Almagro Island

Almagro, Samar
Almagro is located in the province of Samar, Philippines with a
population of roughly 11,000.

The most famous dance in Almagro is Kuratsa, because of the influence

of the Spaniards that controlled the municipality for 330 years. They held
their occasions on the newly constructed Covered Court in Brgy.
Poblacion.

Their Fiestas and Charter Days are the days where many ...

people would come to Almagro to witness different activities held on the

island. People in Almagro are often seen wearing sando because of the hot
weather and the sea breeze on the island.

The only one means of access to Almagro is by motorboat from the port of
Calbayog City, taking usually up to 2 hours of travel.

After Sto. Nino, my friends group of engineers and officials (w/ me the kibitzer, of
course) moved on to survey the island-town of Almagro. You may want to see this map
of this whole island hop.

Going there however, our boat had to skirt a bit of the island of Sto. Nino to reach a
village named Barangay Baras as there were 2 ladies in our group that needed to visit
for some official service. I realized this is how they do it in remote islands it doesnt
matter to them if its a Sunday. What matters most is if there is a way to reach these
places. And our boat was occasion enough! Hey, I overheard most of the folks in the
boat were appreciative of this barangay. They were saying that many houses here are
relatively bigger and made of concrete compared to the town center where we just
came from.

The reason? They say there are many girls here who are married to foreigners! And
they even joked that many mothers in this barangay sternly watch how their lasses learn
the English language to ensure they later marry foreigners hahaha!

Anyway, after Sto. Nino, we headed towards the main island-town of Almagro. Ah, that
island-mountain in the distance? That is already the island of Maripipi in the province of
Biliran. See map to check where on earth that is!

Saw the map? Our boat went surveying (a la reconnaissance hehe) along those eastern
shores of Almagro. I think they were looking for a probable landing area where heavy
equipment can be debarked from a barge to start the construction (or is that re-
construction) of a circumferential road on the island. Since they did not actually get off
this boat (we just kept going along the shores and back), I did not have a chance to set
foot on this main island of Almagro, Samar. But, I did observe there are interesting
coves, beaches, ridges, etc., along the shores of this island. And the waters? Not much
different from Sto. Nino, meaning clear green youd think its shallow because you can
see everything down the bottom! And clean if I really have to mention that.

These are islands that have not been beaten by the tourist or commercial trades (yet),
though I think have a whole lot of potential. Who knows, my friends project (road?)
might be the start of all those crazy things crazy people like us craze about. Mind you, I
asked my friend and some of the folks with us, they tell me diving and snorkeling are
just a part of the many wonders on this island. Wow! And I think that last village I saw is
named Costa Rica! Calm down, we are not in South America hehe, were just in Samar!

Anyway, after some going back and forth along that shoreline, they decided the boat
should proceed to the last and final stop another nearby island named Kerikite, still
part of Almagro. I find that name amusingly ticklish, I dont know why hehe. But the
roamer in me got all the more excited because, I knew we were going to set foot on that
island. And friend told me we were even going to have lunch there. Now that got me
even ecstatic lunch, rural style of course!
The first road numbering system in the Philippines was adopted in 1930 by the administration of
President Manuel Quezon, and was very much similar to U.S. Highway numbering system. Portions
of it are 70 roads labeled Highway 1-Highway 60. Some parts of the numbering system are Admiral
Dewey Boulevard (Highway 1), Calle Manila (Highway 50) and 19 de Junio (Highway 54).
In 1945, the Metropolitan Thoroughfare Plan was submitted by Quezon City planners Louis Croft
and Antonio Kayanan which proposed the laying of 10 Radial Roads, which purposes in conveying
traffic in and out of the City of Manila to the surrounding cities and provinces, and the completion of
6 Circumferential Roads, that will act as beltways of the city, forming altogether a web-like arterial
road system.[3] The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) is the government agency
that deals with these projects.[1]

The Jose Rizal Memorial Monument in Rizal Park is the Kilometer Zero of all the roads in the City of Manila.

The road numbering for Radial Roads are R(Radial Road)-1 up to R-10. The radial roads never intersect
one another and they do not intersect circumferential roads twice; hence they continue straight
routes leading out from the city of Manila to the provinces. The numbering is arranged in a counter
clockwise pattern, where in the southernmost is R-1 and the northernmost is R-10. The
Circumferential Roads are numbered C(Circumferential Road)-1 to C-6. The innermost beltway in the city is C-
1, while the outermost is C-6.

Radial roads[edit]
There are ten (10) radial roads that serves the purpose of conveying traffic in and out of the city of
Manila to the surrounding cities of the metropolis and to the provinces, numbered in a counter
clockwise pattern.[4] All radial roads starts at kilometre zero, which is, the Jose Rizal Memorial
Monument in Rizal Park.[5][6]