Story and photos by Leonardo Perante II | Correspondent
DURING the Stone Age, nearly 25,999 years ago, early settlers in Northern Philippines, including what we now call as Cauayan City, were dark-skinned and kinky-haired pygmies.
Before 300 BC, Indo-Malay expeditions of the founding forefathers of Cauayan arrived, among them the Gaddang tribe.
Cauayan used to be a part of the vast Cagayan province, until it was transferred administratively when Nueva Vizcaya was created as a separate province in 1839. On May 1, 1856, the province of Isabela was created by a royal decree. Cauayan was again administratively transferred to Isabela. Founded in 1740, Cauayan is established ahead of Isabela by 116 years.
The town site was first located in Calanusian, along the Cagayan River. After a series of landslides, the town site was finally moved to its present location. It was baptized Cauayan after kawayan, a Gaddang term for bamboo, an indigenous grass growing enormously wild along riverbanks.
The municipality of Cauayan was converted into a component city by virtue of Republic Act 9017 signed by former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, with incumbent Mayor Faustino Dy III that time as the first city mayor. A plebiscite on March 30, 2001, overwhelmingly ratified Cauayan as a component city of Isabela.
Cauayan City could be reached by land, with major bus lines and utility vehicles plying a well-paved route. Cebu Pacific provides a faster direct flight from Manila, while Cyclone Airways provides air services to the coastal towns of Isabela.
The Department of Science and Technology has recognized Cauayan City as among the fastest-growing economies in Cagayan Valley, and dubbed it “The First Smarter City in the Philippines”. This recognition has enabled Cauayan City to be showcased as a Smarter City during a Summit of Smarter City Leaders in Singapore and Malaysia.
“With the vision to be a digitally connected city, Cauayan City is the first in the Philippines to have free public Wi-fi and installed LED screens, which are innovative tools for promotion and information dissemination. We will soon be the ‘First Fiber City in the Philippines’ in order to efficiently implement digital solutions to the social needs of the people,” Cauayan City Mayor Bernard Faustino M. Dy said.
The city has strengthened its scholarship program by extending educational support to college students under full scholarship and academic program. It also provides an athletic scholarship program and caters to the needs of students, especially out-of-school youths who have the potential in sports.
“Our distribution of school bags and school supplies for students in public schools has always been sustainable, where we have a total of 29,106 school materials distributed in all villages,” Dy said.
The City Mobile Library has become more effective and efficient in promoting education and computer literacy in all schools and villages with its increased Internet connectivity. Cauayan City leads in partnership with other municipalities in the province in order to strengthen the implementation of extending health care to the different sectors of the community, as mandated by the Department of Health.
“We created additional Rural Health Units to serve more people in need of health care, also with the implementation of nutrition programs,” Dy further said.
A Food Bank serves like a soup kitchen and as a depository bank for perishable goods. Five days before they expire, canned goods shall be deposited by food distributors to the food bank, so they may be given a corresponding tax credit.
Another milestone achieved in partnership with the Philippine Sports Commission and the provincial government of Isabela was the hosting of the Walk a Mile for Senior Citizens with more than 1,000 elderly people, the largest number of participants.
To increase the physical presence of the Philippine National Police, the city government provided two mobile patrol cars in addition to Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) and Special Reaction Unit, as it aims toward the eradication of crime in the city.
“We have institutionalized our City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office [CDRRMO] equipped with new CCTV [closed-curcuit television] monitors and advanced equipment to enable immediate response to emergencies and disasters,” the mayor said.
The CDRRMO is one of the most effective implementing arms of the city government with respect to emergency and disaster response, as it has been declared as a Hall-of-Fame award winner of the National Gawad Kalasag for Best Government Emergency Response Management.
With the aim to sustain vegetable production in the villages, the city nursery was able to produce thousands of assorted vegetable seedlings, which were distributed to households as part of the Gulayan sa Barangay project.
“To provide assistance to our micro, small and medium enterprises, we have institutionalized our Go Negosyo Center and City Showroom in partnership with the Department of Trade and Industry. Malls, like SM City, and other popular food chains cater to both residents and visitors from nearby towns,” he said.
“One of our banner celebrations is the grand opening of Hacienda de San Luis, our newest attraction and our first ecotourism park, one of the major accomplishments under the Public-Private Partnership Program. We opened and restored old structures of the Spanish era for the enjoyment of the public, particularly the City Museum, which contains artifacts and pictures. This is to show the history of Cauayan, as well as Tabacalera’s tobacco industry,” he said.
The celebration also marked another milestone for Cauayan City, after it was declared by the Guinness Book of World Records as holder of the “Longest Parade of Tricycles”.
“As part of our innovations in governance, we will also enhance our citizen’s identification to be GCash-enabled for moneyless transaction,” he said. “For a more effective and efficient governance, we will enhance the use of information and communications technology in the implementation of our basic social services through the establishment of Tech4Ed Centers in the villages,” he added.
“The city has been continuously strengthening its efforts in road-construction projects. To keep close monitoring of peace and order within the city, we installed additional state-of-the-art CCTV cameras and streetlights,” he said.
“With all these modern-day digital trends and sustainable developments, we believe soon, we fully realize our vision of making Cauayan City an ‘Ideal City of the North,” he said.
Image credits: Leonardo Perante II