Visit to Cagayan

Last Saturday, I flew to Tuguegarao City on the invitation of the students publication Louisian Courier to lecture on sportswriting and conduct a workshop at the first regional campus journalism – dubbed "Penstroke 2002" – at Saint Louis College.

It was my first visit to Cagayan where Philippine Airlines (PAL) flies thrice a week on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays. From Manila, Tuguegarao – the capital city – is a 9-hour bus trip away.

My wife Menchu and I took off from Manila on the 10:10 a.m. PAL flight. We landed at the Tuguegarao airport 45 minutes later. Louisian Courier staffers, led by editor-in-chief Juli Anne Mayette Lao To (Tsu-bi, for short), welcomed us. A resource speaker on layouting, Tim Sanchez of Holy Angel College, also arrived on our flight.

We checked in at Pensione Roma, one of several hotels in the city. We learned from Tsu-bi, a graduating civil engineering student from Saint Louis, that Tuguegarao is Region 2’s educational center. The Department of Tourism’s regional office is based in Tuguegarao which became a city in 1999.

A DOT factbook situates Cagayan at the northeast tip of Luzon, bounded by the Pacific Ocean on the east, the Cordilleras on the west, Isabela on the south, and the Babuyan Channel on the north. Cagayan – which has three congressional districts – is part of Region 2 whose other provinces are Batanes, Isabela, Nueva Vizcaya, and Quirino.

There were about 50 participants in "Penstroke 2002" and I was surprised to find only one campus sportswriter – Romeo Tulayan, an 18-year-old Nueva Vizcaya State Polytechnic College student – among them. My consolation was all 50 participants were sports fans and I was determined to recruit at least a handful to join Romeo in writing about sports in their campus publications.

I spoke for two hours on Saturday afternoon and could’ve gone on. As you can imagine, I enjoy talking and Menchu swears I never run out of stories, interesting or otherwise. I particularly enjoy speaking at campus seminars because it’s important to reach out to students and talk to them about values, principles, integrity, morals, discipline, responsibility, and self-sacrifice in their formative years. Last year, I spoke in several campus seminars – "Inkblots 2001" organized by The Varsitarian of the University of Santo Tomas, "Paper Un-conventional" organized by The Sphere of San Pedro College of Business Administration, among others.

At "Penstroke 2002," I explained the five challenges that print journalists face in the modern era – the challenge of electronic media, the challenge of credibility, the challenge of competition, the challenge of truth, and the challenge of dedication. I elaborated on what I consider to be the three anchors in journalism – principles, relevance, and commitment.

After my lecture, I presented a copy each of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Silver Anniversary coffee table book and the annuals of the last two seasons to St. Louis dean of student affairs Emmanuel James Pattaguan and Louisian Courier adviser Michelle Leano. I also left behind copies of the PBA annual and Sports Weekly Magazine to be distributed to the seminar participants. PBA commissioner Jun Bernardino and Sports Weekly editor Dulce Amor Garcia-de la Cruz donated the publications for the seminar.

We were fortunate to meet several Cagayanos during our visit. Mike Lim, City Administrator of Mayor Randy Ting, and his wife Belen. Basketball Association of the Philippines (BAP) provincial director Ben Cue, Jr. Rudy Abbariao of the Department of Tourism. St. Louis chaplain Fr. Neil Sta. Ana. Louisian Courier staffers Ice, Tal, 2s-2s, Shobe, Sugar and many, many more.

It was Mike, a former Armed Forces officer and a CPA, who reminded us that past and present PBA players like Jerry Codinera, Tonichi Yturri, Romulo Palijo, and Francis Natividad are Cagayanos. Mike, 45, plays hoops, too, and still keeps in step with teenagers in pick-up games at the People’s Gym where the PBA staged its last game in the city over eight years ago. Mike’s contemporary was Palijo who played eight years in the PBA until 1983. Mike and Belen were the perfect hosts. They even packed native longanisa and milk candy for us to bring back home when we left.

Ben, 49, used to be the sports director at Cagayan Colleges Tuguegarao and is still active in the Basketball Referees Commission (BARECOM). He recalls playing against the Cezar brothers, David and Philip, at the intercollegiate championships in Surigao City in 1969. It was Ben who discovered Cagayan’s favorite son Romel Adducul playing for St. Paul’s high school as a gangling 6-2 senior and encouraged him to develop his skills.

The food we ate in Tuguegarao was sumptuous. The Courier took us to Kusina Cagayana for Saturday lunch and we feasted on pansit Cabagan (with toppings of lechon and pugo egg), crispy pata, squid, shrimps, chicken, and hito. Mike and Belen treated us for dinner at Adrinel’s Restaurant last Saturday and at Negros Grill (the gindara and blue marlin were exceptional) last Sunday.

We had a chance to chat with Fr. Neil, 37, at dinner last Saturday. He belongs to the Congregation of Immaculate Heart of Mary (CICM) order which is headquartered in Belgium. Fr. Neil spent six years as a missionary in the Congo and lived nine months in Belgium to learn French. After the Jesuits closed the Ateneo de Tuguegarao, the CICM priests took over the four-hectare campus and established St. Louis in 1973. Today, Saint Louis has a student population of some 5,000 in the elementary, secondary, collegiate and post-graduate levels. There are four other Saint Louis schools in the country.

On our free day last Sunday, the Courier arranged for us to visit the 400-year-old miraculous Our Lady of Piat, or Black Mary, at the Basilica Minore about 45 minutes from Tuguegarao, tour the mysterious seven chambers of the Callao Caves after climbing 187 steps, take an enjoyable banca ride on the Pinacanauan river, and walk the Stations of the Cross, featuring larger than life statues, on the 11-hectare Calvary Hills in Iguig. We drove past the Buntun Bridge, the country’s third longest, enroute to Piat. There were other tourist spots to visit but we ran out of time – like the Boracay-like white sand beaches of Santa Ana, the provincial and Cagayan State museums, and Camalaniugan where the country’s oldest church bell – over 400 years old – is found. We reserved those spots for our next visit.

Before leaving last Monday, the Courier brought us to Residencia Café for breakfast of longanisa, pansit, bangus and garlic rice.

Tomorrow, we’ll publish the winning essay in our workshop.