My Top 10 Philippine Roman Catholic Churches

I am a great admirer of different beautiful architecture, and the Philippine churches are one of the few architecture that I admire. Whenever I go to different municipalities and cities around the country, I find ways to visit its town church and make some photo shoot. Aside from the different tourist destination on a certain municipality or city, I also visit its city/town hall, park and its town church.

So here are my top 10 favorites:

1. Calbayog Cathedral, Calbayog City, Samar Province
2. Holy Cross Church, Nabua, Camarines Sur
3. Naga City Metropolitan Cathedral. Naga City, Camarines Sur
4. St. John the Baptist Parish Church, Tabaco City, Albay
5. Taal Cathedral de San Sebastian, Taal, Batangas
6. Basilica Minore. Naga City, Camarines Sur
7. Caleruega Church, Nasugbu, Batangas
8. Paoay Church, Paoay, Ilocos Norte
9. St. Williams Cathedral, Laoag, Ilocos Norte
10. Vigan Cathedral, Vigan City, Ilocos Sur

Calbayog Cathedral, Calbayog City, Samar Province

Holy Cross Church, Nabua, Camarines Sur

Naga City Metropolitan Cathedral. Naga City, Camarines Sur

St. John the Baptist Parish Church, Tabaco City, Albay

Taal Cathedral de San Sebastian, Taal, Batangas

Basilica Minore. Naga City, Camarines Sur

Caleruega Church, Nasugbu, Batangas

Paoay Church, Paoay, Ilocos Norte

St. Williams Cathedral, Laoag, Ilocos Norte

Vigan Cathedral, Vigan City, Ilocos Sur

On my way home. Davao City to Camarines Sur.

For the past few days, me and my friends have visited some of the best destination in the CARAGA Region. We’ve visited a lot of beautiful places. I’m pretty sure I’m going back to this region to visit and explore other beautiful beaches, coves, islands, caves, waterfalls, et cetera. There are still a lot to visit in CARAGA Region. So far, we’ve visited the Surigao City’s Basul Island and Mapua Pebble Beach. We’ve also visited the Bucas Grande in Socorro. We also visited Hinatuan’s Enchanted River and Bislig City’s Tinuy-an Falls. We did a lot of adventurous stuff. We did a lot of funny things. Sumakay ng skylab or that habal habal na may katig. Madalas din kami naiiwan ng mga last trip ng bus so we always ended up looking for other means of transportation in order to reach our destination.

At Butuan City terminal

So now, tapos na ang bakasyon namin. My friends already left the beautiful island of Mindanao at bumalik na sila ng Manila. But for me, I still need to travel by land and by sea para makauwi sa bahay ko. So I started my travel back home sa Ecoland Terminal sa Davao City. I arrived at the terminal at around 9pm and since I still need to finish some online job, hindi muna agad ako sumakay ng bus at nagtrabaho muna ako online habang nasa bus terminal. There are lot of buses going in and out sa Ecoland Terminal. Pero sa oras na 9pm na, mga papuntang Butuan and Cagayan De Oro na lang ang karamihan na nakapark sa terminal.

Anyway, my plan was to ride a bus from Davao to Surigao City, and then from Surigao City, I’ll ride a ferry at the Lipata Port in Surigao City to Benit Port in San Ricardo town in Southern Leyte, and then from there I’ll ride another bus bound for Tacloban City, and then from Tacloban City I’ll ride a van bound for Allen, Northern Samar. However, at around past 9pm, there are no more bus bound for Surigao City, and there are only bus bound for Butuan. I said to myself that I’ll just ride the last bus for the evening that is bound for Butuan City and then from there, I’ll transfer to another bus bound for Surigao. The estimated travel time is 8 to 10 hours and I don’t want to arrive so early in the morning in Surigao City and that’s the reason I decided to just wait for the last bus bound for Butuan.

Bachelor bus terminal at Butuan City

So while at the terminal waiting for the last Butuan bound bus, another Bachelor bus parked at the other bus lane. Ang nakalagay sa bus signboard ay ORMOC. Oh, lucky me! A bus that will go straight to Leyte. So I just said to myself that I will just ride the bus bound for Ormoc para mabawasan na ang bus transfer na gagawin ko. So I rode the bus and it left the Ecoland Terminal at around 11pm. I paid around 690 pesos for the non-airconditioned bus. Yun ang pamasahe from Davao City to Sogod, Southern Leyte. Sa Sogod na lang kasi ko bababa kasi yun ang junction going to Tacloban and Ormoc. I just slept most of the trip kasi medjo kulang din yung tulog ko for the day. The bus arrived at Lipata Port in Surigao City at around past 10am. I was hoping na tinatarget nung bus driver na makahabol para sa 10am ferry  schedule ng Montenegro RORO pero hindi pala. Nagstopover pa kasi ito ng matagal sa Butuan City at nagstop over pa malapit sa port para maglunch break. And because we weren’t able to make it for the 10am ferry schedule. We then ended up waiting for the 2pm schedule.

