by Philip M. Lustre Jr.
(Nota Bene: It was my thirst for periodic changes of scenery that drove me to Lucena City on a Sunday (Aug. 30, 2015). The last time I was there was in 1987, when I wrote articles about the coconut industry. Those days, the coconut industry was undergoing drastic reforms after the Cory Aquino government dismantled the coconut monopoly of the Marcos dictatorship nurtured and promoted for his friend and crony, Cojuangco.
During those turbulent days, landowners of coconut plantations threatened to cut down thousands of coconut trees and sell them as coco lumber because of what they perceived was the lukewarm attitude of the Aquino government to hasten the reforms proposed for the coconut sector. Their threat did not happen though, as the government moved fast to ensure the dismantling of the coconut monopoly, which included a final stop to the payment of the dreaded coconut levy.
The coconut industry is vital for the national economy because our export of coconut products bring in enormous foreign exchange earnings. A coconut tree is dubbed as the "tree of life" because of its many uses. A coconut tree has no waste products. I was not inclined to write about in my coconut spur of the moment decision to visit Lucena City. I was inclined to recharge my battery, so to speak.)
On the morning of Aug. 30, I and Manny C., a photographer friend took a JAC Liner bus en route to Manila. But viewing my trip to Manila from a journalist's lens, however the story was hardly about Lucena City. The story was on the bus trip Lucena City and the return trip to Manila - all on the same day. The changes along the routes and monumental aggravation we experienced were quite worthwhile to recall and share to our netizen friends.
Our bus passed along EDSA. I gazed to see if the church members were protesting around to block EDSA. INC members successfully blocked EDSA on two consecutive nights - Friday (Aug. 28) and Wednesday (August 29). The INC mass action prompted thousands of stranded commuters to raise big howl on the inconvenience of the protest action. Ironically, it was a mass action founded on wrong information - unfounded gossip or taken as gospel truth by its leaders and naive members.
Since it was around 8 am, I did not see them. Fine, I told myself. They are humans; they probably went home to take some meals and fix themselves only to be back later in the day. The bus had an easy sailing along SLEX. Later, it entered Binan City en route to the first Batangas town of Sto. Tomas and turned left for the town of Alaminos City and, of course, San Pablo City. This was where the traffic issues became visible.
As we entered Binan City, our bus was caught in sporadic but big traffic jams along the way. Traffic moved like a snail. Vehicles crawled. It was faster to walk than take a motor vehicle. It took us some 20 minutes to reach Sto. Tomas from Binan City. Traffic became harder when the JAC bus traversed Alaminos and San Pablo City. Believe it or not, it took more than an hour to travel on the 20-kilometer road from Sto. Tomas to San Pablo City.
I entertained myself by doing some sightseeing, and of course, humoring myself. From my seat, I saw the many changes that took place over the last one or two decades was absent in that particular corner of the world. I saw the numerous 7-11, Mini-Stop, and Family Mart convenience stores that have mushroomed along the way. I saw the various business establishments on the side of the main streets. It appeared that those cities teemed with people and business activity.
I also saw the never ending cycle of infrastructure works along the way. The projects on road widening, sidewalk improvements, new constructions of drainage and culverts, bridges are being pursued left and right, making the roads virtual obstacle courses. I saw many people busily walking along the streets and public utility vehicles waiting for passengers, slowing down traffic in those areas.
Then, it dawned on me that Binan City, Sto. Thomas, Alaminos and San Pablo City have become boom towns in their own right. Traffic jams are a natural consequence of their growth. The number of residents, motor vehicles and business establishments in those places has trebled, but the streets, except for some improvements like better and widening sidewalks, have remained basically the same.
Progress, whether economic, social, or whatever, is always desirable. It is everybody's dream. But progress does not come handily. We have to pay the price for progress to materialize. Progress always brings tremendous inconvenience to the people. Before it becomes a reality, the people have to bear and suffer the inconvenience and distractions usually associated with the process of change and progress.
Our bus reached San Pablo City and from the bus seat, I saw how it had changed. It was no longer the rustic, rural city (an oxymoron for undeveloped cities) I knew, but a bubbly, active and progressive small city from the prism of a Metro Manila guy like me. I could see all those convenience stores - big and small - lining along the road, the ongoing construction projects, and the numerous vehicles that keep on competing to reach their destinations.
Of course, SM City San Pablo is now an imposing edifice that teems with so many people. San Pablo City now has a population of a quarter of a million people, joining the ranks of second-tier cities like Cebu, Davao, Iloilo and Baguio. I perfectly understood that that San Pablo City has many overseas contract workers, who support their families regularly. Hence, many residents have sufficient liquidity to go to malls and convenience stores.
