1. Be aware of travel-heavy season. Expect a long line of people waiting to buy tickets on long holidays, such as the Holy Week, Christmas and other long weekends. You should also take note of the start and end of school semesters. Students usually flock to and from Metro Manila during these times.

2. Book your bus early. It’s good practice to get travel reservation at least two days before your travel to Cagayan Valley. This way, you are sure of your seat in the bus. If you are always a “chance” passenger, you might sit at the rear-most seats of the bus. The worst case scenario is that you will not be able to secure a seat! It happened to me a lot of times already.

3. Bring a jacket and/or a blanket when you travel. The bus can get really cold! Better be safe than sorry. Bring your jacket and a comfy malong or blanket with you. When your bus gets to Bulacan an hour after leaving Manila, you might feel the chill to your bones! So bring out those blankets and stay warm.

4. Florida Bus is probably the best bus company if you ask me! They have a lot of buses. They have penetrated major towns and destinations in the Cagayan Valley region. And they have different kinds of buses—the regular airconditioned bus; the De Luxe bus (with on-board restroom); the Super De Luxe bus, with only three seats in one row (really spacious!) and the Sleeper Bus. You can literally lie down as if you’re on your own bed.

5. Know other bus lines. If you ever run out of seats from Florida Bus, there are several alternatives you can try.

Victory Liner. They have a station in Kamias, Quezon City, which is very near the intersection of EDSA and East Avenue. They also have one near P. Noval Street in Sampaloc, in front of UST.

Dalin Liner. Sorry, I don’t know where their terminal is. But it is also near the terminal of Florida Bus. They also have a terminal in Quezon City near the Dagupan Bus Terminal.

Autobus. Same terminal area in Sampaloc.

Nelbusco. Yup, it is still alive with two buses traveling each night. Terminal is along Lacson Avenue closer to Espana Blvd. than the Florida Bus terminal.

Northstar. This one used to be the EMC bus line, or so I was told. They have one terminal in Sampaloc along Espana Blvd. very near the train station in Espana. They have another terminal in Lagro, Quezon City along Quirino Hi-way.

Dagupan Bus Line. If you have a really tight budget and you can let go of some comforts, you can go to Dagupan Bus Line. Their buses are ordinary—meaning, they don’t have airconditioning. They do not have reclining seats. And five people are seated in each row. The fare to Isabela is roughly fifty percent cheaper than that of AirCon buses. Terminal is also in Cubao.

Baliwag Transit. Baliwag buses also travel to Tuguegarao and other places in Region 2. Terminal is in Cubao, a few blocks away from Aurora Blvd.

Do let me know if I missed anything. I’m pretty sure that other smaller bus players are operating in the Cagayan Valley region.

image credit

Sectors in Cagayan are now looking into methods to cushion the impact of the unrelenting dry spell. Small water reservoirs are already being used in the province and are easing the effects of the El Niño phenomenon for fish farmers. Built like small dams or pits, these reservoirs were constructed by the provincial governments of Cagayan and Isabela. These man-made ponds serve as a reserve water supply and also as aid in controlling the erosion of water channels.

Fish breeders have also benefited from these reservoirs. The Liwan Norte Irrigators Association (LNIA) in Enrile, Cagayan, has harvested more than 700 kilos of fish since November. The Liwan Norte reservoirs cover 50 hectares. In a report, LNIA secretary Rolando Maneja said that they mainly breed tilapia, selling these for Php 65 a kilo.

The regional office of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) conducted a demonstration on the use of fish cages. Other individuals have caught on the technology and installed fish cages in these water impoundments. The NLIA charges fees from these fish cage operators. To prevent overfishing, only the hook and line contraption may be used for harvesting.

According to a report, BFAR Assistant Regional Director Severina Bueno said, “Small water impoundment projects and small farm reservoirs are ideal for fish production given their semi-confined feature, which minimizes the threat of floods and strong water current in case of bad weather.” She said that since 2009, about a million tilapia and carp fingerlings have been stored in 104 irrigation facilities. For every hectare, 5,000 fingerlings are stocked.

Jack Enrile, Cagayan senior economic adviser, advised the multiple use of water systems. He recommended that multi-purpose reservoirs should be used to efficiently utilize water from upper catchments and estuaries. Officials from the northern area of the province have already decided to set off the multiple use of their water systems. Enrile said in a report, “Proper water management is the key in easing the impact of drought. Even if irrigation systems have been designed for field crops, they can also be used for cattle or backyard irrigation.”

For Enrile, the management of these water impounding projects still needs reinforcement. “While water for agriculture is essential, we will also activate the multiple uses of this scarce resource for home gardens, poultry and livestock raising, aquaculture and rural enterprise among others,” Enrile said in a report. He added that in cases of El Nino, irrigation structures are the main water providers. As farmers cannot afford these services, they are among the worst hit by the climate change.

