Brgy. Imnajbu (pronounced im-nah-boo) in the municipality of Uyugan has a very cool name and one of the smallest populations in the Philippines — just over 100 people! Its rugged landscape is captivating, especially more so the day we went there, what with a signal no. 4 typhoon coming.
Imnajbu has a lot of claims to fame for such a small barangay. It is where the first Catholic mass and baptism in Batanes was held. A pretty chapel, dedicated to San Lorenzo Ruiz, now marks the spot where the first mass was held.
San Lorenzo Ruiz chapel in Brgy. Imnajbu, Uyugan, Batanes
Imnajbu also has its wide shores to be proud of.
There are interesting rock formations. This one is cut through by the winding road. I suppose that once upon a time, the half section of the rock eventually fell toward the sea.
Then there’s the fact that a part of the Filipino version of Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights — Carlos Siguion-Reyna’s Hihintayin Kita sa Langit(starring Dawn Zulueta, Richard Gomez and Michael de Mesa) — was filmed in Imnajbu’s Alapad Hills. Learning about this made me giddy because this was the first film to make me feel things as a child. (Why I’d been able to watch it then, I’ll never know.)
Totally looks like a Mills & Boon cover. Pic from RavepadWe, on the other hand, are (fortunately) unable do any “I-Dawn Zulueta mo ako” pose in Uyugan or anywhere else.
The white-tipped waves were positively roaring here as they crashed to the rugged shores.
It got me thinking that if Wuthering Heights is set in moors, which symbolize a dark, forbidden, all-consuming sort of love, Hihintayin Kita sa Langit uses a Filipino backdrop that perfectly reflects its own idea of romance: strong, impassioned, even self-destructive.
