Cagong-cagong Cave System: Princess Manan-aw Cave

Princess Manan-aw Cave is just one of the more than 20 caves in the Cagongcagong Cave System located in Bgy. Cagongcagong in the town of Alicia. The caves are a result of the hundreds of thousands of years carving work of water, whether rain or groundwater, on the Sierra Bullones Limestone (Late Miocene, 11 mya – 5 mya). Princess Manan-aw Cave, which is the chosen geosite, is 195 meters long, 5.6 m high and 3.7 m wide at the mouth. Inside the cave are impressive and peculiar formations and shapes that were formed very slowly from the dripping of water containing calcium bicarbonate from the limestone rock. As the water drips from the ceiling of the cave and encounters the dry air flowing inside the chamber, calcium carbonate precipitates back into limestone, as shapes and structures such as stalactites and stalagmites, as well as other unique shapes which appear feminine in nature, hence the name Princess Manan-aw was derived.