We passed by Hacienda Escudero, the world famous resort situated at the end of San Pablo City. Then, the bus turned right and reached Tiaong, the first town in Quezon province. Tiaong is noted for being the hometown of Claro M. Recto, noted the nationalist who opposed the United States, when it was not fashionable to oppose the almighty powerful former colonial ruler.
Tiaong has the "Vegetable Town," the main trading center that enables traders to meet producers of agricultural products in the provinces of Quezon and Laguna to conclude daily business transactions. A project of now outgoing Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala, the city becomes the central vegetable market, where agricultural products mostly vegetables and fruits are provided en route to Metro Manila markets.
Then, the bus reached the town of Candelaria, which is another boom town as indicated by the traffic situation in the town proper. Traffic was lighter, but not without seeing those road projects, including a bridge that was undergoing construction mainly to lighten traffic flow in that area. Because they are contiguous to Lucena City, the main urban center in Quezon province, the two towns have been beneficiaries of the increased business activity in the cities of Quezon and San Pablo.
The bus reached the crossroad of the towns of Candelaria and towns of Tayabas and Lucena, where the monument of Hermano Pule stands. Hermano Pule was the popular name of Apolinario dela Cruz, who led a revolt against Spanish colonial rule in 1841 to assert religious freedom. He attained a status of a folk hero after he founded the Cofradia de San Jose, an organization that fostered brotherhood among religious Filipino workers, who could not be accepted into the Catholic religious orders because they were "indios," or native Filipinos.
I personally did not know that Hermane Pule was duly honored in this province since his revolt happened quite a long time ago. But it was enough to understand that his revolt became the basis of Fr. Jose Burgos to assert racial equality for men of the cloth during the latter part of the Spanish colonial rule. It was personally satisfying that people, who rose against Spanish colonial rule, are honored in this province.
The road en route to Lucena City had many vehicles, although traffic was quite moderate on a lazy Sunday. The bus finally reached the grand central terminal, where all buses going to that part of the world congregated to allow passengers - new and old - to go or come down en route to some other destinations. It was most impressive to see that in order central bus station. It was far cry from the bus terminals in Metro Manila, where chaos and disorder is the common norm. Perhaps, the leaders of the Metro Manila Development Authority could learn a lesson or two from operations of Lucena City bus terminal.
Dennis Arpia, a friend from the Department of Agriculture, picked us up at the grand station. Our first stop was Bubbles Crispy Pata and Kare-Kare, a restaurant of choice situated in front of the provincial capitol in Lucena City. The restaurant is housed in one of the old villas in this city. The lunch was succulent for the palate. I swear before the graveyard of my beloved grandmother that its crispy pata was one of the best I have tasted in my more than six decades of existence on this planet.
Although Dennis has been a resident of this city, we did not talk about Lucena City's politics, reserving this topic on some other days, when the political situation sizzles as the 2016 presidential election nears. Instead, we talked more of the strides Lucena City has achieved over the years. Somehow, I had validated that Lucena City remains the main hub of economic activity in Southern Tagalog as it serves as an outpost for various industrial interests.
In and around Lucena City are big factories and warehouses of San Miguel Brewery, Coca-Cola Bottlers Philippines, Inc., PepsiCo, Inc., Asia Brewery, Inc. Nestle Philippines, and La Tondeña Distillers Inc., which produce, distribute, and transport their products to Southern Tagalog and, of course, the Bicol region. The various malls, convenience stores, and other stalls are visibly present to serve this city of a quarter of a million people.
I remember an old house beside the sprawling Perez Park, which is the open space in front of the provincial capitol. I saw it when I first visited the city in 1986. Now, the old house, formerly owned by the Perez clan, is gone; it has been replaced by a seven story building of the Manila-based STI Dennis told me that the building is quite new and STI has put it up in preparation for its adoption of the mandated K-12 educational program.
We walked around the city and took some shots. Although it was a Sunday, we saw quite a number of people moving around, promenading, buying some commodities, or meeting friends or relatives in some restaurants. The city is modest by Manila standards, but it was enough to have a taste of its ambiance. The Tagalogs are known for their sense of humor and modesty, but we should not underestimate their capacity to influence the course of political, economic, or historical developments in the country.
The province of Quezon gave us a fiery, mercurial and unpredictable president, whose big shadow still lurks in our political sphere. This city is rich in historical antecedents. While the province of Quezon brings the memory of a great man who fought for our independence from American colonial rule, its capital city, Lucena City fought Spanish, American, and Japanese colonial forces. It is a city that stands for Philippine nationalism. This is a city that has never gone wrong when it comes to our history.
