Windows of old towns

Development requires a fee that small people like us have to pay in different forms, not only in cash. The road to Baguio, to those who have driven it in the past, is an example of how much we pay for development.

For getting to that lovely city up in Benguet province in haste, we pay the toll of three expressways — the 84-km North Luzon expressway (NLEx), Subic-ClarkTarlac Expressway (SCTEx), and the Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Expressway (TPLEx). That’s almost P600 one way.

For the convenience of driving through the beautiful expressways, development has closed the windows to the small towns along the way. Motorists will now miss many landmarks comitted to memory — old houses, familiar restaurants serving local cuisine, vendors selling local delicacies that have survived generations of taste, craftsmen working on woodwork, antique shops, fruits and vegetables, vinegar seasoned the traditional way, dried fish, and fruit preserves.

I call those products the “win- dows” of a town’s culture. After many years of cross-country drives while I was editor of Cruising magazine, I looked forward to the landscape colored by the products of a province. Those have become landmarks that tell where I am. On the way to the north, watermelons mark Bulacan province; bangus tinapa, its “stomachs” stuffed with crumpled newspaper to make them look bigger, mark the highway entering Tarlac. Incidentally, those are sold under giant kamachili trees, so when in season, vendors also sell its fruit that is shaped like a bracelet. Further down, the roadside vendors sell “aligue ng talangka.” When the “ber” months roll in, the colorful parols are the landmarks of Tarlac.

You know it’s Pangasinan when there’s a long row of stalls selling the same things — Iloko vinegar, garlic, small onions, bagoong in many forms, and a wide array of dried fish. When you stop for a break, vendors push under your nose bunches of “tupi” (a type of rice cake wrapped in banana leaves, and grilled for flavor). There’s an old lady who sells baskets of small ripe tomatoes and onions good for pickles, sitting in a gas station somewhere, and we always find her. If Ron de los Reyes is with the group, he always buys more than half of the basket.

Craftsmen working on woodwork are along the road leading out of Pangasinan up to La Union and their shops literally define the roads entering Benguet province. If you’re taking Marcos Highway, you won’t miss them. The “windows” open even wider as you drive deep into the Cordillera mountains. You will be charmed by the colorful designs on locally-woven cloth, woodworks of a tribe, and pieces of tribal art.

We were on the road to Baguio last weekend and so I was a little sad that my views now were only of corn and rice fields, mango plantations, and kilometers of cemented roads. After about 40 kms on the SCTEx, we drove straight into TPLEx — avoiding the usual terrible traffic in Tarlac City. But that also took us away from our favorite restaurant — the Isdaan in Gerona, Tarlac, a favorite stop on the way to the north. (Because we knew that, we had a full breakfast at Pancake House in the Petron Station at NLEx.)

Entering the new TPLEx gave us a very comfortable drive on one long straight highway that stretched from Tarlac to exit at a town near Villasis, Pangasinan. Driving out of the expressway, you find a T-intersection that will direct you to Villasis and Urdaneta on the left, and to the alternative route to Baguio on the right.

Although I had already said we won’t turn right and miss the towns, we followed the instinct to drive straight to Baguio and miss the usual traffic along the towns of Pangasinan. So we missed Matutina Restaurant in Urdaneta City, our favorite stop when we go to Manaoag.

Signs led us along two-lane highways winding through plantations and into the hearts of small towns, passing public markets and schools. Finally, we exited to Pozzorubio and followed the main highway to the town of Sison. There we stopped at a small restaurant to order lunch for 11 — and were surprised at the way the “good for two-person-servings” actually could feed about four. Thus, our table was laden with food we could not consume, especially since we were going through the twisty Kennon Road after lunch.

That restaurant turned out to be the only “local color” we had in the 250-km trip. The expressways and the alternate route had taken us away from the familiar places we used to stop for meals. The good thing about missing familiar sights though was arriving quite early in Baguio City, so we had much time to enjoy the rest of the day.

On the way back, I insisted on passing the usual highway just so we could eat at Matutina, buy some local food and fruits, and even pass by a house selling lanterns. In Pozzurubio, we resisted following the sign that would lead us to the “Alternate route to Manila” but further down the highway, we gave up. Traffic ahead was heavy, the old trees that looked like they were being prepared to be cut gave us a sad feeling, and traffic aides we asked for directions suggested we take the alternate route.

Again we drove through the neat highways, far away from the town centers where we could watch the townsfolk go about their day, view the old houses, and perhaps buy local ingredients that seem to taste better if they came from the north. Years ago, I remember the townsfolk strongly protesting government plans to build overpasses that would take travelers to the north away from the town centers. They had posters and billboards rejecting the plan, citing its effect on their local economy. Those overpasses never left the drawing board, and the local governments worked on improving traffic flow in their areas, even widening roads and installing traffic aides 24 hours a day.

Years later, and that is today, the expressways came and they’re leading travelers away from the town centers. Eventually, commerce will bloom along the new alternate routes. But that will be a long time from now.

Meanwhile, travelers like me will stare at agricultural landscape and eat food brought along for the trip. And restaurants and vendors along the old highways will rethink their means of livelihood.

That’s what people pay for development and the convenience of arriving in Baguio earlier.