Dalungan Beach (photo source: casiguran-aurora.blogspot.com)

The intrepid traveler sometimes longs for a destination so off the beaten track to enjoy the exquisite pleasures of solitude in the embrace of nature.  Such a spot under the sun is Casiguran, a town originally part of the province of Nueva Vizcaya.  Here, the crystal waters of Casiguran Sound offer an ideal romping ground for surfing, windsurfing, snorkeling, and scuba diving.

But as progress breaks through the provincial idyll, this remote town, 355 kilometers north of Manila, has recently completed its breakout from isolation when an air-conditioned passenger bus made the first direct trip to Pasay City, while another bus took a reverse course.

Now, there are two trips, both ways, at 1 a.m. and 3 a.m, costing P600 per passenger one-way. A one-way trip takes 12 hours, but will be shorter by at least two hours when the Casiguran Road and the Pantabangan-Villa Aurora Road have been completely cemented by next year.           

While other residents in the countryside might dismiss this as just as making a mountain of a molehill, Casiguranins and residents of nearby towns are nevertheless glad of this development because of the extreme difficulty in getting transportation out of the province          
Before, Casiguran residents would just go to Baler, the capital town which is 120 kilometers away, for trade and for education.  The farthest they would venture into was Cabanatuan City in Nueva Ecija.           

Mayor Reynaldo Bitong hailed the direct Metro Manila travel as one of the fruits of the establishments of the freeport and special economic zone in the suburb of this town which is being set up by the Aurora Pacific Economic Zone Authority (Apeza).           

“Because of Apeza the Baler-Casiguran road improvement is being undertaken,” Bitong said.           

Genesis Transport Service Inc. inaugurated the direct Metro Manila-Casiguran trips because the economic zone has generated interest among investors and tourists, bringing in a growing number of visitors to this town.           

Land travel to Baler and Cabanatuan, often disrupted by landslides and bad weather, were serviced by two other bus companies and “for hire” private vans. There is no fixed time for departure as the vehicles would depart only when they are full, making early birds wait for an hour or two. Often, passengers would jostle to get the better seats in the non-air-conditioned buses.           

These vehicles have to go through rutted, rough roads, 70 percent of which is paved with gravel and sand only. It was only recently that the roads from Casiguran to Baler and to Cabanatuan are being cemented due to the efforts of Sen. Edgardo J. Angara, who has opened Aurora not only to Metro Manila but to Quirino, Nueva Vizcaya and Isabela, as well.          

The road from here to Baler is being improved due to the economic zone to attract capitalists. Angara recently got the Korean Export-Import Bank to give a $58.9-million (P2.9 billion) official development assistance to finance the completion of the improvement of this road.           

The senator from Baler also had 11 modern bridges built to replace the dilapidated wooden spans over rivers and stream which had none.        

Mayor Bitong is optimistic that trade and commerce will flourish in this town now that Metro Manila is no longer that hard to go to for business and education.