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Ric Perez |
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For twenty years now, he has been going to Caramoan every time he has a chance with no other purpose but to savor the magical splendor of the place and take still and video photos of the sights he cherished. “I have been a frequent visitor to this lovely place but its magic continues to hold me spellbound”, Ricardo Echipare Perez admits.
He would take the boat, rough seas or not, board the jeepneys that ply the 89 kilometer mountain route from Lagonoy town and occasionally squeeze himself in chartered helicopters or light planes. Through all the last two decades Ric, 54, has accumulated a treasure trove of breathtaking photos of what he considered the gems of Caramoan.
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A rock formation off barangay Colongcogong where sea gulls and other water birds gather. This is one of Ric’s chosen pictures in the book. |
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Lately, he has enlarged his collection to include the flora and fauna of the Caramoan Peninsula, including the elusive reptile called Gray’s Monitor Lizard known locally as “butaan”. Vastly different from the common monitor lizard called in the dialect “goto” (Veranus salvatur) because of its diet and because it grows to as big as six feet in length, “butaan” had been the object of a long painstaking research of an American, Dr. Walter Auffenberg, and his findings are now part of the collection of the American Museum of Natural
History. A native of Gainsville, Florida, Dr. Auffenberg and his family stayed in Caramoan for nearly three years just to conduct an intensive research on butaan. His family was a guest of the late Dr. Nilo O. Roa who took pride in Caramoan like it were his own birthplace although he was from Albay but lived most of his life in Caramoan.
Auffenberg found out that the young butaan feeds largely on snails and crabs but between the ages 12 to 18 months diet changes to include fruits and no other form of lizards in the wild is known to feed on plants and fruits. It eventually also feeds on spiders, beetles, birds and their eggs.
Not just the fabulous beaches and exotic islets are exquisitely captured by the veteran photo journalist. He has in his collection intriguing photos of petrified woods and whole tree trunks, weird and grotesque rock formations unnoticed by the common traveler or sightseer and locations not easily reached but tantalizing as well in their beauty.
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Gray’s Monitor Lizard or “ Butaan” in captivity. Inset is an ordinary monitor lizard called in Bicol “Goto”. |
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All these are about to come out in one compact coffee table or pictorial book which Ric has titled “Captivating Caramoan.” Now actually ready for printing the book however still needs a financier who could foot the printing cost that is estimated to exceed P1 million even if only by a local printer already with adequate facilities for color separation printing techniques.
“Captivating Caramoan” will actually be the third coffee table book in which Ric’s photos will be featured. In 1998 he provided most of the pictures used by CRANE MONITOR editor Dominador Alarkon, Jr. in the coffee table book simply titled “Camarines Sur” for the provincial government of Camarines ` Sur under Gov. Luis R. Villafuerte. With that publication Camarines Sur became the first province in the country to have its own coffee table book. It consequently spurred other provinces to come up with their own editions using “Camarines Sur” as the matrix.
Ric was later also involved in another coffee table book entitled “Mt. Isarog: A Biodiversity and Eco-Tourism Monument.” For, much of Ric’s life has been spent exploring nature. He has climbed practically every mountain here in Bicol together with his group from the Isarog Explorers’ Society to unravel their mysteries. He has all the more intensified his mountain trips as head of the Harmony With Nature Movement. But he knows that the years are catching up with him and it is time to come up with a book entirely his own that could eloquently relate his own joy and satisfaction of capturing these alluring places in film.
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Grotesque rock formation in the eastern coast of Caramoan. |
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“It is our advocacy that what is worth showing deserves to be protected and preserved. We hope that the book would engender in each reader the desire and commitment not only to enjoy the beauty of Caramoan but to contribute one’s best effort for its preservation for this and the next generation,” Ric sums up his rationale for his tireless effort, despite the daunting task of raising funds to cover the printing cost.
Presently the director of the Instructional Media Center of the University of Nueva Caceres, Ric who is from Calabanga is married to Goyhan Dichoso Cuarto of Balatan, Camarines Sur. They have three sons, Alvin, Ric, Jr. and Allan two of whom have married.
Ric may be reached at his office telephone numbers (054) 8115680 and 4739044. His mobile phone number is 09189145068.
