I stumbled upon some old files on my Harddrive, from back in 2006, there are some interesting information about the History of Negros, the Palinpinon Powerplant, Lake Balanan etc. I would like to get more of this kind of information, anybody got some?:o Lake Balanan The road to Balanan is somewhat uneven, but that’s alright, that’s alright. A steady incline going up to the mountains of Siaton, more than 40 kilometers south of Dumaguete, Negros Oriental. From Siaton town proper, the drive uphill takes around 30 minutes, as Balanan itself, a hideaway resort with a mountain lake and some freeflowing pools carved out of the mountainside, is 10 kilometers away. After alternate stretches of cement and dirt road, with an ambient view of southern Negros and the Mindanao Sea, we do some math in our heads: if Balanan is 10 kilometers away from Siaton and it takes us 30 minutes to get there, how fast does our vehicle travel? The place is as yet underdeveloped, or shall we say, is in the process of being developed. We’ve heard that Congressman Dodo Macias is bent on promoting Balanan as a certified tourist spot, and by golly it is. I guess we were just lucky that we got there and enjoyed the hike and swim before the tourists. Would that it remain a bit underdeveloped, if only to keep the slick businessmen away. The atmosphere is still unspoiled, and people running the place rely merely on heartfelt donations, no forced revolutionary levies or taxes. No gigantic makeshift giraffes spouting water from their cute mouths. On the way to Balanan there are trees by the roadside, duhat and siniguelas, branches heavy with their late summertime fruit. Village folk going about their daily chores are momentarily stirred from their tasks, what with the hubbub of an engine negotiating the upland curves. Hardly anyone else going to the same destination, except for a motorcycle bearing three local adventurers, possibly college students or young professionals. Once there we espy what seems to be some construction or maybe "improvements" underway, with a big truck by a mountain stream having to move a bit to the side so that our vehicle could make a final pass to an imaginary parking area, actually just a shady side of the mudpacked road. The hike itself is a pleasant one through a mountain trail weaving between large balete trees with roots sticking out and vines hanging down from their canopy that would inspire latent Tarzans. If one is to relieve oneself behind some bush or shrub the recitation of the tabi-tabi is mandatory lest a nuno is disturbed from an age-old sleep. Then the swim in the mountain lake is bereft of any adjective. The lake though suddenly becomes deep and we cannot touch bottom, and after some cool minutes leisurely trying to evade the diwata in our minds, it was on to the natural pools for us, hidden away deeper into the mountain. But the lake itself and the swim in it defy the element of time, and fear is a twin of beauty as long as the feet cannot touch the ground underwater. Not to forget either the exercise and fitness inspired ferry-by-pulley between stations that reminded us a bit of Bohol’s Loboc, but sans the tarsiers. The pull on the rope takes less than five minutes to get across, and gives a good a workout to the arm muscles to the amusement of around 11 passengers of varying shapes and sizes. The pools by the mountainside have free-flowing springs, and are not deeper than six feet. They are located underneath tall shade-giving trees and near impromptu benches that make the area an ideal place for a picnic, a luxury in the rat race world. Nearby sari-sari stores run by the locals offer basic provisions, such as snacks and beer, as well as viands for the hungry ranging from munggo to pansit. On one table there were left empty bottles of Tanduay and Beer Grande, midmorning evidence that some people had an early start to their serious drinking. And neither did we see any bathhouses or changing rooms, we just used nature’s available camouflage or the good old-fashioned drape of towel. Indeed the absence of any other holidaymaker made the visit to Balanan special, and for which we thank the mountain lake gods for reminding us that vistas like this still exist. Coming from the lake we were followed by a mutt a ways down the trail, which only stopped when it sensed we were crossing over by the hand-pulled ferry. It was like the owner of the secret resort – or the resort owner’s dog – who escorted us on our way out telling us to come back sometime in the future, balik-balik. The drive back downhill took just as long, the distance the same, and we stopped for some souvenir pictures with the backdrop of the sea and the sloping view of the town down below, all blue and green and chirp of wild bird. Around us there was the scent of siniguelas and duhat and the