In Nueva Vizcaya, the Department of Agriculture (DA) is already looking into possible alternative crops for farmers that are severely affected by the dry spell. After the declaration of the state of calamity, government agencies identified areas that are seriously suffering from the drought at a regional planning workshop held in Tuguegarao City, Cagayan. Suffering from crop losses amounting to around Php 900 million, the provincial government declared Cagayan under the state of calamity last February 15.

Fidel Ballesteros, operations division head and officer-in-charge of the agriculture office in Nueva Vizcaya suggested that farmers plant crops that are able to weather dry the season to lessen their financial losses. Among these crops is the mungbean. He added that these can also provide “soil conditioners” for their land.

Cagayan Valley Agriculture Executive Director Andrew Villacorta estimates the damage of the crops to around P3 billion. Palay, corn and vegetables are among the plants that have dried up because of the dearth in water for irrigation.

The government has resorted to periodic cloud seeding but so far, these have barely produced any rainfall since the operations began last month. The provincial government of Cagayan has promised Php 5 million as assistance to affected famers. In a report, Villacorta said that 1,000 water pumps are being prepared for lending to farmers who are near water sources. He also proposed that 40-50 liters of gasoline for every water pump be subsidized.

Nevertheless, long-term solutions should be looked into to ensure that our agricultural sector would fare better in the coming dry seasons. The Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas and Danggayan Dagiti Mannalon ti Cagayan Valley (Danggayan-CV) have blamed the Arroyo government’s policies for the massive crop damage in the region. The privatization of the Magat Dam means that its owner, SN Aboitiz, is in full control of water that the groups believe, should be “communally owned and used.”

According to a report, mining and logging have lowered water levels in watersheds and the Magat dam. The report cited farmers, who said that these operations are the main causes for flash floods in the wet season and the drying up of water irrigation sources during the dry season. Kalinga Governor Floydelia Diasen stressed that the government and the private sector need to cooperate to avert more losses for farmers. She said that denuded watersheds and forests should be fervently reforested to normalize the water levels in river systems.

For further reading:

http://www.gmanews.tv/story/185186/cagayan-eyes-multi-water-source-system-to-taper-effects-of-drought

http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/regions/02/14/10/cagayan-farmers-bank-success-cloud-seeding-rain

http://www.pia.gov.ph/?m=12&sec=reader&rp=2&fi=p100212.htm&no=11&date=

http://balita.ph/2010/02/18/cagayan-valley-da-office-conducts-planning-workshop-on-el-nino-phenomenon/

http://kilusangmagbubukid.org/press/290

http://www.gmanews.tv/story/184436/cagayan-valley-benefits-from-small-water-reservoirs-amid-el-nio

http://www.gmanews.tv/story/184070/cagayan-under-state-of-calamity-due-to-el-nintildeo

http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/regions/02/16/10/state-calamity-declared-cagayan-due-dry-spell

http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/244617/cagayan-valley-reports-p3-billion-drought-damage

image credit: Fr. Jessie

After several months of being dormant, we are coming back to you! We are introducing a number of changes in our website. For one, we are sporting a new look! Our new layout is sleek, minimalist and it looks good, don’t you think? We also welcome a new writer onboard, Ms. Junette B. Galagala. She is not from Cagayan Valley but she will help me produce content for this website. You will still be able to read some articles from me that relates to blogging, internet literacy and other things. But news and other features will mainly be written by Junette.

I am excited for this year. 2010 promises to be a great year for www.CagayanValleyConnect.com!

The DACAC said the losses—P6.8 billion from “Ondoy” and P11.7 billion from “Pepeng”—were recorded in all of Luzon’s seven regions.

The typhoons destroyed some 121,949 hectares of croplands, resulting in the loss of 925,523 metric tons of rice, corn, and high-value crops. Fishery products, livestock and poultry were affected while farm infrastructure worth P2.7 billion were ruined.

Rice areas were the most affected, with some 109,188 hectares reported to have no chance of recovery.

Damaged farmlands, meanwhile, lost some 839,241 metric tons of palay, 45,768 metric tons of corn, and 40,514 metric tons of high-value commercial crops, mostly vegetables, bananas and assorted fruits.

Aside from damage to agriculture, the typhoons also left many farm-to-market roads in Northern Luzon flooded and blocked by mud and boulders, hampering the delivery of farm products to Metro Manila and neighboring provinces.

Read the full story from ABS-CBN News

Representatives from academe and private sector highlight the importance of instituting reforms that seek to improve the country’s competitiveness even before the May 2010 polls through the project Improving Philippine Competitiveness Through Policy of Economic Reforms.

