By Danilo P. Padua, PhD
Even if I have been to a place several times, the next re-visit always comes with high interest and expectation. That is to say, interest in traveling should not be confined to new places to be visited. In fact, amazement will be a part of such visit.
Last week, I had the opportunity to make another visit to Naga City in Camarines Sur related to my official function. It’s my 5th time to be there, the first being in the early 80s, and the last was 2013. The transformation of Naga is typical of progressive towns and cities in the country run by determined and forward-thinking leaders. Quite slow during the 70s and 80s but started to accelerate in the 90s until now.
My interests in the Naga trip include the possibility of visiting the vaunted strawberry farm near Naga. I did not want to miss my CEBGO flight at 5:20 in the morning so I took a bus trip at 8pm, expecting to arrive at NAIA the following morning around 3 o’clock. Lo and behold, I arrived in NAIA 3 just past 12 midnight. That means I have more than 5 hours spare! It was too long. I should have known better. I wasted 1 hour drinking coffee at the terminal, then I peeked at my plane ticket. My flight was at NAIA 4 (the former domestic airport)!
I then asked around how to get to Terminal 4. Someone told me to take a jeep, or a taxi. It’s faster, I was told. Then another told me there is a shuttle that will go there but it might take some time. Since I still have about 4 hours, I went down Terminal 3 and waited for the shuttle. I just showed my ticket to the CEBU PAC personnel at the designated exit, and I was allowed to enter the waiting lounge. It was perfect, as I did not leave the airport itself, and I did not pay anything.
Four years ago, the only big shopping mall in Naga City was SM. It was then newly-constructed. Now, there is a big Gaisano mall, and even bigger Robinson’s mall about to open in a month or two. Signs of frantic economic activities are very evident in various places. There is the Magsaysay Avenue where many good restaurants and hotels had sprung up, especially in the last four years. There is the clean, bustling integrated bus terminal which is the biggest and most efficient in the Bicol region. There were so many on-going conventions when I was there like the Philippine Association of Agriculturists Summit that I attended.
Everywhere you look, there is an evidence of progressive development. Naga is much bigger in area, income, and population than La Trinidad, Benguet. So, if one is familiar with LT, you can just imagine the economic spot where Naga is at the moment. Well, Naga is an old Spanish settlement. It was founded in 1575 so it is no wonder that it hosts the biggest and the oldest Catholic cathedral in the region. I think it was once even a more important one than those in Manila.
The Naguenos (Naga inhabitants) are obviously proud of themselves, and they are happy about it, that’s why Naga is called a happy place. It is also called a pilgrim place, as it has in its possession the Lady of Penafrancia, the object of an annual fluvial parade and pilgrimage of devout Catholics (a friend recounted to us, as we were passing by, a bridge that collapsed killing more than 50 people as they were supposed to be enjoying the parade on top of it).
Naga has at least 3 important plazas where people congregate even at night time. One of them was established in honor of 15 martyrs who bravely defied Spanish authorities then. It is aptly called Quince Martires plaza. Another, actually the biggest is Plaza Rizal. At any given night, the plaza is teeming with people for various reasons: to sell, to buy, to see street magic (I witnessed at least 3 card magicians when I visited it one night just after the rain), to loaf around with friends or family members, or just to while away time. I was told that Naga is very peaceful, hardly no pickpocket around. You actually feel safe, if you are a visitor. Their tricycle drivers, or taxi drivers are not the type who takes advantage of a visitor. That’s one of the reasons why you can believe that happiness pervades the city.
The city was adjudged the most competitive city in the country in 2015-2016. Despite such accolade and economic development of the city, it is still largely agricultural. John Bongat, the current city mayor, was so emphatic in saying that the city is consistently awarded as one of the top corn and rice producing cities/provinces in the Philippines. He said that they are focusing a lot of attention to the farmers as they are considered as the main economic movers for the city. For instance, they are providing sun-driers in the middle of farms of around hundred hectares, reducing hauling cost. They have a “comprada” system where the city buys vegetable and root crops produce using the city’s trucks. This allows, according to the mayor, increased productivity of the farmers.
The city government works well with the province of Camarines Sur. The youthful CamSur governor who is all of 27 years of age, Migz Villafuerte, also proudly say that his province is the # 4 top rice-producing province in the Philippines. It’s always #1 in the Bicol region. This is possible because of the province’ focus on the farmers. He is always pushing for agriculture. In fact, he is strongly encouraging the youth to go into this field knowing that the average age of Filipino farmers is now about 60. But he has one great vision for them: to produce millionaire farmers. You could sense his sincerity as he says those words
Their strong support for the farmers, and tourism as well, have made CamSur, one of the richest provinces in the Philippines, from being one of the poorest before. That says a lot about their agricultural programs. But in my brief, casual chat with the governor, he told me that Benguet is better than his province and he would like to visit it from time to time. His Ilocano blood (his mother is an Ilocana) is showing. With mayor Bongat in the city and Gov. Villafuerte in the province, agriculture is flourishing in their turf. We can learn a thing or two from them.
By the way, I (together with some colleagues from BSU), visited the “famous” strawberry farm in Ocampo town, CamSur. It is more of just a showcase of strawberry growing in a warm area. It is not economically viable. For those used to growing or just seeing the usual strawberry farm, it is not at all impressive, but I take my hats off to the enterprising owner who provides people with a glimpse of how strawberry looks like in the field. **
