By Joel B. Belinan
Going back to Tabuk City last week albeit for just two days gave me a mixed feeling. First, it was because we (together with my siblings and other relatives) had to, due to the demise of my nephew. Second, while it was just three years ago that I last went there, there are now so many visible changes. Lastly, such changes may not necessarily be good as experienced in many fast-urbanizing cities in this country.
The changes came way too fast. As I have written a few times in this column, I spent my childhood years in Tabuk way back in the 70s until the mid-80s. While I regularly traveled to this capital town of Kalinga as a journalist starting in 1996, it always amazed me how fast changes have been occurring in the past two decades.
Signs of bad urbanization are becoming very visible. I am referring to the invasion of residences of rice lands. Tabuk had always been the rice granary of the Cordillera, not only because it has the widest rice fields in this region but also due to the fertility of the soil. Thus, the rice farms are high-yielding compared to other areas in the country. Furthermore, rice from Tabuk city has been adjudged as one of the best in terms of taste.
One very visible area that has been encroached on by houses and even commercial structures were the rice fields in downtown Dagupan, particularly those at Casigayan and Dilag barangays. I am very particular here having grown up in Barangay Dilag. I had been walking or at times riding a tricycle daily from and to these two barangays to attend school. While I have yet to see a massive residential subdivision taking over farmlands, it would not be long before we will see one. No wonder our country has become the biggest rice importer in the whole world.
Unfortunately, the issue of conversion of agricultural lands to residential areas and other uses is as complicated as why Filipinos continue to be at the bottom in terms of economic development among our South East Asian neighbors.
The good thing about Tabuk is the continued improvement of its road system. The roads now are very wide, both the provincial and national. For people who have been used to the very narrow roads in Baguio and nearby towns, it is amazing to see and traverse six-lane roads that are common in this second-widest city in the entire country.
Passing through upper Tabuk City such as Bolo Barangay, one could see the well-paved highway and the irrigation system with its abundant water flowing to the rice fields. It should be noted that these wide tracks of rolling hills were just cogonal grasslands before 1983. That year was when the Lower Chico River Irrigation System was completed.
The massive development of Tabuk city can mainly be attributed to its attaining cityhood. It should be noted that while it is a component city, its share from the Internal Revenue Allotment or IRA had multiplied several times its previous share when it was just an ordinary capital town. To date, Tabuk City’s budget of more or less P1.3 billion annually is much bigger than the Kalinga province’s annual budget of less than P900 million.
My two day travel to Tabuk and back did not give me enough time to visit or meet friends and even all relatives except those who came to the wake.
With its more than 700 square kilometer area, one needs a few days to really look around. The photographer in me had been tamed that I only got a few shots of barangay Bolo rice fields which I posted on my Facebook page. However, I took it down as friends kept on interpreting the rice fields in the photo as my own, huh! How I wish. **