It was enough for us to pack out books and sing with the birds on one balmy Sunday. By 8 pm, we boarded a JAM Liner bus. Traffic was already bad along the way, as many people were rushing to return to Metro Manila for work, or whatever reason. But we had our final calvary when we reached EDSA. Those zealots and fanatics INC EDSA blocked in the final day of their protest demonstration. Our bus detoured and we reached home at around 1:30 am the following day.
During those turbulent days, landowners of coconut plantations threatened to cut down thousands of coconut trees and sell them as coco lumber because of what they perceived was the lukewarm attitude of the Aquino government to hasten the reforms proposed for the coconut sector. Their threat did not happen though, as the government moved fast to ensure the dismantling of the coconut monopoly, which included a final stop to the payment of the dreaded coconut levy.
The coconut industry is vital for the national economy because our export of coconut products bring in enormous foreign exchange earnings. A coconut tree is dubbed as the "tree of life" because of its many uses. A coconut tree has no waste products. I was not inclined to write about in my coconut spur of the moment decision to visit Lucena City. I was inclined to recharge my battery, so to speak.)
On the morning of Aug. 30, I and Manny C., a photographer friend took a JAC Liner bus en route to Manila. But viewing my trip to Manila from a journalist's lens, however the story was hardly about Lucena City. The story was on the bus trip Lucena City and the return trip to Manila - all on the same day. The changes along the routes and monumental aggravation we experienced were quite worthwhile to recall and share to our netizen friends.
Our bus passed along EDSA. I gazed to see if the church members were protesting around to block EDSA. INC members successfully blocked EDSA on two consecutive nights - Friday (Aug. 28) and Wednesday (August 29). The INC mass action prompted thousands of stranded commuters to raise big howl on the inconvenience of the protest action. Ironically, it was a mass action founded on wrong information - unfounded gossip or taken as gospel truth by its leaders and naive members.
Since it was around 8 am, I did not see them. Fine, I told myself. They are humans; they probably went home to take some meals and fix themselves only to be back later in the day. The bus had an easy sailing along SLEX. Later, it entered Binan City en route to the first Batangas town of Sto. Tomas and turned left for the town of Alaminos City and, of course, San Pablo City. This was where the traffic issues became visible.
As we entered Binan City, our bus was caught in sporadic but big traffic jams along the way. Traffic moved like a snail. Vehicles crawled. It was faster to walk than take a motor vehicle. It took us some 20 minutes to reach Sto. Tomas from Binan City. Traffic became harder when the JAC bus traversed Alaminos and San Pablo City. Believe it or not, it took more than an hour to travel on the 20-kilometer road from Sto. Tomas to San Pablo City.
I entertained myself by doing some sightseeing, and of course, humoring myself. From my seat, I saw the many changes that took place over the last one or two decades was absent in that particular corner of the world. I saw the numerous 7-11, Mini-Stop, and Family Mart convenience stores that have mushroomed along the way. I saw the various business establishments on the side of the main streets. It appeared that those cities teemed with people and business activity.
I also saw the never ending cycle of infrastructure works along the way. The projects on road widening, sidewalk improvements, new constructions of drainage and culverts, bridges are being pursued left and right, making the roads virtual obstacle courses. I saw many people busily walking along the streets and public utility vehicles waiting for passengers, slowing down traffic in those areas.
Then, it dawned on me that Binan City, Sto. Thomas, Alaminos and San Pablo City have become boom towns in their own right. Traffic jams are a natural consequence of their growth. The number of residents, motor vehicles and business establishments in those places has trebled, but the streets, except for some improvements like better and widening sidewalks, have remained basically the same.
Progress, whether economic, social, or whatever, is always desirable. It is everybody's dream. But progress does not come handily. We have to pay the price for progress to materialize. Progress always brings tremendous inconvenience to the people. Before it becomes a reality, the people have to bear and suffer the inconvenience and distractions usually associated with the process of change and progress.
Our bus reached San Pablo City and from the bus seat, I saw how it had changed. It was no longer the rustic, rural city (an oxymoron for undeveloped cities) I knew, but a bubbly, active and progressive small city from the prism of a Metro Manila guy like me. I could see all those convenience stores - big and small - lining along the road, the ongoing construction projects, and the numerous vehicles that keep on competing to reach their destinations.
Of course, SM City San Pablo is now an imposing edifice that teems with so many people. San Pablo City now has a population of a quarter of a million people, joining the ranks of second-tier cities like Cebu, Davao, Iloilo and Baguio. I perfectly understood that that San Pablo City has many overseas contract workers, who support their families regularly. Hence, many residents have sufficient liquidity to go to malls and convenience stores.
We passed by Hacienda Escudero, the world famous resort situated at the end of San Pablo City. Then, the bus turned right and reached Tiaong, the first town in Quezon province. Tiaong is noted for being the hometown of Claro M. Recto, noted the nationalist who opposed the United States, when it was not fashionable to oppose the almighty powerful former colonial ruler.
