers coming from Bontoc in the south and Abra in the west.
He fled to the lowland towns of Tabuk and Pinukpuk in the historic last leg of his flight to Palanan, Isabela, where he was eventually captured.