Photos and story by Art G. Valenzuela HAVE you ever wondered why the famous Dagupan Bangus (sometimes called Bonoan Bangus) tastes deliciously different from the rest of those harvested elsewhere in the country (and, perhaps, in the entire world)? A few years ago, while I was having “Kilawen bangus” (milkfish…

Photos and brief story by Art G. Valenzuela THE MUSEUM (which is officially the Gregoria M. Rivera Memorial Library) used to be an old municipal jail that was constructed in 1657 as mentioned in the commemorative marker. The Ilocanos of old must have been giving the Spanish authorities a lot…

Photos and story by Art G. Valenzuela I have always imagined and dreamed about this place in my teen years in the 1950s when I saw images above the fold of a Manila-based newspaper of veteran bicycle marathoners of the old “Tour of Luzon” riding with great difficulty over the…

By Art G. Valenzuela   A SAILBOAT (paraw) at “Babaliwan” (today referred to as NBI-LTO area) with bags of salt from western Pangasinan is captured in this 1967 photo about to dock at a small wharf. This was a typical scene in that part of Dagupan City back in the…

By Art G. Valenzuela Not too long ago, I made this short visit to the beaches of Barangay Patar in Bolinao and captured its romantic sunset. A few minutes earlier, I captured the famous and majestic Bolinao Lighthouse, which is the second tallest lighthouse in the Philippines. It provides a…

Photos and text by Art G. Valenzuela With most of Mega Manila under MGCQ until April 4, one wonders where and how to spend the Holy Week. A favorite hideaway should be at a friend’s cottage on a beach or at whatever place where one can find inner peace of…

Photos and additional narratives by Art G. Valenzuela This is one historic place that only a few Filipino tourists had visited. This was the site of a fierce battle for the control of Cagayan Valley northwest of the Philippines (gateway to Japan) during World War II. The battle was fought…

By Art G. Valenzuela THE photos in this album were taken by Marcial S. Valenzuela, a veteran Philippine photojournalist between 1927 and 1968 with The La Vanguardia, Philippine Free Press, The Manila Times, The Daily Mirror and Taliba. Valenzuela (a native born son of Mangatarem, Pangasinan) who was recipient of…

By Art G. Valenzuela The “Mag-aatip.”(Nipa roof repairman) THEY are a vanishing tribe as most roofing today are made of galvanized sheets or concrete. “Mag-atip” is a “neck-breaking” job as you have to keep your head in an upright position as you file the thatches on top of each other,…