Santiago Things to Do

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Santiago is basically an agricultural land. Most of the people of Santiago are farmers. The residents plant rice during the rainy season (June-November) and plant tobacco during the dry season (December-May).

Most of the farmers raise the rice plants only for their household consumption. It is very rare that farmers have over production of rice. They are subsistence farmers.

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Pancit is one of the most popular Filipino food. It is basically rice noodles cooked and sauteed in different kinds of vegetables (carrots, cabbage, bell pepper, celery, onions and garlic with shredded chicken meat and pork) and seasoned with salt, soy sauce, pepper and fish sauce. It is garnished with green onions and calamansi.

Lechon is a roasted pork (a whole pig) over low fire. It is a very popular dish in the Philippines.

A whole pig, about 40-80 lb,s is usually roasted and pinned on a rod or a bamboo and roasted over low fire until the skin becomes brown and crunchy. The cavity of the pig is stuffed with some herbs and spices. It is served on weddings, birthdays, and other parties.

Karrot is a staple in some of the small villages (actually called "barangays", the smallest political unit) in Santiago especially those located close to the mountains. When I was growing up, a group of villagers climb the mountain to go and gather this tuber. They then clean it up in the stream and bring tuber back home in their baskets wrapped in banana leaves.

The tuber when cleaned is white in color but when cooked, the color changes into yellow color. It is cooked in a little bit of oil and salt is added on it.

It is basically a substitute for rice during the rainy days (May-August- take note, not the whole season, this tuber is available).

Sometimes when there are many tubers, some of the farmers go around carrying baskets to sell them. It is very rare to see this tuber sold in stores or in wet market because it only comes in season!

When you have the opportunity, try this tuber!

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Santiago has one of the finest beaches in Ilocos region. The sand is white and soft while the water is warm. There are many beaches found in Santiago but the best is found in Sabangan, about three miles away from the town proper of Santiago. The lagoon is mint green with the backdrop of the mountain on the side surrounded by coconut trees. Sabangan beach is good for swimming while the rest of the beaches found in Santiago are best for snorkelling.

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Sometimes, early in the morning, you see a group of residents assisting in the pulling of the fish net that were drawn by the fishermen the night before. The pulling of the fishnet is hard but it takes a village to pull! It takes a long time to catch fish the old ways!

This is seasonal but some fishermen in Sabangan beach catches "bangus" (white-silvery fish) fry on the shore and they put these fish fry on pails and basins. They in turn sell this to a local middle man. The bangus fry is exported to Taiwan for fish farms! You might see these fishermen counting their catch of the day on the shores.b The fish fry are so tiny that it is hard to see them let alone catch them!

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It is fun to drive a tricycle around the beaches. Tricycle is a mode of transportation in most of the towns and cities in the Philippines. A carriage is attached to the motorcyle and it can accommodate at least three passengers inside the carriage and another passenger at the backseat of the tricycle driver. The carriage has a roof on it and the seats are padded for comfort...The tricycles are registered with the Department of Motor Vehicles so most of the drivers are licensed to do this for business. Most drivers own and operate their tricycles and it is a source of income of some families in the villages, towns and cities. When I was 12 years old, my brother Nestor taught me how to maneuver a tricycle. Since that was eons ago, there was no traffic then. Now, you can still drive a tricycle but you have to be careful.Plus you need a driver's license!

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The sand of Sabangan beach is really very soft. When I was young, my cousins and I would come to Sabangan and bury ourselves in the sand. We lay down on the sand at night and watch the bright stars at night. We also make sand castles or get a stick and write our names on the wet sand!