BOUND for an off-road trip to the highlands of Nueva Vizcaya one foggy Sunday morning onboard a 4×4 Nissan Navara with Nonie, a budding shutterbug, our punishing take-off from Santiago City on a pulverized road span undergoing reconstruction all the way through Cordon, Isabela, was a picture of staggering monstrous traffic jam on both directions.
As we entered the highway boundary of Nueva Vizcaya (my home province), the vehicle’s shock absorbers calmed down. The rest of the national road, better known as Maharlika Highway starting from Diadi town, home to ecotourism park Tribu Vizcayano, were well-paved, four-lane concrete roads with welcoming vendors using their charms to entice motorists to try their steaming glutinous corn cooked right at the road shoulders. So far, the stretch of the national road in the province was the best I have seen in the Cagayan Valley Region.
Once in Bagabag town, alleys selling buko pies in boxes and fresh buko water straight from the shell were timely for starving and thirsty travelers plying the route.
The urbanized district of Solano welcomes motorists with better roads, fast-food chains and rows of commercial banks along its main thoroughfare.
Next on the route is the capital town of Bayombong (my birthplace), which serves as the educational center of the province, host to the Nueva Vizcaya State University, Saint Mary’s University, Philippine Science High School and the Nueva Vizcaya General Comprehensive High School.
We took a side trip to the Nueva Vizcaya Provincial Capitol, known for a landscaped recreational park bordered with a boating lagoon.
To get her side of the story, we dropped by the office of Nueva Vizcaya Gov. Ruth Raña Padilla, who surprised us with a framed BusinessMirror “Regions Supplement” centerfold in March’s issue. She said it was framed by inmates of the provincial jail who assemble rattan frames in their lockup cells.
Further down south or about a five-minute drive from the heart of Bayombong is Barangay Busilac, where Cottage Fresh fruit preserves abound and where the Provincial Pasalubong Center is located, selling home-grown fruits and vegetables mostly from upland towns. It is also the home of the Perante Orange, developed and made popular by my late father.
Reaching Bambang town, host to the famous Salinas Salt Spring and the Nueva Vizcaya Agricultural Terminal, we had to turn left eastward on a 32-kilometer long and winding road to Kasibu town proper.
Straddling the Sierra Madres, the upland town of Kasibu on the south-eastern border of Nueva Vizcaya is landlocked, making it more difficult for lowland folks to discover. But for a travel photographer starving for fresh natural images, the rolling terrain makes it more challenging for a climb minus the ropes.
The well-paved circumferential road connecting the two Dupax towns (del Norte and del Sur), Aritao, Bambang, Kasibu, Quezon and Solano makes an easy access for anyone who would like to traverse them via the concrete upland zigzag.
“Good roads are literally our way to success. It is precisely the reason why we prioritized their construction according to world-class standards, which also serve as perfect farm-to-market roads with power lines and phone network installations in full swing,” Nueva Vizcaya Rep. and Deputy Speaker Carlos Padilla said. The farming solon invited us to his organic farm in Dupax del Norte, where enormous wild hogs, deer, goat and native chicken grow freely in a man-made forest.
With a bit of semi-temperate climate, Kasibu town favorably grows citrus, bananas and other high-value crops like ginger and cabbages in large-scale proportions. Cultivated on hill-side farms, the crops are naturally organically grown.
“Welcome to Kasibu!” exclaims Mayor Alberto Bumolo Jr. while pointing to a verdant landscape facing the municipal hall.
The town’s rolling terrain favors the enormous production of pumpkin or squash. Tons upon tons of large-size kalabasa in trucks leave farm gates 24/7 to the Nueva Vizcaya Agricultural Terminal (NVAT) in Bambang town to be delivered further as far as Metro Manila. Traders dubbed Kasibu as “The Pumpkin Capital of the Philippines.”
A high-value crop grown in the municipality, ginger once commanded a controversial retail price of P200 a kilo. Many enterprising farmers saw the opportunity of growing the spicy rhizomes which now cover most slopes in town. Ginger tea is now a trending drink developed by the Nueva Vizcaya State University Processing Center in partnership with the Department of Science and Technology.
Littuko or rattan fruits grow abundantly both in the wilderness and backyards that attract food processors.
Coffee nurseries in town are now in full propagation.
Malabing Valley on the northern portion of the town is home to enormous citrus plantations. Many local farmers in the province have joined the bandwagon and put up their respective citrus orchards. Nueva Vizcaya then was dubbed “The Citrus Capital of the Philippines.”
On the eastern border of the municipality, the mineral-rich village of Didipio houses the gold-copper project of OceanaGold (Philippines) Inc.
“We are lucky that the Didipio Mine is surrounded with citrus and vegetable farms, considering that we feed more than 2,000 employees three times a day. It is exactly one of the reasons we are revitalizing the backyard vegetable gardening program in the mining village and help in the rehabilitation of the citrus industry in the upland town,” OceanaGold (Philippines) Senior Vice President for Communications and External Affairs Ramoncito Gozar said.
Gozar added that Didipio operations also includes mine tours to those who would like to view the project site.
“Not just a simple field trip for fun, every mine tour we conduct serves as a transparent educational mining activity that happens before one’s eyes in real time,” Gozar said.
Aside from fruits and vegetables, the town is known for a number of destinations for visitors who would like to experience outdoor adventure. With its uphill terrain, the town is blessed with a series of waterfalls and cave formations waiting to be discovered.
“With our agricultural excellence and rich natural wonders, spelunking and farm tourism could be both enjoyed by our guests. After visiting our world-class caves, they can also experience ‘pick and pay’ promo for fruits they personally gather from upland orchards,” Padilla said.
In Barangay Capisaan a series of cave networks is now a major tourist attraction in the municipality.
With my grade-schooler buddy, armed with my favorite Nikon D3S FX digital DSLR camera mounted with a 14-24mm-f2.8 ultra-wide AF-S Nikkor lens, we staged a trekking expedition to the scenic Edralin Falls in Barangay Antutot. With its crystal-clear waters and foamy cascades, the access-friendly waterfall was too provocative for a refreshing dip.
“With better access roads leading to the province’s natural destinations, prolific farmlands and industrial sites, we are now focused on revitalizing our tourism industry to sustain Nueva Vizcaya’s golden harvest,” the lady governor said.
Image credits: Leonardo Perante II