The project is funded by a £30,000 grant from the British Embassy in Manila. The project will be implemented by the University of the Philippines Open University until March 31, 2010.

One of the major aims of the project is to present the next Congress with recommendations that could steer competitiveness reforms beyond 2010 through legislation and policy actions.

“It is essential that the handover from one administration to the next should not lead to a loss of momentum in terms of economic and social reform. That is why this project is intended to provide a continuing forum for consultations and discussions about reforms needed before and after the upcoming elections, in order to improve the country’s competitiveness,” British Ambassador to the Philippines Stephen Lillie said during the launch of the project in Quezon City on Tuesday.

Asian Institute of Management Policy Center executive director Dr. Ma. Lourdes Sereno said the country’s competitiveness has worsened based on the results of the 2009 World Competitiveness Yearbook released by the Institute for Management Development.

The report showed that the country’s rank declined to 54th among 57 countries. The ranking was determined based on 330 indicators grouped into four factors—government performance, business efficiency, infrastructure and labor productivity.

Read the full story at the BusinessMirror

The officials say they did. But based on the extent of the flooding that hit Pangasinan and the magnitude of the devastation, a Dagupan-based environmentalist doesn’t think so.

Nicanor Melecio, president of the NGO Pangasinan Institute for Land and Aquatic Research, said dam officials should have started releasing water at 500 cubic meters per second (cms) when the dam’s level had reached 280 meters above sea level (masl) as indicated in their basic operation rule.

The dam has a maximum elevation of 290 masl.

Under the rule, water release operates from “zero hour to 240 hours” when floods occur, said Melecio, a former member of the San Roque Dam multipartite monitoring team.

Read the full story at Inquirer.net

In its 5 a.m. report, the NDCC said 238 of the deaths occurred in the Cordillera Autonomous Region (CAR) and were largely caused by landslides.

The rest of the fatalities were reported as victims of drowning, with 64 in the Ilocos region, four in Central Luzon, one in Calabarzon and four in the Bicol region.

The number of those injured totaled 185—131 in CAR, 47 in the Ilocos, and seven in Cagayan Valley.

The number of missing persons stands at 48, the NDCC said.

The destruction wrought by Pepeng was estimated at P7.1 billion, with damage to agriculture rising to P6.02 billion (from Monday’s P4 billion) and damage to infrastructure at P1.1 billion.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has ordered all government agencies involved in disaster relief to sustain their operations, according to Lt. Col. Ernesto Torres, the NDCC spokesperson.

Read the full story from Inquirer.net

In a fitting formal program, the P8.5 million private ward, garden of wellness or healing garden and the P2.8 million administrative building were blessed and attended by provincial, municipal and barangay officials of the province and health representatives from the regional and provincial levels.

The newly-acquired ambulance from the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office(PCSO) was also blessed.

Governor Luisa Cuaresma said the recent developments in the NVPH are part of the provincial government’s vision of bringing appropriate, modern and affordable health services to the people specially among the poor sector.

She said they have included in their 2010 budget the construction of additional charity wards since NVPH’s patients are growing.

“There is a need for the establishment of additional Intensive Care Units(ICUs) and tender loving care for our patients,” she said.

Vice governor Jose Ganbito said the new improvements of the NVPH serves as a symbol that the government is serving its inhabitants specially the poor.

from PIA Information Services

MANILA, Philippines – Billions of pesos worth of loans are at risk of ending up in default due to the devastation wrought by tropical storm “Ondoy” and typhoon “Pepeng.”

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas officer-in-charge Nestor Espenilla Jr. said the estimated retail loan portfolio affected in calamity areas is about P500 billion or 24 percent of the total banking industry’s loan portfolio of P2.3 trillion.

“The initial estimate of the overall loan exposure in areas affected by Ondoy and Pepeng is more than P500 billion. Of course not all of that will be affected but even if you look at percentages, maybe one percent is already P5 billion,” Espenilla told reporters on the sidelines of the 52nd Charter Anniversary forum of the Rural Bankers Association of the Philippines.

Ondoy (international code name Ketsana) killed more than 300 people as floods swamped 80 percent of Metro Manila on Sept. 26, while Pepeng has so far killed more than 100 people and is currently devastating farming areas in northern Luzon, particularly Pangasinan.

from Philippine Star

The typhoon may have recorded zero casualties but Msgr. Marino Gatan said it caused considerable damage to the farming sector.

“The rice farms in northern Isabela including San Pablo, Santa Maria, Tumauini, Cabagan, Magsaysay, and part of Ilagan were affected by floods,” said Gatan, Diocesan administrator.

The parish priests have been tasked to take care of their parishioners which according to Gatan only proves the situation is “not that bad” because local church and communities can attend to their own concerns.

“The government should assist the farmers recover from the losses they incurred due to the recent floods,” he added.

from CBCP News