hottest summer within living memory breaking into its first rains, as we cruised at 20 kilometers per hour downhill away from the best kept secret of Siaton town. But maybe not for long, not for long. From: Dumaguete City and Negros Oriental Province - Compiled Threads - SkyscraperCity (2006) Negros, the Island that Sugar Built The fourth largest island in the Philippines, approximately 200 kilometers at its greatest length, and about 90 at its greatest breadth, the boot-shaped Negros is located south of Panay and Guimaras, north of Cebu, Bohol and Mindanao. The relatively short distances between these islands make island hopping feasible. Panay and Negros are between 13 and 70 kilometers distant; from Negros to the nearest point of Mindanao is a mere 45 kilometers and Cebu across the deep Tañon Strait is only 4 kilometers distant. Located in the center of the Visayas region, Negros shares the same topographic characteristic of neighboring Panay, a volcanic island with a mountainous spine, set more toward the eastern coast. Tall volcanoes dominate the cordilleras: Mt. Kanlaon (2465 meters) Mandalagan (1879), Sicaba Diutay (1536), Sicaba Daku (1379), Silay (1534) and Lantawan (1049). All these peaks are volcanoes, Kanlaon being the most active. Kanlaon releases a steady stream of steam tapped for geothermal electricity, which is distributed throughout the island, to Panay and Cebu. Negros' volcanic origin has made the island fertile and fit for large scale agriculture, but the eastward and southward siting of the cordilleras leaves little room for plains to the east and south, except for a small pocket at Tanjay and Bais. For this reason, the large sugar plantations or hacienda, the backbone of Negros' economy are found to the west and north. Buglas, according to Fray Martinez de Zuñiga is the ancient name of the island. This is also the name found in the Povedano manuscript, said to be an history of Negros according to the encomendero of Himamaylan Povedano. Historians doubt the authenticity of the manuscript discovered in a demolished casa real. So goes the story. The Spanish called the island Negros after the Aytas (locally called Ati) who lived in the hinterland, although they recognized the presence of Malay groups. Antonio de Morga's 1607 manuscript mentions them. Negros archaeological history is still insufficiently documented. Although evidence of trade goods and gold ornaments have been discovered since the 1970s, many of the finds came about by accident and unsystematic "pot hunting" has disturbed many sites. Nonetheless, whatever had been found—Neolithic tools, pottery, porcelain, gold ornaments, etc.—relate Negros to other islands like Luzon, Mindoro and Cebu. But systematic and extensive archaeological studies done by Junkers at the Tanjay River basin indicate the presences of numerous settlements coexisting as trading partners. Could we safely say that similar such settlements existed throughout the island? Or was Tanjay exceptional? How do you square this with the marginal status of Negros, basically left alone until the opening of sugar plantations in the 19th century? Negros is first mentioned in Spanish documents by Magellan's chronicler Antonio de Pigafetta who writes of an island west of Cebu inhabited by Negritos. An exploratory expedition of sixteen, sent by Miguel Lopez de Legazpi and headed by Esteban Rodriguez de Figueroa to explore Cebu island, was driven by currents to Negros. The group reported the presence of Negroes in the hinterland and natives of Malay ancestry who tattooed their bodies. By 1571, Negros had been divided into encomiendas among 17 encomenderos, reduced to ten in 1576. For more than two centuries, the Spanish were somewhat dismissive of the island, daunted by the thick forests that blanketed the island up to the shore. They concentrated their attention on Panay and Cebu. The spiritual administration of Negros was less stable than other islands where a specific religious order was assigned as permanent missionaries. Although the Augustinians had established a foothold at Ilog as early as 1571 or 75, at Binalbagan in 1572, and at Tanjay in 1580, they turned over administration of the island to the secular clergy of the Cebu diocese. Later, Jesuits succeeded to the missions of the seculars: in 1628 or 32 at Ilog, around 1627 in Binalbagan, in 1640 at Kabangkalan. The missions, never became full parishes, were all dependencies of the Jesuit college at lloilo. The Augustinian Recollects administered Binalbagan and Bago from 1625-38, when they left Negros to begin their mission in Romblon. A 1757 letter of the bishop-elect of Cebu to the King stated that Ilog, Tanjay, Dumaguete, Binalbagan and Tacqauan were about to be made parishes under the secular clergy; however, despite their parish status, many places in