Paradise Kilikilihan

This is a small but beautiful village at the banks of the Bato river blessed with natural aroma. Kilikilihan was a village born to suffering. In World War II, Japanese soldiers would gather suspected guerillas at the banks of the Bato river and torture them by beating them in the armpits [kili-kili]. Thus the name Kilikilihan. Over the years, the community grew prosperous, and villagers started cutting down trees to grow abaca, Catanduanes’ number one product. Soon, the hills around Kilikilihan were covered by abaca and coconut trees. Life was simple and sweet – “paradise”, as one villager described it.