Negros Watch
It’s a cool summer. It’s in fact a wet summer here in Negros Island after a couple of tropical depressions poured down its 4 inch rain on sugar lands which sprouted Kurackdops on newly harvested and about to be plowed canefields. Kurackdops are edible fungi that grow on dead and rotten sugar canes left on the cane field after a harvest. They sprout in the morning and are harvested for breakfast. It is a seasonal treat for sacadas (canefield workers) and even a survival food for desperate sugar cutting human beings without rice provision. It’s very aromatic and tasty when it appears after the canefield is burnt. I’ve tried it so I can describe it:)
Anyway, back about the weather in Negros …. its that wet - now, imagine driving with me to the outskirts of Bacolod on a standard speed, we head to the North … Talisay has recently paved its national road that traverses right in the middle of the city and is quite nice to drive by. Overcast clouds dominated the skies today and little rain drops would pound the windshield as we exit Talisay on to the long stretch of highway … a turn pike to Sialy City. Hmmm. Hanil’s road warranty of 20 years is still okay …. the width of the road was designed 10 years ahead when it was laid down … wide and clear.
As we approach Silay, the turnpike stretch merges towards the city center where you encounter strips of roads unearthed every other 50 meters motioning the traffic to pile up…. so you notice the speed slowing down and it affords you to notice people taking shelter on sari sari stores from the unexpected drizzle. I guess for this entry, we can stop over at Silay. Its economy has awakened after the Bacolod airport was closed some years ago and an international standard feeder airport was built on this sleeping city. You can imagine the thriving of businesses here, from short transportation shuttle service, budding inns, hostels, restaurants and clustering carenderias around the airport … it has definitely motioned the Silaynons to move faster with various industries.
Here’s a thought - a couple of centuries ago, Silay was the capital of Negros Occidental. Timeless architecture of Hispanic buildings, ancestral houses even up to this point in time still display the rich history of this city but when Bacolod built its airport during that era, at the place where Tops Bowling Lanes and back of Hwa Ming is located now (thats where the first Bacolod runway was and then moved to Tangub), somehow the economy cascaded to Bacolod City making it the island’s capital city. Added to it was the creation of the Banago Pier which made Bacolod a national trade and business hub of Negros Occidental. Now that the airport is in Silay, if my classmate and friend Vice Mayor Mark Golez pursues a Pantalan Project for Silay, …. Where do you think the island’s business activities would thrive? What do you think will happen to Bacolod City ( now without an airport?) Aside from native kakanins and El Ideal’s fresh lumpia ….. Silay real estate properties are now hot!!
Like most Negrosanons, I lay back and watch. Negros Watch. We will continue the drive to the North in my next journal entry.
