Hi, ka-Hivers welcome to my 6th blog! Still, remember when I said to my 5th blog that I’d share one of the contributions of the American soldiers to our beloved Libjo?
Well, here it is! I will mention it here too along with our amazing Ulbo!
New word to unlock
Ulbo- it refers to the water that comes from the deep ground which is the main source of water in Libjo
The discovery
Libjo is known to be abundant in water, there are different sources of water here in Libjo like the multiple deep wells and the lungib. But what if I tell you, that Libjoanon didn’t discover the Ulbo first? What if it was unexpectedly discovered by a chicken? Would you believe it?
I can’t believe it either but it was true. The discovery of Ulbo Spring was discovered by a CHICKEN!
Yes, you read it right it was a chicken!
Before unlimited water was discovered it was just a plain ground where you could step in and walk on it. It was said that this chicken was only searching for food. It keeps on doing its thing for I don’t know how long until there’s this burst of water upward.
Some locals who were the ancestors of our neighbors saw it. They were surprised and came to it running. They rejoiced because there was another source of water aside from a well and lungib (water that came from underground as well).
The small hole that the chicken made became bigger and bigger as the days went by. The Libjoanon started to use the water. At first, they used the water to wash the clothes, then fetch water for the plants and then they tried to let the animals drink it. When they were sure that the water was safe and clean they tried to taste it. When they tasted it, it tasted nothing (of course because it’s water it doesn’t have a taste HAHAHA) But it was refreshing to drink and even if it didn’t taste any you can differentiate its taste from the other source water.
The hole vanished and it became like a river gushing out as time flew. The plain ground became an entire water and people now take a bath in there, fetch water, swim, and do laundry in the excess of water released by the Ulbo.
The development
It was sad we had no picture of how it looked before the development of Ulbo. The people who witness the bare of Ulbo can only describe what it looks like. The elders can’t track the year it was discovered. But it was already discovered even before the American soldiers came to Libjo.
When the Americans came they saw the beautiful Ulbo. As they stayed in Libjo, the Americans without asking for any penny from the Libjoanon made a development. They surrounded the “ULBO” with a block of cement as it now became the main tank. Then, they made a pool in front of the “ULBO”. They put 2 big iron tubes in the main tank facing the pool so the water from the main tank can fill the pool. There is another tube below the pool. Which is connected from the Ulbo to the space provided for fetching, doing laundry, and bathing. The development of Ulbo by the Americans helps for the safety of everyone. If the hole is left like how it was, we won’t know how big will it become in the future or how wide it will be.
Believe it or not when the hole wasn’t yet too big a carabao was swallowed whole in the hole and not even the rope floated above or even just blood. No sign of the carabao after it fell into the hole. We, Libjoanon believe that the Ulbo is too deep to reach, and under the ground we step on near the Ulbo it is still water.
I even had a dream I don’t know if I will consider it a good or bad dream. But, in that dream the higher ground before the Ulbo where the sugarcane was planted was covered with water. I was like, how will I pass this one going to Ulbo? Should we make a small boat? Then, when I looked at the entire place it was covered with water just like you are watching the ocean. My dream ended when I just suddenly woke up it was still dawn.
In the pool, as I have remembered 3 people died in the pool or more. The reasons for their death are both drowned, but for some who died, there were people below the pool washing their clothes and they heard nothing! It was like someone or some creature prevented those people from hearing about the drowning incident. Rumors spread that the body they saw drowned in the pool was not the actual body of that person. It was replaced by a banana’s body and normal people see it as a body but it isn’t. Creatures in Ulbo were believed to get the chosen person and may be forced to live with them, like living invisibly. As the ancestors said, some creatures are living in Libjo, specifically in Ulbo and they gave us water but in return, they want some chosen lives.
In addition, numerous people tried to seek some treasure in Ulbo. They ended up almost dying instantly BUT they died slowly in a chain manner to whoever was involved. It was like those creatures sending a message that “Be contented to the water and don’t bother seeking for more”.
There’s a lot of mystery hidden in Ulbo but we Libjoanon are used to it. My father taught me how to swim there when I was 4 years old in the pool while my mother was washing the clothes below the pool. (Hey! You can’t say it’s dirty because some people died in there. It was cleaned after the incidents, and the water in the pool would be released and filled with new water). Although, there’s a history in it you just have to be careful and don’t swim alone. Although sometimes I would sneak and take a dip in it (because it’s too tiring to wait for some kids to swim). I just didn’t go far and of course, you have to say “tabi-tabi po” and I do the sign of the cross.
The mystery of Ulbo won't stop, the creature played tricks on us like we would hear phones ringing and when they looked at it there was not even a single call. Some people would say they would hear some laughter in the pool (who wouldn’t overthink if you see nothing but hearing things and it’s dawn or sometimes it happens at night?). I even saw 2 big fishes in the pool that I don’t know where they came from like it was so big! I even experienced hearing some splashes of water like someone was diving in the pool and my mother didn’t hear it. I even dared to point my flashlight at the pool because of curiosity but I saw nothing. Some Libjoanon saw like someone was smoking because they saw smoke coming from the darkness or sometimes it smelled like someone was smoking.
But still, Ulbo is amazingly a great blessing not just to us in Libjo, but to other barangays and municipalities. Without Ulbo it will be too hard for us to have water used in daily activities. Especially now that the other source of water has gone drought.
To avoid incidents in Ulbo the Libjoanon learned to respect the creature probably living in Ulbo. Before they make some development like building the new tank they would first kill 3 pigs without any seasoning and they will do some rituals. We learned to ignore what we heard and acknowledge that they might be watching us above the acacia trees. The acacia trees gave shade to Ulbo. The reason why probably the water in Ulbo is cold is because it comes from underground and because of the acacia’s shade.
Now the Ulbo is not in it’s good shape. The pool is wrecked but the captain in the Barangay promised to bring back the old pool. Whenever there’s a project about our community, I always mention the Ulbo Spring. To be honest I want it to be known, I want it to be developed sustainably. But the development that happened now isn’t what I wanted. Although they have reasons why they are adding another tank it’s just too painful in the eyes. It doesn’t look like how it was before when I was a child. Very a lack of maintenance. My great-grandmother used to clean the pool even if she wasn’t paid to do it. Now, the people who were paid to do it were not so thoughtful of how it would be maintained.
Nature is truly amazing because of this amazing discovery by the chicken. Up until now, we don’t know who owned the chicken and where is it now. It’s either it falls on the water, was eaten or it was just disguised as a chicken.
If you run out of water, Ulbo Spring offers you unlimited water experience. We are truly blessed to have an amazing source of water for free and we are willing to share it.
Let's do laundry together, fetch any amount of water, and enjoy the freshness and coldness of Ulbo.
Just remember we're not the only ones living in this world.
Yey! You're at the end of my Ulbo-blog! Thank you for reading and Shalom ka-Hivers!✨🤗