Philippines
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Banaue rice terraces (Batad village) |
The Republic of the Philippines compromises of over 7,000 islands and rocks in the Pacific Ocean and South China Sea. It has a total area of 300,000 km2. The 11 largest islands-Luzon, Mindanao, Samar, Negros, Palawan, Paney, Mindoro, Leyte, Cebu, Bohol, and Masbate-contain about 95% of the total land area.
The Philippines were ceded from Spain to the US in 1898 following the Spanish-American War. They attained their 
independence in 1946 after being occupied by the Japanese in World War II. The Philippines is governed under the constitution of 1987. The president, who is both chief of state and head of the government, is elected by popular vote for a six-year term.
The climate is tropical marine; northeast monsoon (November to April); south- west monsoon (May to October). The terrain is mostly mountainous with narrow to extensive coastal lowlands.
Natural resources are timber, crude oil, nickel, cobalt, silver, gold, salt, copper. Nonmetallic minerals include rock asphalt, gypsum, asbestos, sulfur, and coal. Limestone, adobe, and marble are quarried, and petroleum is mined.
The religion is 83% Roman Catholic, 9% Protestant, 5% Muslim, 3% Buddhist and other. The offical national language is Philipino, a form of Tagalog. A considerable number of Filipinos speak English, the nation’s second language.
Sariaya
Although Sariaya is only two hours away from Manila, it is able to keep its charm and be reminiscent of the old Philippines molded by its colonial past. Sariaya, a town in the Quezon Province has a population of 116,000, is engaged mainly in coconut and vegetable farming. To the north of the town stands Mount Banahaw, which nurtures various natural resources to provide Sariaya with food, water and livelihood. To the south is the Tayabas bay which provides spectacular sunrises, which makes the beaches a popular place to visit.
Each year Sariaya celebrates the Agawan Festival, where townspeople decorate their houses with vegetables, which passersby grab or on Tagalog “aagawin”.
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One of the oldest mansions in Sariaya |
Sariaya is home to a 400-year-old Christian community, with a 250-year-old St Francis of Assisi church.
Between 1919 and 1930 , the town’s coconut industry prospered, many prominent
families in the area that made their wealth from their coconut plantations. These families built large mansions, some of which still stand today. The government has been in negotiations with the families to makes the mansions into museums.
Links
Hotels in Resorts near Sariaya
http://www.geocities.com/TheTropics/Shores/4401/resorts.html
Filipino recipes
http://search.about.com/fullsearch.htm?meta=rs1&terms=Filipino+Food+Recipes
Sariaya, Quezon
By Cezar V. Obnial
Our town of Sariaya is situated in the southern part of Luzon Island. Through generations up until today, the local officials have maintained a very provincial town of a non-commercial, non-industrial but mostly agricultural status. They have an abundance of coconut trees, variety of fruit trees and rice fields in every barrio you past. The town people enjoy their market (swap meet) days on Wednesday and Sundays, where merchants from different places will convene to the market place to do commercial business. Fresh fish and seafood vendors from the nearby ocean side comes in the early mornings. You have to commute into the neighboring towns or city to buy other commodities and dry goods. The main products are rice, cocoa, and abundant of coconut for export.
The town is located 6 miles west of Mount Banahaw with its sloping downhill terrain into the ocean 10 miles further west. Bolder of rocks are very visible along the riverbed as a result from the eruption of Mount Banahaw in 1743. Nowadays visitors will go hiking the 5 triangular miles to the mid slope of Mount Banahaw and explore its wonder of 4,000 ft. elevation that overlooks into the entire valley and surrounding town aside from forestry. It is comparable to a virgin forest, a potential Jurassic Park, with cascading water streams where the 40 degrees natural cold spring water is constantly flowing. They have developed a man made swimming pool at the foot of the mountain. One will need no ice to cool their beverages by simply leaving them under the water for minutes while swimming and hiking goes on. The natural spring and a dam is the town water supply, though it needs upgrading for its growing demand. Going down west of the town is called “ibaba” and going up east is called “ilaya”. When you go south it is called “kanluran” and going north will be “hilaga”. As history tells, there exists an Acacia tree over four hundred years old and has become the marker as a main stream of the town majestically standing in front of the old church by the provincial road as you enter Sariaya. You may want to experience the beautiful beach resorts by the ocean for a picnic, excursions, overnight stay or simply for a relaxing mood.
Last September 1999, we celebrated our 400 years of existence. We’ve been given recognition and honor to be included in the commemorative stamp of the Philippines. During the month of May 15th every year, they will celebrate San Isidro festival called “Agawan” where people dressed up in different fruit and vegetable outfits and floats, merrily dancing or parading on the streets headed by the band and at the end of the procession with the patron saint San Isidro. It is a harvest time celebration. All houses where the parade would pass by are elaborately decorated with vegetables, fruits such as bananas, mangoes, pineapples, etc. homemade candies and different food to be given away to people during the parade- “Agawan” (to grab your own choice of goodies) will then commence at the end of the procession.
Our Sariaya Association of California, founded in 1985, is very active in promoting our Filipino culture and inheritance. Like any other association, we also give aid and help to our kababayan in Sariaya. Last January 2002, our Medical mission was a success. We are proud to be Filipino-American. There are lots of things to be thankful on this promise land of America.
The Sariaya Association of California
By Philip-John C. Muñoz
Since the Organization's founding in 1985, the very essence of its humanitarian mission has been to provide aide and hope to people with less fortunate life circumstances than that of its members. The organization started with a base of 12 very devoted families, and has 
since expanded to include over 140 families across California. The group has been guided by the premise that to truly change the world, a great place to start would be one's own backyard. As a majority of its members and supporters come from very humble beginnings, the group is united in the effort to provide any assistance and support it can to those who, through no fault of their own, have not been so fortunate to have access to certain opportunities that could better their lives.
Starting in 1998, the Association incepted a bold and ambitious mandate; the main focus of the group's efforts was redirected towards mustering support and resources to carry out medical missions in various provinces in the Philippines once every other year. Generations of economic and political turmoil and uncertainty have left a vast majority of Filipinos with very limited or non-existent resources. Since most 
families spend the little that they have on basic sustenance, it is not hard to fathom that even the most basic levels of healthcare is beyond the reach of most families. Through the years, with the support from various organizations and generous community members, the association has been able to bring various forms of medical aid to poverty stricken communities.
With every passing mission, as interest and devotion to the cause grows, so too does the scale of their humanitarian projects. Their latest and largest Medical-Surgical Mission was held this past summer (2006) in cooperation with a Memphis-based charitable organization, FilAM-Memphis. The volunteer force consisted of an international assembly of medical professionals and dozens of families who donated their time and personal resources to travel abroad. The mission lasted from June 19 through 23, during which the group set up a number of makeshift medical centers in different communities to provide free check-ups, prescription medicine, and medical supplies. In cooperation with local medical centers, the group was able to provide over 240 surgical operations (including hernia, cleft palate, goiter, and cataracts) at no cost to the patients. To best 
distribute the mission's finite resources, all surgical patients participated in a screening process that determined their respective levels of need; operations were accorded to individuals most unlikely to be able to afford the procedure. In the end, there were a total of 77 major surgical operations, 170 minor surgeries, and over 2,600 general medical patients.
The members of the Association are deeply grateful to every individual and organization that have contributed any time or resources that have helped its goals come to fruition. The Sariaya Association of California will continue to persevere onward...
