Philippine Travel Notes

This topic started with this article Hmm, we almost missed these two towns named Calatrava. First is this town at the northern edge of Tablas island in the province of Romblon (Region 4B – MIMAROPA). This is a mainly fishing and farming community with nary a hind of urbanity. But so many things beckon. One is the intrigue about “Tinagong Dagat”. Its not a lake, its just about 10 meters from the sea, but everything in between are crags and foresty cliffs. Locals claim that the salty water that teem with abundant marine life, rises when the tide is low and ebbs when the tide is up. But how could I prove since I could never be in two separate laces at the same time! Not to mention there is a fantastic and affordable island resort nearby. The other Calatrava is a big town in the province of Negros Occidental (Region 6 - Western Visayas). It is actually some kind of a suburb as it is sandwiched by two cities – Sagay on the north and San Carlos on the south. The Tanon Strait makes for a ...

This topic started with this article Santa Maria Santissima! Hehehe there are 7 towns. Moreover, there is also a town named just “Maria” and even another town named just “Santa” – which we better add at the end part of this article. Our first Santa Maria is a town in Ilocos Sur. This is just a town apart (that’s Narvacan in between them) south of that other locality named just “Santa”. So take note of that. If you are coming from Manila, you should first reach Santa Maria, then Narvacan, then Santa. Gosh! Oh while there are beaches and waterfalls in Santa Maria Ilocos Sur, this town is best remembered for its church that has been listed in the United Nation’s World Heritage List. Don’t ya ever miss the views out to the south china sea (West Philippine Sea) from that church named Asunta Parish! Second in our list is the town of Santa Maria, far down in another “sur” (Davao Del Sur province, Region 11) just some four or five towns south of Digos City. Ah the beaches in this town beckon. ...

This topic started with this article There are 4 towns. First is the town of Sta. Fe in the province of Nueva Vizcaya (Region 2). This town at the southwestern border of the province with Pangasinan and Nueva Ecija just at the end of that dizzying zigzag road called Dalton Pass. Then there is the town of Sta. Fe on the southern tip of the province of Romblon (Region 4B). There are beaches and islets plus the trail up that mountain called Calatong. The third Sta. Fe is a town on Bantayan Island, Cebu (Region 7). Yes this is where boats, fast crafts and ROROs arrive from mainland Cebu. Like the two other towns on the island (Madridejos and Bantayan), Sta. Fe is a beach town and gets to full capacity during Holy Week. Lastly, there is also a town named Sta. Fe in the province of Leyte (Region 8). This Sta. Fe is a landlocked farming community adjacent to Tacloban, Palo. I do like afternoon runs to Ormoc from Tacloban where passing by this town always has great sunsets by the rice fields. ...

This topic started with this article San Jose! We all know of course that San Jose is the Spanish name of St. Joseph. And, be very specific if your destination in the Philippines is San Jose. This is the mostest in terms of same-name towns and cities. There are twelve! Ready? Well, there are just 9 towns all named literally San Jose, but plus, there is a town named San Jose De Buan, there is the city of San Jose in Nueva Ecija and there is the city of San Jose Del Monte in Bulacan. For whatever its significance maybe, seven of these are in Luzon, four are in the Visayas and only one is in Mindanao – the northern part that is, and still very near to Visayas! Let us start with the city of San Jose in Nueva Ecija as it is the northernmost San Jose. This city is not the capital of the province but is in the heart of the rice granary of the country with vast plains! Like the rest of the province, rice of course is the main produce in this area. However, they have recently risen to be the nu...

This topic started with this article There are 5 towns and 2 cities – so that’s a total of 7 local governments named San Fernando in this archipelago! We can start with the City of San Fernando in the province of La Union (Region 1 – Ilocos) and as we would all know that is the northernmost place named San Fernando. It’s just the capital of the province so there are many literature and information that you can have about the place. The nearby beaches and surfing camps are good enough. Next is the other City of San Fernando which is also in a northern province (Pampanga, Region 3 – Central Luzon). This one is also a provincial capital and your destination for the famed Giant Lantern Festival and those morbid Holy Week ceremonies where people have themselves nailed to the cross. Of course there is also the Sinukwan Festival. Still in Luzon, the 3rd San Fernando in our list is a town in the province of Romblon (Region 4B – MIMAROPA) and yes, it is dubbed as the resort town of the province...