Tiaong has the "Vegetable Town," the main trading center that enables traders to meet producers of agricultural products in the provinces of Quezon and Laguna to conclude daily business transactions. A project of now outgoing Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala, the city becomes the central vegetable market, where agricultural products mostly vegetables and fruits are provided en route to Metro Manila markets.
Then, the bus reached the town of Candelaria, which is another boom town as indicated by the traffic situation in the town proper. Traffic was lighter, but not without seeing those road projects, including a bridge that was undergoing construction mainly to lighten traffic flow in that area. Because they are contiguous to Lucena City, the main urban center in Quezon province, the two towns have been beneficiaries of the increased business activity in the cities of Quezon and San Pablo.
The bus reached the crossroad of the towns of Candelaria and towns of Tayabas and Lucena, where the monument of Hermano Pule stands. Hermano Pule was the popular name of Apolinario dela Cruz, who led a revolt against Spanish colonial rule in 1841 to assert religious freedom. He attained a status of a folk hero after he founded the Cofradia de San Jose, an organization that fostered brotherhood among religious Filipino workers, who could not be accepted into the Catholic religious orders because they were "indios," or native Filipinos.
I personally did not know that Hermane Pule was duly honored in this province since his revolt happened quite a long time ago. But it was enough to understand that his revolt became the basis of Fr. Jose Burgos to assert racial equality for men of the cloth during the latter part of the Spanish colonial rule. It was personally satisfying that people, who rose against Spanish colonial rule, are honored in this province.
The road en route to Lucena City had many vehicles, although traffic was quite moderate on a lazy Sunday. The bus finally reached the grand central terminal, where all buses going to that part of the world congregated to allow passengers - new and old - to go or come down en route to some other destinations. It was most impressive to see that in order central bus station. It was far cry from the bus terminals in Metro Manila, where chaos and disorder is the common norm. Perhaps, the leaders of the Metro Manila Development Authority could learn a lesson or two from operations of Lucena City bus terminal.
Dennis Arpia, a friend from the Department of Agriculture, picked us up at the grand station. Our first stop was Bubbles Crispy Pata and Kare-Kare, a restaurant of choice situated in front of the provincial capitol in Lucena City. The restaurant is housed in one of the old villas in this city. The lunch was succulent for the palate. I swear before the graveyard of my beloved grandmother that its crispy pata was one of the best I have tasted in my more than six decades of existence on this planet.
Although Dennis has been a resident of this city, we did not talk about Lucena City's politics, reserving this topic on some other days, when the political situation sizzles as the 2016 presidential election nears. Instead, we talked more of the strides Lucena City has achieved over the years. Somehow, I had validated that Lucena City remains the main hub of economic activity in Southern Tagalog as it serves as an outpost for various industrial interests.
In and around Lucena City are big factories and warehouses of San Miguel Brewery, Coca-Cola Bottlers Philippines, Inc., PepsiCo, Inc., Asia Brewery, Inc. Nestle Philippines, and La Tondeña Distillers Inc., which produce, distribute, and transport their products to Southern Tagalog and, of course, the Bicol region. The various malls, convenience stores, and other stalls are visibly present to serve this city of a quarter of a million people.
I remember an old house beside the sprawling Perez Park, which is the open space in front of the provincial capitol. I saw it when I first visited the city in 1986. Now, the old house, formerly owned by the Perez clan, is gone; it has been replaced by a seven story building of the Manila-based STI Dennis told me that the building is quite new and STI has put it up in preparation for its adoption of the mandated K-12 educational program.
We walked around the city and took some shots. Although it was a Sunday, we saw quite a number of people moving around, promenading, buying some commodities, or meeting friends or relatives in some restaurants. The city is modest by Manila standards, but it was enough to have a taste of its ambiance. The Tagalogs are known for their sense of humor and modesty, but we should not underestimate their capacity to influence the course of political, economic, or historical developments in the country.
The province of Quezon gave us a fiery, mercurial and unpredictable president, whose big shadow still lurks in our political sphere. This city is rich in historical antecedents. While the province of Quezon brings the memory of a great man who fought for our independence from American colonial rule, its capital city, Lucena City fought Spanish, American, and Japanese colonial forces. It is a city that stands for Philippine nationalism. This is a city that has never gone wrong when it comes to our history.
It was enough for us to pack out books and sing with the birds on one balmy Sunday. By 8 pm, we boarded a JAM Liner bus. Traffic was already bad along the way, as many people were rushing to return to Metro Manila for work, or whatever reason. But we had our final calvary when we reached EDSA. Those zealots and fanatics INC EDSA blocked in the final day of their protest demonstration. Our bus detoured and we reached home at around 1:30 am the following day.
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