Lipata Port, Surigao City

At the Lipata Port, I just surf the internet to kill time. There’s nothing much to do in Lipata Port. I was still sleepy and I was a little bit tired but I don’t want to sleep baka kasi maiwan ako ng barko.hehehe! There’s one thing that I observed sa pamasahe sa barko. Kung ang sinakyan mong bus ay isasakay sa RORO at tatawid ng ibang port, you have that option na ihiwalay na lang ang bayad mo sa ferry at huwag ipasama sa computation ng bus conductor. Pwede din naman na sabihan mo ang conductor na isama na sa babayaran mo sa bus fare yung charge ng ferry fare per person. But here’s one thing that makes me wonder, yung bayad ng ferry from Lipata port to Benit port in San Ricardo ay 140 pesos lang. Pero kung ipinasabay mo na ang bayad mo sa ferry sa bus conductor, sisingilin sayo ng conductor ay 210 pesos and that’s almost a 70 pesos difference. At ang ibibigay din na ticket ng shipping line sa conductor ay 210 pesos, at ang ticket na ito ay sya rin ibibigay ng conductor sa pasahero. So kung ikaw na lang ang pipila sa shipping line office, mas makakatipid ka ng 70 pesos. So I wondered kung para saan yung 70 pesos na patong. May komisyon ba ang conductor?  But anyway, hindi na ko nagtanong pa at bumalik na lang ako sa pagtulog sa barko.

Benit Port, San Ricardo town, Southern Leyte

Passengers lounge of Benit Port, San Ricardo town, Southern Leyte

After an hour and 20 minutes later, we arrived at Benit Port and the bus then continued its trip to Ormoc, but another unexpected stopover occurred. Nagkape muna ang bus driver and conductor sa Liloan. I was already getting worried because as I know, masyadong maaga ang mga last trip sa Leyte and I might end up na maiiwan na naman ng byahe from Sogod to Tacloban City. By the way, after we arrived at Benit Port, I saw these other Bachelor Bus that is bound for Tacloban and I told the driver na lilipat ako ng bus pero iniwan ako nung Tacloban bound bus kaya hindi na ko nakatransfer. Akalain mo, tinakbuhan ang pasahero. Tsk! Tsk! Anyway, I arrived at Sogod at around 5pm and as I expected wala ng bus at van papuntang Tacloban. I tried to ask around if there are buses at the Sogod-Liloan junction na dadaan papuntang Tacloban, but all locals said there’s none. So I just waited for the buses that will pass Sogod that are bound for Manila but the two buses na dumaan won’t allow passenger to ride their bus if the passenger is not bound for Manila. Lugi daw kasi sila kasi yung dapat upuan ng pasahero na papuntang Manila ay ibibigay na nila sa papuntang Camarines Sur lang. Kaya ang resulta, I ended up spending the entire evening at Sogod Terminal and just waited for the first trip of the van bound for Tacloban which is 4am.

Near Benit Port. I'm still 190 km away from Tacloban.

So ayun na, and that was already Wednesday. It was Monday evening when I left Davao City and I’ve been travelling for more than 24 hours now. So we waited for the van to reach its maximum seating capacity and by around 5am, we already left Sogod. The van has a seating capacity of 18 person na dapat sana 15 lang. I paid 150 pesos for the van fare and 2 hours later, we then arrived at Tacloban City. Hindi ko na nagawang magikot ikot pa sa Tacloban because I have that goal na makarating ng Camarines Sur before Thursday or that’s before 12midnight. Ala Cinderella lang.hahaha!

From Tacloban City, I rode a bus bound for Catbalogan City in Samar Province. It’s a 3 hour bus ride but if you’re riding in a van, it would only take 2 hours but it is 70 pesos more expensive. I only paid 80 pesos for the bus fare but for a van, it would cost 150 pesos. I arrived at Catbalogan City at 10am and I just took some pictures ng plaza nila and the provincial capitol of Samar province. After taking some pictures, I then proceeded to the van terminal bound for Calbayog City. Gusto ko na sanang dumiretso na ng Allen port but naisip ko na sayang naman kung hindi pa ko magikot ikot ng Calbayog City, which is 2 hours away from Allen town na lang. So I rode the van for Calbayog City and I paid 90 pesos. An hour and a half hour later, I finally arrived at Calbayog. Nagikot ikot lang ako sa town proper at pinicturan ang simbahan at city hall nila and then naghanap na ko ng sasakyan papuntang Allen but just my badluck, 1pm pa daw ang mga van. And it’s only 11:30am and I don’t want to waste time waiting for the van.