This topic started with this article There are also three towns in this country named San Andres. 1st is San Andres in the province of Quezon (Region 4A CALABARZON). This town sits on the southeastern tip of the big province called Bondoc Peninsula and it’s right on the shores of Ragay Gulf facing Camarines Sur. You’ll be surprised to know that majority of the people in this poor fishing-and-farming town speak Bisaya (Cebuano) than Tagalog! Why? Ah go there hehe! 2nd is another town also named San Andres, and that is in the province of Romblon. This town is the upper western coast of Tablas Island. Beaches have grayish sands but there are a scattering of waterfalls and rocky cliffs plus a cave system. Our 3rd town named San Andres is in the province of Catanduanes, on its southwestern end facing Camarines Sur. This town that sits in the mouth of a big river is the biggest in terms of land area and next to the capital town of Virac in terms of infrastructure development. Beaches are fin...

This topic started with this article Now the saints! There are a lot of them, and as promised… here is my first installment - San Agustin. This is first in our list since it starts with the letter “A”. There are 3 towns in this country named specifically as San Agustin. There is a town Named San Agustin in the southern part of the province of Isabela (Region 2, Cagayan Valley). This town is the border with Quirino province and is too deep into the forests that paved roads are just slowly crawling to it. But they have a fun Carabao (Buffalo) festival and that they pride themselves of the kind of Carabaos they breed! So it was worth the grueling trip! The next San Agustin is a town in the northeastern corner of the main island (Tablas), province of Romblon (Region 4B, MIMAROPA). While still a bit off the beaten tourist tracks, this town has a challenging-enough mountain trail, it has waterfalls beaches and snorkeling areas esp to a sunken Spanish galleon. The 3rd San Agustin is another t...

This topic started with this article Looc. Pronounced loo-ok, there are two towns that bear the name. One is in the province of Occidental Mindoro and the other is in the island province of Romblon both in Region 4B – MIMAROPA. The former is a town which is the southern half of the island of Lubang off the northern tip of Mindoro. This Looc is for the nature tripper and adventurer as it is off the usual tourist itineraries. It has good beaches, waterfalls and mountain trails. Don’t be confused because the second Looc has similar – even better attributes. The town of Looc in the southern portion of the island of Tablas in Romblon has its very own bay. Nature attractions are great here. There are caves, waterfalls and beaches. There is even a fish sanctuary and a little butterfly garden! Plus, it’s a 2 hour boat ride if you want to cross into the bustling Boracay!

This topic started with this article Oh Concepcion! There are four towns that bear this name. Two are in Luzon, one is in the Visayas and the last one is in Mindanao. The first Concepcion is in the province of Tarlac (Region 3 – Central Luzon). It is in fact its biggest municipality. It sits just below Tarlac City and borders with the provinces of Nueva Ecija and Pampanga. The place being in a river basin is agricultural and has a lot of haciendas. Oh yes, this place was the birthplace of Ninoy Aquino. The next Concepcion is a tiny island municipality in the province of Romblon (Region 4B – MIMAROPA). It has only 9 barangays and population is just about 5 thousand! This island town is white sandy beaches all around. But alas, it’s out of the way! There has to be some unique fantastic things there before most tourists flock and gruel the boat ride from Pinamalayan in Oriental Mindoro. It’s even hard to get to this place from the capital, Romblon! Because of that, the hills are still lus...

The ‘Last Frontier’ region of the Philippines! Region 4B (sometimes written in roman numeral as REGION IV-B) is MIMAROPA and that stands for the provinces of MI ndoro, MA rinduque, RO mblon and PA lawan. Note that Mindoro is actually composed of two provinces – Occidental Mindoro and Oriental Mindoro. In the past these 5 provinces were actually part of the big Region 4 called Southern Tagalog – which was more recently chunked into two separate regions namely Region 4A (CALABARZON) and 4B (MIMAROPA). While the claim “The Phlippines’ Last Frontier” would usually mean the province of Palawan, my opinion is that it might as well include Mindoro, Romblon and Marinduque. I am almost certain that in the next years, Palawan will even become a bustling metropolis while the other three islands, especially Romblon and Marinduque might still retain much of their natural allure! Its just an inference and there’s nothing wrong about calculated guesses hehe! While many of the great 'tourismic...