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Ilocos Norte is a long way from my home in Cebu, but
the trip and expenses going there are definitely worth it.
The final destination of my
recent trip was Pagudpud, where Maribel Garcia, the District
Governor of Kiwanis International Philippine Luzon District, and
about 150 Kiwanians were gathered for their annual summer
conference. Pagudpud’s long stretch of white sand beach and the
clear blue sea draw crowds that are growing every year. Beach
resorts are sprouting and more and more households have joined the
local government unit’s (LGU) home stay program. The homes are
accredited by the Department of Tourism which inspects the room and
bath room to be used by the visitors. Only two home owners showed up
in the first briefing, Mayor Marlon Sales told me. Now almost every
house near the beach has joined the program.
Yet, the mayor feels that
Pagudpud isn’t ready for the really big crowds yet. Coliform
contamination was detected before. There is no treatment of
wastewater from the resorts. The septic tanks are located near the
shore. The town is looking into establishing a wastewater treatment
facility, but the cost is more than the town can afford. With its
21,000 residents, Pagudpud remains a small rural town. About 70
percent of the residents reportedly live below the poverty
threshold—livelihood opportunities are limited to mostly fishing
and agriculture. Rice production is abundant, but Mayor Sales is
concerned about the welfare of those of his constituents who are not
farmers and who, like the marginal fishermen, don’t always have
cash income to buy food.
The LGU has organized
cooperatives as a way of creating alternative livelihood
opportunities. At the town’s public beach, women organized into a
cooperative make and sell fashion accessories and souvenir items. At
the Kabigan Falls another cooperative takes charge of guiding
visitors and keeping the area clean. The trek to the falls takes the
visitor through a scenic landscape of rice paddies, forest and
across a small river. One can take a bath at the waterfall—the
water is cool and refreshing.
The trek is mostly easy and one
doesn’t have to be an athlete to make it to the Kabigan Falls.
Well, Mayor Sales gallantly took my hand whenever the terrain was
too much a challenge to my city feet. We were accompanied by Ms.
Cindy Wachowski of Institute For Community Design, Graduate School
of Asia Pacific Studies, whom I later learned is a professional
boxer!
The NPA attacked and destroyed a
mini-hydro power plant in Pagudpud years ago. But today the place is
peaceful and safe.
Pinakbet is probably Ilocos’
most famous dish and definitely a lot healthier than the all-meat
cholesterol-rich breakfast that Mr. Marlon Valdez (the very charming
director of the Ilocos Norte Electric Cooperative and brother of Dr.
Boying Valdez, San Nicholas’ singing mayor) treated me to at
Dawang’s Place in Laoag City. But PINAKBET is also the acronym for
the Province of Ilocos Norte Adventurers , Kampers, Bikers
Eco-Tourism Group. The members of the group, which will be
celebrating its 10th founding anniversary next month, get together
every week—either in a simple fellowship over barbeque and beer
(or something stronger), in picking up garbage from the beach, in
mountain climbing, trekking and more. PINAKBET President “Papa”
Michael Luis and his fellow “papas” organized off-road driving
in Ilocos Norte’s famous sand dunes and the trek to the Kabigan
Falls for the Kiwanis conference delegates. The PINAKBET group also
took charge of the conference’s team-building event, an event that
included a pinakbet-cooking contest. Participants had to cook the
pinakbet the traditional way using a clay pot and charcoal. This is
probably the way that the dish has been cooked for centuries. Today,
pinakbet is also found in pizza—yes, there is a pinakbet pizza and
it can compete with the best Italian vegetarian pizza. And on the
topic of food, another must-try delicacy is the delicately
anise-flavored soft biscocho made by the Pasuquin Bakery in Pasuquin.
We caught the Paoay Church at the
time of the afternoon when the rays of the setting sun hit the
church and its tower and make the two structures look golden. But
the real magic of Ilocos Norte is found not in its tasty foods,
sunsets and beaches. It is found in the great hospitality of the
Ilocanos.
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