I Am A Pilgrim: PEO-troglyphs

The Philippine Eagle-Owl (Bubo philippensis) belongs to vulnerable species of birds. It is endemic to the Philippines. Little is known about the behavior of this secretive species. Thus when sighting of this bird circulated in our organization, it has become an instant celebrity. Our first sighting is inside the MWSS compound. The second is in Angono-Binangonan Petroglyphs.

The Angono-Binangonan Petroglyphs, by the way, is the oldest known work of art in the Philippines. These inscriptions clearly show stylized human figures, frogs and lizards along with other designs that may have depicted other interesting figures but erosion may have caused it to become indistinguishable. Although it sits along the boundaries of Angono, Binangonan and Antipolo of the province of Rizal, this heritage site was discovered by the late National Artist of the Philippines awardee Carlos “Botong” V. Francisco in 1965. Since then, some rock carvings have been damaged due to neglect and vandalism. In 1973, by virtue of Presidential Decree No. 260, it was declared as a national cultural treasure by the Philippine government. During that time, a team led by the National Museum of the Philippines started archaeological site conservation and site development of the petroglyphs in which a mini-museum, view deck and stone path among others were constructed.

Since I’m a birder and a fan of archeological treasures, I planned to go visit the place even if the place is quite far for commute. God, however, provided a free ride courtesy of fellow bird photographer Kuya Bob Kaufman. We went to the petroglyphs site with Kuya Jun Osano.

PEO is the abbreviated name for the largest owl of the Philippines and petrogylphs, also called rock engravings, are pictogram and logogram images created by removing part of a rock surface by incising, picking, carving and abrading. Thus I coined the Philippine Eagle-Owl photographed in Angono-Binangonan Petroglyphs as PEO-troglyphs.

The female adult...