City plaza of Catbalogan City

The provincial capitol of Samar Province, Catbalogan City

So naghanap ako ng ibang paraan and there was a jeepney bound for Allen. Sumakay na ko sa jeepney kahit na alam ko na medjo mabagal na mode of transportation yun but at least hindi ko kailangan magsayang ng oras sa paghihintay. I paid 80 pesos for the jeepney but since medjo maaga pa, I decided na magdrop by muna ko sa Spice of Life Beach in Barangay Buenos Aires, Victoria town, Northern Samar, which is just a mere 15 minutes ride na lang going to Allen.

Calbayog City Cathedral

city hall of Calbayog City

Spice of Life Beach. a.k.a Spice Beach. Victoria, Northern Samar

Medjo matagal nga yung byahe ng jeep at napaidlip na din ako. It took around 2 hours bago nakarating yung jeep sa Victoria. Kung van, it would only take 1 to 1.5 hours of travel. Since the beach is just near the national highway, I don’t need to ride another vehicle. I just walk straight to beach and I was kinda tempted to swim but I don’t have that luxury of time. A few minutes later, after taking some beach shot, I left the beach and then rode a tricycle to Looc Port, Allen town. It’s just a 15 minutes tricycle ride and I only paid 15 pesos. By the way, there are two ports in Allen town. One is called Dapdap Port and the other one is Looc Port. But most passengers going to Matnog, Sorsogon or those bus going to Manila uses the Looc Port. It is much larger compared to Dapdap Port.

I left Looc Port at 4pm and I arrived at Matnog Port, Sorsogon at 5pm. The fare for all ferries plying the Matnog Port to Allen Port route are all the same at 120 pesos only. The travel time is 1 hour to 2 hours depending on the sea condition. From Matnog port, dumaan muna ko sa Matnog public market para magtanong tanong ng mga boat rate for Capul, San Antonio and San Vicente, which are towns in Northern Samar. May mga bumabyahe kasi na mga banka sa Matnog going to those towns.

ferry bound for Allen, Northern Samar. 

the busy Matnog Port, Sorsogon Province

finally! I'm back in Luzon

Tikling Island. You'll pass this island if you're bound for Allen or Matnog

After ko magtanong tanong ng information, I then rode another bus bound for Camarines Sur, and then after 4 hours of travel passing the province of Sorsogon and Albay, I finally reached CamSur. I then transferred to a motorcycle or habal habal para makarating na sa bahay. So I did reach my goal of arriving before 12 midnight or bago pa maging Thursday. So far, medjo nakakapagod yung byahe ko pauwi. It took me almost 2 days of travel para makarating ng bahay, from Davao City to Camarines Sur. Masasabi ko na isa yun sa the best travel experience ko. The longest travel so far. My CARAGA Trip was so worth it. Kahit nakakapagod, exciting pa rin. I covered 4 provinces in Eastern Visayas Region and 4 provinces in CARAGA Region. Sayang at kulang yung pera at oras ko. Sana nacovered ko rin yung Biliran province and Eastern Samar province para nakumpleto ko na ang buong Eastern Visayas Region. But anyway, there’s always a next time to visit another province. For now, I need to save again for those long vacations and I need to replenish my zero balance piggy bank.hahahah! Thanks for reading this verrrrrrrrrry long story.hahahah! Oh, hindi ba sumakit ang mga mata nyo?hahaha! Til next time!

My First-Hand Experience on the Samar and Leyte Transportation System

This month, I did the longest travel of my life, an eight day island hopping on the grandest scale. Why am I considering this an island hopping on the grandest scale? Well, it’s because I island hopped from the island of Luzon, to Samar Island, to Leyte Island and then to the island of Mindanao. Isn’t it grand right?hehehe! Anyway, a few days ago, I travelled from Camarines Sur all the way to Davao. Actually, hindi naman talaga diretso ng Davao ‘coz me and my friends visited some tourist destination in CARAGA Region before heading out to Davao City as our final destination. I travelled from Camarines Sur to Surigao City and it took me 1 and a half day for that travel. I started Wednesday morning at 7am and I arrived at Surigao City at around 2pm, Thursday. My return trip was way much longer because I travelled from Davao to Camarines Sur. I left Davao City on a Monday evening, 11pm, and I arrived at Camarines Sur at around 10pm Wednesday. I will also be making other entries for those travels and vacation in CARAGA Region and I will just focus here about my experience on the transport system in Samar and Leyte.