Negros could not afford a stone church. So indicated a report in 1785 which states that except for Dumaguete, the churches in Negros were all of wood and thatch. On the western coast, Bacolod (present capital of Negros Occidental) was not established as a town until 1755 or 56, after the inhabitants of the coastal settlement called Magsungay, were attacked by forces under Datu Bantilan of Sulu (14 July 1755) and the townspeople transferred from the coast to a hilly area called Bacolod. The town was constituted a parish in 1788 under the secular clergy, but did not have a resident priest until 1802, as the town was served by the priest from Bago, and later Binalbagan. By the 19th century, Negros' fortunes began to turn. Three factors contributed to its economic transformation. First, the end of slave raids. Riding on the winds of the habagat or southwest monsoon, raiding parties from the south attacked the coastal settlements destroying not only villages and livelihood but also decimating the population. By 1790, slave raids on Bacolod had ceased, although the whole archipelago was not free from raiders until the 1840s when Gov. Gen. Narcisco Claveria launched a massive campaign against the stronghold of the raiders in Tungkil and had established an effective blockade of the Sulu and Visayan Seas, by using an armada of steam-powered iron boats. Peace descended on the island. Second, a change in Spanish policy regarding the Philippines. Where the economic importance of the Philippines lay in being the transshipment point for Oriental goods, the termination of the galleon trade in 1815 shifted Spanish interest in the Philippines from being a trading station to being an agricultural colony that produced goods needed in the mother land. Third, a change in status of sugar from being a luxury in Europe to being a necessity. The demand for the produce increased unexpectedly. The mid-19th century saw the growth and expansion of the sugar industry in Negros. Here the fortunes of Negros are intimately tied with neighboring Iloilo where an international port was opened in 1855. A year later, Nicolas Loney was appointed as British vice-consul at Iloilo. Looney introduced steam-driven sugar presses, extended loans to sugarcane planters and established Looney and Co., the first international company in Iloilo. Looney's technological innovation was an improvement over the traditional method of sugar extraction, learned from the Chinese, where a wooden mill run by a carabao expressed the sugarcane juice. The juice was then heated in a large open pan, until it thickened to molasses and was finally reduced to raw sugar. Looney's machines were exported to the neighboring island, and as demand for sugar production increased more lands were cleared to make plantations. Lured to western Negros were not only Ilongos seeking for larger tracts of land but also foreigners. In 1843, Yves Leopold Germaine Gaston from Normandy, France, installed the first sugar mill (horno economico) at Buen Retiro. He settled in Silay and became a dominant figure in the industry. In 1860 Luis de Luzurriaga, a Spaniard, introduced steam engines and modern equipment for sugar milling. Machines were made in England. Among the Ilongo families that opened haciendas in Negros were the Locsin, Lacson, and Claparols. A decree of 20 June 1848 by Governor Claveria ordered the restructuring of Negros politically and religiously. The capital was transferred from Himamaylan to Bacolod and the Recollects were asked to assume spiritual administration of Negros, which they did that same year. Transfer of Bacolod to Recollects, however, took place only in 1871. In 1889, the island was divided politically into east and west: Dumaguete became the capital of Negros Oriental while Bacolod remained the capital of Negros Occidental. For a brief moment, the two provinces were reunited under the cantonal government of the Negrense revolutionaries, from 6 November 1898 to the end of February 1899, when the American placed Col. James Smith military governor, followed by Melecio Severino (June 1900) until the civil government was established in 1901. West Negros speaks Hiligaynon and is decidedly turned toward Iloilo, from which many of the settlers came; the east speaks Cebuano and is oriented toward Cebu from which its is separated by the narrow but deep Tañon Strait. While sugar was not as much cultivated in the east as in the west, nonetheless, one of Negros largest plantation and sugar mill is the Central Azucarera de Tanjay, which extends to neighboring town of Bais. Dumaguete, Negros Oriental’s capital, is known for Siliman University, founded as Silliman Institute on August 28, 1901 by American Presbyterian missionaries. Intended to be an industrial school, it grew to be an academic university. Despite the ups and downs