Narvacan Myhometown

Narvacan is the third most populated town in Ilocos Sur. I was born and raised here, and the way I reminisced about the life style of the people including mine who live there during those years, wasn’t easy and wasn’t so hard either. There were those fortunate and less fortunate and I wished everybody were the same that have the means to buy the things that they needed most and did something more for their love ones.

I started school in the barrio of Ambulogan. All of the students walk every morning and after school, only to go learn and dream for the future.  In high school, we did the same but then, it was farther so we had to take any means of transportation to go to school, back and forth.  Our parents sent us to school because it was also their dream that we learn and be somebody someday. Some of us are fortunate, and some are not so fortunate to pursue higher education in the city.

To those who were left behind, I think they are the ones to be given credits because they served as the guardians and back bones of the town. They deserve more than any one of us who left. Some of us went back after getting that precious education that most of us claimed, which is good, because our friends that did not have the opportunity to get what we have, maybe needs guidance from us to make Narvacan a better place to live in.

To all our teachers and mentors, most of them passed away but some are still around. I want you to know, that we did not forget you. I said we, because I know that I am not the only one who feels this way and we cherish all the efforts you have done for us. We owe you more than you ever know. What is it then that we could give you in return? The only thing I can think of, is to love our town NARVACAN, but in what way.  Loving and caring for our town, not financial, but to learn and adopt the beliefs, traditions and values that the founders, fathers of their fathers that they handed down to us.

To our parents, relatives and friends, who gave us reassuring advises of how to succeed, you may not know what you have done for us, but you were our inspirations to reach for the goals that we were seeking for. Most of us, I am sure that we feel the same, yet to some perhaps do not realize. What would happen to us if you were not there for us? Your sacrifices and unconditional determinations for us to excel, beyond a very high expectation, will always be remembered and cherished until we perished. Words are not enough but I can only say, thank you very much from the bottom of my heart.

Narvacan now is not the same as I used to remember. The barrios, even how remote they are, there is now electrification and because of this, people can watch televisions, and can use electrical appliances etc. Land lines (telephones) are not yet in placed in the rural areas or even in most of the houses in town. But cell phones are so popular that almost every body owns one. Transportations, the calezas are beginning to disappear, replaced by tricycles and jeepneys. There are more people now who own cars and motorcycles. Most of the buses going to Manila are now air conditioned. This is progress and I can only hope that it will continue so that the people in our town can enjoy these luxuries that they deserve.

In agriculture, cattle, goats and poultry are being farmed more than before. The farmlands are fertile as they were. Virginia tobacco is not as popular as they were before but rice, corns, sugarcanes, different varieties of fruits and vegetables are now the main produce. During dry seasons, electric pumps with dip buried pipes are the means of irrigating the plants. Farmers used to carry water to water their crops and those were hard to do. Because of all these improvements, the farmers are harvesting more produce and there are now abundant of these in the town’s public market.

Fishing is the major source of income for our fishermen, so perhaps conservation is a priority. This way the next generations will also prosper into this kind of livelihood. The Philippine Sea is noted to be rich in seafood, but there is always the bottom line. One thing that I am not sure of is that, I wonder if fishponds to farm fish do exist in our town.

In closing, this article is my own reflections of our town, past and present that these are only my opinions and ideas. There is no malice or intention to offend anyone. To all fellow Narvacaneans, especially to those who live or reside in our town, the politicians and other public servants that look after the administration of the town, I salute you all for a job well done.

God Bless.