Unlike many countries which have many metropolis or big cities as United States which has not only New York City, but also Chicago, Los Angeles and more than 20 metropolitan areas, or France, which not only has Paris, but also Nice, Marseilles and others or Germany, which has not only Berlin, but Frankfurt, Cologne and more, our country has alas, only one well-developed metropolis, Metro Manila and perhaps Cebu. But today, north of Manila, at a leisurely 4 hr. drive, 70 kms. north of Tarlac, 60 kms south of Baguio, midway Ilocos cities of Vigan and Laoag, lies the sprawling Metro Dagupan City, a rapidly growing corridor, our nation’s new pride.
If further developed, she may help and provide equilibrium and complement congested, overdeveloped Metro Manila. Devastated by powerful earthquake in 1990, many believed it would take a miracle for the city to regain her status. Twelve years after leaning tilted buildings were jacklifted, roads, bridges, homes and houses rebuilt, with business perking up, voila, a miracle of the greatest urban comeback brought her to where and what she is today, a source of great national pride and a living proof of the spirit of people. Home of entrepreneurs, where common livelihoods are trading, commerce, retail sales and food production, Metro Dagupan has low jobless rate, many overseas workers and many folks are mid and upper income, own homes in Metro Manila or elsewhere. Metro Dagupan today is like old Manila in the late 50’s and 60’s prior to the age of skyscrapers and flyovers. The center of the city are two busy traffic laden avenues, AB Fernandez and Perez blvd., similar to Quiapo or Rizal ave. As Manila of the 50’s was surrounded by small vibrant rural towns of Pasig, Pasay and others that comprise Metro Manila today, Metro Dagupan is linked closely to 9 nearby towns on the up, that form the new metropolis.
Along nine towns and Dagupan City, most routes are busy. To her north lies San Fabian, boasting of fine beaches, resort hotels with PTA tourism facilities, fine summer houses built along a scenic highway by the sea and up the hills of overlooking the gulf, with industrial facilities as oil depots and warehouses. To her east, lies the bustling town of Mangaldan, site of many warehouses as Nestle, Zuellig, Unilab and others, the old town of San Jacinto with a new town center built at an old plaza and the tourist town of Manaoag, where an old Dominican church, known as Shrine of the Miraculous Mother of the Holy Rosary, devotees and the sick from across the country go to pray and be healed. Nearby is a natural spring called the Virgin’s well, where water reportedly healed many sick and afflicted. Pyramid of Asia, built by faith healer Mr. Orbito, attracts many visitors and foreigners, with ailments for psychic healings. Camp Abat, sprawling army base, has been spruced up with newer facilities and buildings and renovated as possible transfer area for personnel displaced by sale of Fort Bonifacio. South of Metro Dagupan lies the bustling town of Calasiao where Sr. Divino Tesoro devotees make pilgrimages and pray. Multi-storey buildings have sprouted, as new car sales, service centers as Honda, Mitsubishi, Toyota and others do brisk business. Jollibee, the 6-storey Regency hotel, fine inns, eateries, new buildings, and stores line the junction of the new de Venecia bypass highway. Santa Barbara, home of La Tondena, is abuzz with young executives in Sen. Villar’s Palmeras and Wedgewood plush subdivisions, and low cost housing, as the Villa Sta. Barbara, fronts the provincial nursery, frequent site of the old LP and NP political conventions.
Towards Binmaley is a scenic drive through concrete highway, along cool views of fishponds, with quaint restaurants, oyster stalls, and colorful cottages built on banks of fishponds, and where two bridges, old and new, span a deep river with scenes of fishermen quietly casting nets from bancas. Mary Help of Christians seminary next to a 17th century Spanish church, an old town hall and a renovated busy town plaza and public market, carry the image of this parochial town. The road from Binmaley to Lingayen are many nice homes and furniture shops of fine crafted narra and tangile, crafted by local artisans. Lingayen, birthplace of former Pres. Ramos and many famous persons, rich in history, where once, Japanese Gen. Homma and Gen. McArthur landed their armies, is now busy with commerce. Rizal plaza, setting of many fiestas and balls is now crowded with shops, and a new Centromart mall on the way up. Fronting the centuries-old Lingayen Cathedral are many market stalls, Chow King, Jollibee, donut shops, mom and pop stores, popcorn, fruit stands and buildings. Stewart Church and other buildings are refurbished and built from old houses. Lingayen is known for exported tasty anchovies bagoong, or the pink shrimp fry alamang. The Capitol, the Princess Urduja house, the campus of Pang. State Univ., Malong and Justice Hall bldgs., century-old Sison auditorium, a small airport, and the sprawling Narciso Ramos sports complex frame the new Capitol park expanse by the gulf. Hotels, 24-hr. diners, schools facing the Capitol now line Maramba blvd. At Maniboc, bagoong magnates built plush homes. At Sucone, a new highway bridge, started by Pres. Ramos and inaugurated by Pres. Arroyo, crosses a huge new manmade river that effectively drain shoulder-deep flood waters to the Limahong channel, a landmark flood control project. Many other works are on-going with determined efforts to reduce floods that seasonally hurt Metro Dagupan.
Dagupan City, center of metropolis, home district of two great Speakers, Perez and de Venecia, has two major avenues, connected by busy streets filled with fine restaurants, stores, modern hotels, banks, many private and gov’t buildings. Magic mall and two CSI malls are built, one on the old public market, and another on earth-filled fishponds in Lucao, has along her streets, rows of stores and hardwares. Diners as Dagupena, Pedritos, Star Plaza, McDonalds, KFC, Shakeys, Goldilocks, video centers, new gas stations do brisk business. The 2-hectare plaza is bounded by a new church and an old Cathedral rebuilt by Archbishop Cruz, a renovated city hall and a park with a new museum built by former Mayor Fernandez. Mayor Lim has brick tiled a sidewalk and planted tall areca palm trees fronting CSI mall and the city hall, built a fountain, adding greenery and landscape. Communications are modern with TV, radio stations with PLDT and Digitel services and many local newspapers. Transport is easy with air-conditioned buses plying all points of Luzon and every 15 min. to Metro Manila by Dagupan, Victory Liner, Santrans, 5 Star, Mina’s buses and others. Many foreign and local students attend the three universities, many fine colleges and schools here, add to the population mix and lend cosmopolitan flair that make the city a busy educational center.Known for exquisite bangus, prawns, fresh seafoods, and fruits sold to many parts of the country and the world, the new metropolis combines modern living with rural rustic setting. From a miracle made in heaven and fashioned out on earth by a hardworking people with the sage leaderships of former Pres. Aquino, Ramos, Pres. Macapagal-Arroyo, Speaker de Venecia, the DPWH, gov’t, and private sectors, the city has grown by leaps and bounds to an attractive hub, beckoning to global companies, tourists and folks to come and see what former Pres. Cory Aquino once declared in 1994 that the metropolis is “like a Phoenix, rising from the rubble”. Barely 12 years after, Metro Dagupan has risen to greater heights with work, good and nice people and the charm of country living’s fresh air, wide open spaces and opportunities as an upscale urban center. Come and visit the city, to further know and relish a vibrant part of your country that rose and returned from the ruins and the rubble, by the power of the many modern miracles of our Lord.
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