Chocolate Hills

1. Chocolate Hills

2. Description • The Chocolate Hills is an unusual geological formation in Bohol, Philippines • Composed of around 1,268 perfectly cone-shaped hills of about the same size • Spread over an area of more than 50 square kilometers • The Chocolate Hills is a famous tourist attraction of Bohol • It is featured in the provincial flag and seal to symbolize the abundance of natural attraction in the province • Sometimes considered the "Eighth Wonder of the World", it has been declared the country's 3rd National Geological Monument and proposed for inclusion in the UNESCO World Heritage List • Most people who first see pictures of this landscape can hardly believe that these hills are not a man-made artifact • The large and numerous perfect domes vary in sizes from 30 meters to 50 meters high with the largest being 120 meters in height

4. Facts • These cone-shaped or dome-shaped hills are actually grass-covered limestone hills • They are scattered throughout the towns of Carmen, Batuan and Sagbayan in Bohol • During the dry season, the grass-covered hills dry up and turn chocolate brown. This transforms the area into seemingly endless rows of "chocolate kisses“ • In between the hills, there is rice fields and other cash crops • The natural vegetation is slowly being threatening by quarrying activates

5. Origin • There are a number of geological proposals regarding the formation of the hills. These include simple limestone weathering, sub-oceanic volcanism, the uplift of the seafloor and a more recent theory which maintains that as an ancient active volcano self-destructed, it spewed huge blocks of stone which were then covered with limestone and later thrust forth from the ocean bed • Geologists have actually long debated about the formation of the hills, resulting in various ways the origin of the Chocolate Hills are stated or explained. The one written on the bronze plaque at the viewing deck in Carmen, Bohol states that they are eroded formations of a type of marine limestone that sits on top of hardened clay • The plaque reads: “The unique land form known as the Chocolate Hills of Bohol was formed ages ago by the uplift of coral deposits and the action of rain water and erosion.” • The Chocolate Hills are conical karst hills similar to those seen in the limestone regions of Slovenia and Croatia, only that the Chocolate Hills have no caves. According to the karst theory, "sea level changes and uplift combined with terrestrial erosion and air exposure of biogenic reef regions have given rise to hummocky landscapes that are often with sinkholes and caves." The Chocolate Hills are considered among the examples of this karst topography

6. Legends • The other explanations come from two legends explaining the formation of the Chocolate Hills • The first legend tells the story of two feuding giants who, in battling with each other, hurled rocks, boulders and sand trying to destroy their foe. This fighting lasted days and exhausted the two giants. In their exhaustion, they forgot about their feud and became friends that when they left, they forgot to clean up their mess in the battlefield, the Chocolate Hills • The much more romantic legend tells of a giant named Arogo who was extremely powerful and youthful. Arogo fell in love with Aloya who was a simple mortal. Aloya’s death caused Arogo much pain and misery that in his sorrow, he could not stop crying. When his tears dried the Chocolate Hills were formed

7. Tourism • The Chocolate Hills placed Bohol on the tourist map long before the beautiful white beaches of the island became major tourist destinations. The most famous and signature tourist attraction of Bohol, it is a prime tourist destination in the Philippines. This is because the Chocolate Hills are incomparable and is one of the country's most spectacular sceneries • Of the 1,247 hills, two have been developed into resorts or tourism. The original resort is located in Carmen, Bohol located in Barangay Buenos Aires, only a few minutes drive from downtown Carmen. The resort in Carmen is called "Chocolate Hills Complex". The more recent one in Sagbayan called "Sagbayan Peak".

8. Legislation • The National Committee on Geological Sciences declared the Chocolate Hills of Bohol a National Geological Monument on June 18, 1988, in recognition of its special characteristics, scientific importance, uniqueness, and high scenic value • Land use conflict prompted Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to sign an amendment to Proclamation 468 dated September 26, 1994 declaring the land around or in between Chocolate Hills as no longer part of the national monument during the Bohol Sandugo Celebration on July 17, 2002. This amendment allowed the tracts of land surrounding and within the famous tourist spot to be developed by the provincial government and other entities that have control over the area • On July 6, 2004, the Philippine House of Representatives introduced House Bill No. 01147 entitled "an act declaring the Chocolate Hills as national patrimony and geological monuments, penalizing their plunder, destruction or defacement, and for other purposes." • On May 16, 2006, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) submitted the Chocolate Hills to the UNESCO World Heritage for inclusion in the list of Natural Monuments because of its outstanding universal value • Amidst reports that quarrying has leveled off some of the mounds, Governor Erico Aumentado, the governor of Bohol, issued Administrative Order No. 3, series of 2006, which prohibits the issuance of quarry permits and favorable endorsements of mining permit applications in Carmen, Batuan and Sagbayan towns to forestall any degradation of the Chocolate Hills – no matter who applies for such

9. The Chocolate Hills