Ferry/RORO plying the route Matnog to Allen

First of all, there won’t be lots of pictures here, kaya kung picture ang hanap nyo, malamang madidisappoint kayo.hehehe! Anyway, to start with my stories, I travelled for 4 hours from Camarines Sur para makarating sa Matnog Port in Sorsogon Province. This port is the jump off point to Visayas. From Matnog, there are several ferries that ply the Matnog-Allen route. Allen is a town located in Northern Samar. There are two ports in Allen. One is called Looc Port and the other one is Dapdap Port. The Looc Port has more ferries operating on a daily basis compared to Dapdap Port. The two ports are just about several kilometers apart. I think more or less 3 to 4 kilometers. The Dapdap port is the port being used by Montenegro Shipping Line while the Looc Port is being serviced by Santa Clara Shipping Line and some other shipping companies. There are no fixed schedule for ferries servicing the Matnog Port and Allen Port. The ferries leaves whenever there are sufficient number of cargoes or trucks or buses that boarded their ships. According to one ship personnel, kahit daw madami na ang pasahero kung hindi naman daw puno ng truck and bus ang barko nila ay hindi naman daw agad sila umaalis.

Matnog Port, Matnog, Sorsogon

Matnog Port, Sorsogon Province

The travel time from Matnog to Allen is just 1 hour and the fare for all ferries/RORO is 120 pesos plus terminal fee of 11 pesos. By the way, the travel time also depends on the weather. If the sea is somewhat rough, it could take about 1.5 to 2 hours of travel. Upon arrival at Looc Port in Allen, you have several transport option to travel to different parts of Samar and Leyte Island. The Samar Island is comprised of 3 provinces, namely:  Northern Samar, Samar, and Eastern Samar. The Leyte Island is comprised of 2 provinces: Leyte and Southern Leyte. These two islands, Samar and Leyte, are linked by San Juanico Bridge. Another province is also linked to Leyte Island, and that province is Biliran. These provinces comprise the Eastern Visayas Region, or Region 8. O ayan, may konting geography lesson pa kunwari.hahaha!

Anyway, from Allen, or from Looc Port, you have several transport option to go to your destination in Region 8. You can either ride a passenger van, a jeepney or a bus. The fastest way of course is riding a passenger van. Unlike in some parts of the country, some of the passenger vans plying the Allen to Tacloban to Ormoc route doesn’t wait for the van to be on its full capacity. The seating capacity for most of the van is 15 passengers but they usually depart at the terminal when they have at least half of the seating capacity. In Allen, there are several van companies that have routes to the major cities in Region 8. These are: Duptours van, D’ Turbanada Transport, The Grand Tours, and Van Vans. These passenger vans have routes from Catarman, Northern Samar to Tacloban, Leyte. They also have trips from Allen to Calbayog, Calbayog to Catbalogan, Catbalogan to Tacloban, and they also have vans bound for Ormoc and Naval, Biliran Province. Compared sa ibang probinsya na puno na ang van bago umalis, these vans in Samar and Leyte doesn’t wait na mapuno ang van bago umalis ng terminal kaya pwede nyo din sila parahin and for sure kung may bakante hihintuan din kayo. The rates for these passenger vans vary. They don’t have the same rates, the other van companies has cheaper rates for some destination while some are much more expensive. You can ask them if you want to know their rates or you can ask the Iocals if they know the fare.

Nautical Highway

I wasn’t been able to get all the contact numbers for all the van companies. I only have the contact numbers for Grand Tours and D’Turbanada Transport. For Grand Tours, their contact numbers are (055) 300-2151 and +639177008071. Their last trip from Allen to Tacloban City is 5pm, but if there are less passengers that will travel to Tacloban, ginagawa ng driver hanggang Catbalogan City na lang sila and you’ll have to transfer to their van that has the Catbalogan City to Tacloban City route. For D’Turbanada, their contact numbers are: +639287891636 or 09064621145. The D’Turbanada van last trip to Tacloban from Catarman and passing Allen is 9pm. Most of these passenger vans, D’Turbanada, Grand Tours, Duptours and VanVans, have Toyota HiAce fleets kaya magkakahawig lang mga itsura nila. Lahat sila kulay puti lang. Ang pangalan lang sa harap at sa gilid ang magdidifferentiate kung anong kumpanya sila.

