Nueva Vizcaya Province, Philippines

By James Barcelona

Tourist Attractions 

Capisaan Cave

Capisaan Cave in Kasibu  is the 5^th longest cave in the Philippines at 4.2 kilometers. It is considered as a geologist’s paradise. The subterranean river in this cave has a length of 4.2 kilometers from the Lion Entrance (named as such because the rock looks like an image of a lion). It is a bit like the cave of Puerto Princesa Underground River which is 70% filled with water. There, you can find rare kinds of calcite formations. It has chambers and tunnels that have unique stalagmites, stalactites, rock formations, and other speleothems.

Capisaan Cave

Mt. Pulag National Park

Mt. Pulag National Park is the third highest mountain in the Philippines. It is Luzon’s highest peak at 2,922 meters above sea level. The borders between the provinces of Benguet, Ifugao, and Nueva Vizcaya meet at the mountain's peak

Nueva Vizcaya is a province of the Republic of the Philippines located in the Cagayan Valley Region in Luzon. The province accounts for 16.30 percent of the total land area of the region. It is composed of 1 congressional district and 15 municipalities with Bayombong as its capital.

A wide swath of the province is occupied with forest land, agricultural areas and grasslands. Because of this, it does not come as a surprise that Nueva Vizcaya is an ideal site for extensive agricultural activity. The main crops of the province are rice, corn, vegetables, pineapple, banana, coffee, coconut, oranges and other fruit trees.

In terms of natural reserves, Nueva Vizcaya faces a bright future in mining industry. Deposits of metallic minerals which can be exploited in the province are copper, gold, molybdenum and pyrite. Non-metallic deposits include red clay, white clay and limestone. Sand and gravel are the most abundant deposits in the province.

The province’s name was derived from the Spanish province, Vizcaya, in the Basque Country. The early settlers of Nueva Vizcaya were the Ilongots or Bugkalot, Igorots, Ifugaos, Isinays and the Gaddangs. Traces of the culture and customs of these early settlers can still be seen in the province.

Bayombong, the capital of Nueva Vizcaya, lies approximately 268 kilometers north of Metro Manila and can be reached by land via the Cagayan Valley Road or Maharlika Highway. When you visit Bayombong, you will see the streets lined with vendors selling citrus fruits like oranges, honey dew, sweet ponkan and red chandler pomelo. But if you want to buy in wholesale, you can go to Nueva Vizcaya Agricultural Terminal in the town of Bambang.

There are other interesting attractions in Bayombong such as the bricked-walled 17^th century St. Dominic Cathedral with its octagonal bell tower. Adjacent to this church is the People’s Museum and Library which showcases the rich heritage of the indigenous groups of Nueva Vizcaya.

The municipality of Kapaya is known as the summer capital and "vegetable bowl" of the region.

You won’t find a single beach in Nueva Vizcaya. But you’ll quickly forget about its lack of sand and sea because of its natural attractions.

 Nueva Vizcaya is indeed a perfect eco-tourism destination as it has preserved so much of its caves, mountains, highlands and wildlife.