Cecee's Organic Farm and Cacao Nursery

Overview

Cecee’s Organic Farm and Cacao Nursery is an agritourism farm in Barangay Liboron, Calape, Bohol, established in 2014 by Cecilia De Leon, a balikbayan (returning overseas Filipino) and senior citizen who became one of the early cacao farming advocates in Calape municipality.

The farm operates as a production, processing, and education facility. De Leon established a training center for local cacao farmers where she taught cacao cultivation methods and promoted fermented tablea — the traditional Filipino chocolate product made from roasted and ground cacao beans — with particular emphasis on the fermented variety, which she describes as the most aromatic.

The nursery specializes in the propagation of cacao seedlings with a focus on heirloom cacao varieties. The farm processes cacao beans into tablea, chocolates, and other cacao byproducts. This farm-to-product chain positions it within Bohol’s growing agri-industrial tourism sector.

Location

Barangay Liboron, Calape, Bohol. Calape is a municipality in the northwestern part of Bohol, approximately 35 km from Tagbilaran City by road, and is accessible via Tubigon as the regional gateway.

Getting There

From Tagbilaran City, take a bus or van bound for Tubigon or Calape — travel time approximately 1 to 1.5 hours. From Calape town center, proceed to Barangay Liboron by habal-habal or tricycle.

[TO ENRICH: distance from Calape town center to the farm, whether prior booking is required for visits.]

Practical Info

• Gateway: Tubigon
• Municipality: Calape
• Barangay: Liboron
• Tourism type: Industrial Tourism — Farm/Ranch
• Founded: 2014
• Founder: Cecilia De Leon (balikbayan, senior citizen)
• Products: Tablea, cacao seedlings (heirloom varieties), chocolates, cacao byproducts

[TO ENRICH: farm visit hours, tour fee, whether products are available for purchase on-site, contact details.]

What to Expect

A working cacao farm and nursery where visitors can watch cultivation, seedling propagation, and bean processing in sequence — a visit may overlap with one of the farmer training sessions De Leon runs on-site.

Tablea is made by roasting and grinding cacao beans into a paste, which is then shaped into tablets or balls. The fermented variety that De Leon promotes has a more complex flavour profile due to the controlled fermentation step applied before drying and roasting.

Heirloom cacao varieties, as distinct from the more widely planted hybrid varieties, are notable for flavour complexity and are associated with craft chocolate production.

Notes

• Listed in the BPTO Table 11 Inventory of Tourist Attractions (2025).
• Calape municipality also has Binogawan Pottery and ABN Takla and Crab Sight.
• Bohol has a small but growing artisanal chocolate sector; farms like this one supply raw material to local chocolate producers.