I’ve tried riding all those 4 passenger van companies and wala naman masyado pagkakaiba. But the Grand Tours are a bit more expensive compared to others but they also have a much more beautiful terminals compared to other van companies. If you’ll be travelling from Allen to Tacloban, then better ride a van because it is much faster but it is much more expensive compared to riding in a bus. The van travel time from Allen to Tacloban City is 5 to 6 hours and the fare ranges from 300 to 350 pesos. If you want a cutting trip, then you can ride a van from Allen to Calbayog City, which is about 1.5 hours of travel for 100 pesos, then ride another van from Calbayog City to Catbalogan City, which is about another 1.5 hours of travel for 80 pesos and then from Catbalogan, you can ride another van to Tacloban City, for a fare of 150 pesos and a travel time of 2 hours.

If you’re bound for Eastern Samar province and you’re coming from Allen, pwede kang bumaba sa Buray, that’s the junction going to Borongan, Eastern Samar. If you’re coming from Allen or Calbayog, the junction is about 20 to 30 minutes ride from Catbalogan City.

There are also buses and jeepneys connecting the different cities and provinces in Region 8. You can ride a bus from Allen to Tacloban but it could take you about 6 to 8 hours of travel. It’s a cheaper option but it would take much longer time to reach your destination since madaming stopover and laging pumipick-up ng pasahero ang mga bus. You can also ride a jeepney from Allen to Calbayog. Riding a jeepney could also take longer travel hours but it is somewhat cheaper. If you’ll be riding a van from Allen to Calbayog City, it would only take about 1.5 hours of travel but if you’ll be riding by bus or jeepney, it could take about 2 to 2.5 hours of travel.

From Allen, you can also ride those buses that are bound straight to Davao City. These are the buses na makakasabay mo sa ferry/RORO. These buses are from Manila that are bound for Surigao City or Davao City. Southern Leyte is also the jumpoff point to Mindanao.  You can ride a ferry at Liloan Port to Lipata Port, Surigao City or you can ride a ferry at Benit Port in San Ricardo town to Lipata Port, Surigao City. The route via Benit is much shorter. If you want to go to Lipata Port, ride a bus bound for Sogod town and then transfer to a mini bus or jeepney bound for Liloan. You can also ride a van at Tacloban terminal that is bound for Liloan. The travel time from Tacloban to Liloan is about 4 to 5 hours by bus and 3 to 3.5 hours by van.  The first trip of bus bound for Sogod, Baybay, Bato and Maasin is 3am. The travel time from Liloan Port to Lipata Port in Surigao City is 3 to 4 hours, depending on the sea condition.

Benit Port, San Ricardo, Southern Leyte

Passenger Lounge, Benit Port, San Ricardo, Southern Leyte

Montenegro Ship at Benit Port, San Ricardo

There’s a faster way to travel to Mindanao via Southern Leyte. The nearest port to Lipata Port is the Benit Port in San Ricardo. The travel time from Benit Port to Lipata Port is just about 1 to 1.5 hours and it is much cheaper compared to those ferries at Liloan Port.  To go to Benit Port in San Ricardo from Tacloban, you can ride a bus bound for San Ricardo or you can also ride a bus bound for Sogod, and then from Sogod, transfer to a mini bus bound for Benit, San Ricardo. The travel time for bus from Tacloban to Benit is 5 to 6 hours. The travel time from Sogod town to Benit, San Ricardo is about 2 to 2.5 hours. There are also passenger vans bound for Benit from Tacloban.

Passenger Lounge, Lipata Port, Surigao City

Lipata Port, Surigao City, CARAGA

Lipata Port, Surigao City

In most part of Leyte and Southern Leyte, the buses, vans and jeepneys last trip going to other town is as early as 5pm. So if you don’t want to be stuck at a certain town at ayaw mo matulog sa terminal at gasoline station, kagaya ng nangyari sa akin, be sure to catch the trip before 5 pm. You can also rent a motorcycle or habal habal but they’re going to charge you a little bit expensive. They call it pakyawan. You’ll have to pay for the seating capacity of the motorcycle, which is 3 to 5 passengers, plus you’ll need to pay for their return trip since they won’t get any passenger when returning to their town terminals.

There are also buses that are bound to Manila from Davao or Southern Leyte or Leyte but most of the time, they won’t allow you to ride the bus if you’ll be travelling to short distances only, that means travelling within Samar and Leyte islands only. Lugi daw kasi sila kasi yung uupuan mo daw ay pwede na nila ibigay sa mga pasahero na mapipick up nila na papunta ng Manila. Bachelor Bus has daily trips from Ormoc and Tacloban that are bound to Surigao City, Butuan City and Davao City. So that’s it pusit! Those are the information that I can share for you regarding the transport system in Samar and Leyte Islands.