of the sugar industry, Negros continued to dominate the market, bringing affluence to the island, especially to the western side. The 1930s saw the peak of Negros affluence when many stately homes were built. From: Dumaguete City and Negros Oriental Province - Compiled Threads - SkyscraperCity (2006) Palinpinon Powerplant The Southern Negros geothermal field is barely 30 hectares and is therefore noted as model for compact field development. Also known as "Palinpinon" for the first exploration area, it is located in Valencia, Negros Oriental. Installed capacity to date is as follows: Palinpinon-I 112.5 MW (1983) Palinpinon-II 40 MW (1994) Palinpinon-II 40 MW (1995) Developed starting 1978, a crash drilling program was employed, resulting in the commissioning of Palinpinon-I by July 3, 1983, two days after Tongonan. Due to the craggy mountainous terrain, the wells are only a few meters apart at the surface but are directionally drilled to different reservoir targets underground. The advantage though is that pipelines are short and well laid-out, with separator stations close together. Next a submarine cable was laid out via Guimaras to Panay island to serve the requirements of five provinces. This increase in demand was met by the commissioning of the first 40 megawatts from Palinpinon-II. Subsequently, a second submarine cable was laid out towards Cebu province. The additional power demand was similarly served by another 40 MW from Palinpinon-II. Part of the power demand in the Cebu-Negros area is filled by the Leyte-Cebu power export of 200 MW since 1998. The Leyte-Cebu-Negros-Guimaras-Panay interconnection links the major Visayan islands to the national electric highway. Taken from PNOC-EDC's website (The Energy Development Corporation Website). From: Dumaguete City and Negros Oriental Province - Compiled Threads - SkyscraperCity (2006) Fiber-rich City One secret that will serve Dumaguete well in its ambitions is the telecommunications infrastructure in the city. Unknown to many, Dumaguete actually has a robust high-capacity network already in place. This network consists of microwave links and a fiber-optic backbone which connect the city not only to Manila and Cebu City, but to Mindanao and other islands, as well. The fiber optic links going into Dumaguete are among the best for a city outside of Metro Manila. The total capacity of these fiber links is a whopping 320 Gbps* which translates to 4.5 million high quality data and voice lines – a capacity which can accommodate five million call center agents. Bandwidth-hungry outsourcing businesses such as call centers, transcription services, and digital post-production will find ample room for growth for their telecommunication needs. Redundancy is another key feature of Dumaguete’s telco infrastructure. Dumaguete is a landing site for the fiber optic backbone networks of Globe Telecommunications, as well as Telecphil – the national consortium of telco providers. In addition, microwave communications supplement the links, assuring that service businesses need not fear outages caused by a downed cable. Investment promotion is going full-speed ahead for Dumaguete with the coordinated efforts of local government, national agencies, and non-government organizations. Already boasting of topnotch graduates, the city is well positioned for growth in the booming international services outsourcing industry. *320 gbps and growing... _________________________________________________________________ IT/ITES Firms "In the past few years, several software development companies have emerged in the Philippines, as well as many other IT-related enterprises, like Medical Transcription Services and Call Centres, most of them however clustered in big cities like Manila and Cebu. Little did the world know that Dumaguete City, apart from its human resources, has access to the country’s most advanced telecom infrastructure right outside its doorstep, comprising a high speed fibre optic backbone network with a 320Gbps capacity! This rarely promoted advantage this little city has over the rest of the country, combined with four well reputed universities and several other learning institutions, and added to that a considerably lower cost of operating businesses compared to the metro cities, makes Dumaguete City probably the most attractive place in the Philippines for ICT growth today. " - Nestwood Software Development Corporation (http://www.nestwood.com/default.aspx?tabid=47) Most enlightening was the lecture of former Pepsi and Islacom president Fred Dael who said that our country should learn more about the rest of the world. He enthused "Dumaguete City in Oriental Negros has the most advanced telecommunications system in the world, comparable only to the ones in Germany." From the time Deutsche Telecom infused $2.5 billion