The most important event in the history of Cagayan Valley took place in 1572 when Spanish Conquistador Don Juan de Salcedo traced the northern coast and landed at the mouth of the Pamplona River. Before his visit, early Cagayanos reveled in a civilization of their own.
MAGAT DAM
Magat Dam in Ramon, Isabela used to be the largest dam in the Philippines back when it was built in 1983. The controversial San Roque Dam (featured previously) has since eclipsed it in both structural and reservoir size in 2004. Magat Dam generates 360 megawatts of electricity (with a water head of 81 meters high) and supplies irrigation water for approximately 85,000 hectares of farmland in Isabela and surrounding areas.
The dam was constructed at a cost of 6.5 billion pesos and consists of 3.1 kilometers of rock-fill construction. The dam and its watershed is managed by the National Irrigation Authority (NIA), while the National Power Corporation (NPC) managed the hydroelectric plant, before the plant was turned over to SN Aboitiz Power Inc. in April 2007 as part of the privatization of power plants under the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA) of 2001.
Like the San Roque Dam, Magat Dam had its share of controversies, issues, and problems. For one, the reservoir inundated the traditional lands of the Ifugao tribes. Second, the useful lifespan of the dam was shortened from 50 years to around 35 years because of increased sedimentation in the reservoir (aggravated by the massive 1990 Luzon earthquake) and damage to the dam itself. Finally, Magat River, which is the river dammed, forms the boundary between the provinces of Ifugao and Isabela. Well, you can correctly guess that there’s a dispute between Ifugao and Isabela regarding with the dam: Ifugao is contesting the tax proceeds from the privatization of the hydroelectric plant and the compromise reached was that the two provinces would share equally in the tax revenue.
Magat Dam is also one of the prominent tourist spots in Isabela. The Magat Dam Tourism Complex promotes ecotourism with various watersports activities in the Magat Dam reservoir.
If you look at the Google Maps view of the dam, you can see the extent of the reservoir (4,450 hectares). And if you look about two kilometers downstream (east) from the dam, you can see Maris Dam, a subsidiary dam that helps regulate water level below the main dam for hydroelectric purposes. Why Maris? Well, Maris stands for Magat River Irrigation System.
Apo Lakay-Lakay
Apo Lakay-Lakay
What we’ll be featuring now is one of the more intriguing places I’ve come across since I started Vista Pinas. Apo Lakay-Lakay is a large rock jutting out of the sea at the western edge of the beach that defines the town of Claveria in the province of Cagayan (that’s at the northern end of Luzon). There is a smaller rock just to the south of Apo Lakay-lakay and it’s called Apo Baket-baket. In the Ilocano language, “lakay” means old man (or husband) and “baket” means old woman (or wife).
Why are these rocks intriguing? Well, they play a large part in the folklore of the town’s residents. According to local legend, a fisherman angered a sea god and was turned into stone. His wife, who went looking for him, was also turned into rock. They then became the town’s guardians. When Apo Lakay-lakay gets angry (usually when skeptics poke fun at it), the waves supposedly grow violent. Moreover, if local fishermen want to go around Apo Lakay-lakay, they must make an offering—either in the form of food floated on wood or coins tossed at the sea near these rocks—lest their boat capsizes. Old folk in Claveria are said to have lots of tales about Apo Lakay-lakay and Apo Baket-baket and they celebrate their town festival in March in honor of these two rocks.
But that’s not the only story about these two enchanted sea outcroppings. The couple actually have a child called Apo Ubing-ubing (“ubing” means child in Ilocano). Guess what? The child’s a stone too, and it’s located at the eastern end of Claveria Beach. According to local folklore, Apo Ubing-ubing is their abandoned child and he stands patiently waiting for his parent’s return.
If you want to learn more, you can read the legend at the official Claveria website. (Here’s a content mirror if that doesn’t work.) Unfortunately, it’s all in Ilocano, which I don’t grok. I’d appreciate it if there’s any Ilocano reader who can translate the gist of the legend for me.
One other thing I’d really like to know is: what the heck is the name of the promontory behind Apo Lakay-lakay and Apo Ubing-ubing? It’s a really large hill and I wonder if it has anything to do with the legend.
Why are these rocks intriguing? Well, they play a large part in the folklore of the town’s residents. According to local legend, a fisherman angered a sea god and was turned into stone. His wife, who went looking for him, was also turned into rock. They then became the town’s guardians. When Apo Lakay-lakay gets angry (usually when skeptics poke fun at it), the waves supposedly grow violent. Moreover, if local fishermen want to go around Apo Lakay-lakay, they must make an offering—either in the form of food floated on wood or coins tossed at the sea near these rocks—lest their boat capsizes. Old folk in Claveria are said to have lots of tales about Apo Lakay-lakay and Apo Baket-baket and they celebrate their town festival in March in honor of these two rocks.
But that’s not the only story about these two enchanted sea outcroppings. The couple actually have a child called Apo Ubing-ubing (“ubing” means child in Ilocano). Guess what? The child’s a stone too, and it’s located at the eastern end of Claveria Beach. According to local folklore, Apo Ubing-ubing is their abandoned child and he stands patiently waiting for his parent’s return.
If you want to learn more, you can read the legend at the official Claveria website. (Here’s a content mirror if that doesn’t work.) Unfortunately, it’s all in Ilocano, which I don’t grok. I’d appreciate it if there’s any Ilocano reader who can translate the gist of the legend for me.
One other thing I’d really like to know is: what the heck is the name of the promontory behind Apo Lakay-lakay and Apo Ubing-ubing? It’s a really large hill and I wonder if it has anything to do with the legend.
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MAHATAO, BATANES WIND FARM
The picturesque—and very popular—windmills of Bangui, Ilocos Norte still don’t have high-resolution satellite imagery in Google Maps yet (Update, June 2010: they are now visible in Google Maps), but the first wind farm of Southeast Asia, which can be found in the northernmost province of Batanes, does. Like the CEPALCO solar power plant in Cagayan de Oro, which we’ve featured before and is still the largest solar power plant in the developing world, the Philippines should be proud of the Mahatao Wind Farm for undoubtedly making the Philippines a pioneer in renewable energy sources in the region.
The Bangui Wind Farm, which started operating in June 2005, is often touted as the first commercial wind farm in Southeast Asia, but that’s not entirely true. I argue that it’s actually the first pure wind farm in Southeast Asia because the 56-million-peso Mahatao Wind Farm, inaugurated in August 7, 2004, is actually a hybrid wind-diesel farm, making it the earlier wind farm of any type.
The Mahatao Wind Farm consists of three Vergnet turbines and have a combined rated power of 180 kW. The turbines were erected on Mt. Humhao in the town of Mahatao just south of the provincial capital Basco. Owned by the Batanes provincial government, the farm is operated by the National Power Corporation-SPUG and was constructed by First Gen Renewables, Inc.