worth of fiber optics in the region five years ago, businessmen, investors and the rest of our countrymen have yet to maximize this wealth of technology for advancement and progress. Call centers, the "single largest social upheaval" in the Philippine economy, can set up anytime and anywhere in the province of Oriental Negros. Compiled from: Dumaguete City and Negros Oriental Province - Compiled Threads - SkyscraperCity (2006) THE CITY OF DUMAGUETE, capital of Negros Oriental, is situated on the plains of the southeastern coast of the Island of Negros, near the mouth of the Banica River. It is bounded on the North by the town of Sibulan; on the East by Tañon Strait and Mindanao Sea, serving as a natural border to the neighboring provinces of Cebu and Siquijor; on the West by the town of Valencia; and on the South by the town of Bacong. "Dumaguete" was coined from the Visayan word "daggit" which means "to snatch". Because of the frequent marauding attacks of the Muslim pirates on the coastal town, and the power to attract and keep her visitors for good, hence, the word "dumaguet", meaning "to swoop," was christened to the village of Dumaguete. However, Diego Lopez Povedano in 1572, indicated the place as "Dananguet." But in 1734, Murillo Velarde referred to it, using its present name, as Dumaguete. In 1890, the island-province of Negros was divided into two politico-military provinces, Occidental and Oriental. As earlier constituted, in 1898, Dumaguete was included in Negros Oriental. After the Philippine-American War, on May 1, 1901, a civil government was established by the Americans in the Province of Negros Oriental, including Dumaguete. When World War II broke out, the city was occupied by the Japanese Imperial Forces on May 26, 1942. It was liberated on April 26, 1945 by the combined forces of the U.S. Army and the Filipino guerrillas. On June 15, 1948 or three years later, Republic Act No. 327, created the City of Dumaguete. Later, on June 21, 1969, Republic Act No. 5797 was enacted, otherwise known as the Revised Charter of Dumaguete City. The Provincial Capitol in Dumaguete City was built in 1924 during the American colonization of the Philippines. The Provincial Capitol houses the Governor's Office and other provincial government offices. Its architecture was patterned after the Capitol in the United States of America. The main body is Grecian, while the columns are Ionic. During this period of American occupation the colonizers hired the services of city planner and architect Daniel Hudson Burnham to design the new provincial capitol. Before it was located in what is now the Serafin Teves residence at the Rizal Boulevard. The Grecian style dominated American architecture during this period. It was the first truly national style in the United States, found in all regions of the country. The popularity of the style was due to the strong associations with classical tradition and democracy. It was very adaptable, and permeated all levels of building, form high to low. The Americans wanted to spread this type of style to its colonies. In Manila, similar buildings can be found like the Post Office, Department of Tourism and the National Museum. Other Provincial Capitols with similar architecture are Negros Occidental, Leyte and Cebu. The significance of this architecture is that it symbolizes strength and fortitude in which the government should always uphold. The white paint is a symbol of purity that should never be tarnished with scandal or war. All in all the Provincial Capitol Building is a living reminder of our colonial past that has brought to our shores the ideals of democracy. It is only fitting and ironic that the Americans honor their government buildings with architecture from Greece, the birthplace of democracy. Even thousands of years later when the first city-states were built in Athens, so to will their traditions remain alive half way around the world in a place called Dumaguete City, Negros Oriental. Compiled from: Dumaguete City and Negros Oriental Province - Compiled Threads - SkyscraperCity (2006)
That pretty much covers all I can digest for one morning with coffee. Now on with the NFL and Monday morning FOOTBALL....
Sorry to interupt the topic here, but Tomtorific what channel do you watch the NFL on over there? whenever I'm in Dumaguete during the NFL season I'm forced to keep up to date with games and scores Via the internet. Maybe You have a better channel selection there in Quezon City....cheers
Unfortunately I have to watch via the internet on NFL.com about $150 US for complete season(all teams) less if You just follow one team. But at least NFL.com will stream outside US unlike Netflix, Blockbuster, Hulu etc.
I am from the Tampa Bay area.......excruciating.......but I grew up in Baltimore so I can root for the Ravens
