The Bicol Region, designated as Region V, is an administrative region of the Philippines. It comprises six provinces, four on the Bicol Peninsula : Albay, Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur, and Sorsogon, and two off the shore: Catanduanes and Masbate.
Camarines Sur, officially the Province of Camarines Sur, is a province in the Philippines located in the Bicol Region on Luzon. Its capital is Pili and the province borders Camarines Norte and Quezon to the northwest, and Albay to the south. To the east lies the island province of Catanduanes across the Maqueda Channel.
Legazpi, officially the City of Legazpi, is a 1st class component city and capital of the province of Albay, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 209,533. Legazpi is the regional center and largest city of the Bicol Region and in Albay, in terms of population. It is the region's center of tourism, education, health services, commerce and transportation in the Bicol Region. The city is applying for a Highly Urbanized City (HUC).
The Philippine National Railways (PNR) is a state-owned railway company in the Philippines which operates one commuter rail service between Laguna and Quezon, and local services between Sipocot, Naga and Legazpi in the Bicol Region. It is an attached agency of the Department of Transportation.
Naga, officially the City of Naga, or the Pilgrim City of Naga, is a 1st class independent component city in the Bicol Region. According to the 2020 census, Naga has a population of 209,170 people. The most populous in Camarines Sur and the second most populous following Legazpi City in Albay.
Camaligan, officially the Municipality of Camaligan, is a 4th class municipality in the province of Camarines Sur, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 25,036 people. Camaligan rapidly became an urban town during the 1990s.
Canaman, officially the Municipality of Canaman is a 3rd class municipality in the province of Camarines Sur, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 36,205 people. Canaman is known for its upscale shopping, heritage which dates back to Spanish era, and its new first class housings.
Gainza, officially the Municipality of Gainza, is a 5th class municipality in the province of Camarines Sur, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 11,584 people, making it the least populated municipality in the province.
Goa, officially the Municipality of Goa, is a 1st class municipality in the province of Camarines Sur, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 71,368 people.
Pili, officially the Municipality of Pili is a 1st class municipality and capital of the province of Camarines Sur, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 99,196 people.
Rail transportation in the Philippines is currently used mostly to transport passengers within Metro Manila and provinces of Laguna and Quezon, as well as a commuter service in the Bicol Region. Freight transport services once operated in the country, but these services were halted. However, there are plans to restore old freight services and build new lines. From a peak of 1,100 kilometers (680 mi), the country currently has a railway footprint of 533.14 kilometers (331.28 mi), of which only 129.85 kilometers (80.69 mi) are operational as of 2024, including all the urban rail lines. World War II, natural calamities, underspending, and neglect have all contributed to the decline of the Philippine railway network. In the 2019 Global Competitiveness Report, the Philippines has the lowest efficiency score among other Asian countries in terms of efficiency of train services, receiving a score of 2.4, and ranking 86th out of 101 countries globally. The government is currently expanding the railway network up to 1,900 kilometers (1,200 mi) by 2022 through numerous projects.
Metropolitan Naga was a metropolitan area in the Bicol Region of the Philippines that consisted of the city of Naga and its 14 neighboring municipalities in Camarines Sur. The metropolitan area, which was managed by the Metro Naga Development Council, also included Pili, the capital of the Camarines Sur, and covered most of the 3rd district of the province and part of its 1st, 2nd, 4th and 5th districts. Metro Naga comprised about 40% of the total population of the province while covering 22.9% of its area.
Our Lady of Peñafrancia is an image of the Blessed Virgin Mary. A Marian image is permanently enshrined in the Minor Basilica of Our Lady of Peñafrancia in Naga, Camarines Sur.
Jesse Manalastas Robredo was a Filipino politician who served as 23rd Secretary of the Interior and Local Government in the administration of President Benigno Aquino III from 2010 until his death in 2012. Robredo was a member of the Liberal Party.
24 Oras Bikol, formerly Baretang Bikol, is a Philippine television news broadcasting show broadcast by GMA Bicol. Anchored by Elmer Caseles, it premiered on September 17, 2012 replacing Bicolandia Isyu Ngonian. It was simulcasted in TV-7 Naga, TV-12 Legazpi, TV-8 Daet, TV-2 Sorsogon, TV-7 Masbate and TV-13 Catanduanes.
DWGA-TV is a television station in Sorsogon City, Philippines, airing programming from GMA Manila and GMA Naga. Owned and operated by the network's namesake corporate parent, the station maintains transmitter facilities atop Mt. Bintacan, Brgy. Maalo, Juban, Sorsogon.
The KiHa 35 series (キハ35), along with the similar KiHa 30 and KiHa 36 series, are Japanese diesel multiple unit (DMU) train types formerly operated by the Japanese National Railways (JNR) and JR Group of companies, and later operated by the private railway operators Kanto Railway and Mizushima Rinkai Railway. They were built from 1961 until 1966, and were widely used around Japan. Most units were withdrawn in 2012 with the exception of those used by private railways, which remained in service. Some were later operated by Philippine National Railways on Bicol Commuter Train since 2015, and on Metro South Commuter services since 2017.
Camaligan River Park, also known as Camaligan Wharf, is a linear park in Camaligan, Camarines Sur, Philippines. Located beside the Bicol River, it is the only park being built inside the municipality of Camaligan.
The PNR South Main Line is one of the two trunk lines that form the Philippine National Railways' network in the island of Luzon, Philippines. It was opened in stages between 1916 and 1938 by the Manila Railroad. Services peaked in the 1940s until the late 1960s, when the system started to decline. Since 1988, it was the only functioning inter-city rail after its counterpart to the north, the North Main Line, was closed. The intercity section of the line in Laguna, Quezon and the Bicol Region was then closed and reopened repeatedly between 2004 and 2014 due to a combination of declining ridership and was closed since then. Currently, only a little more than half of line is operational as the line currently serves two commuter services, namely the Inter-Provincial Commuter from San Pedro to Lucena and the Bicol Commuter regional rail service between Sipocot, Naga Camarines Sur and Legazpi Albay, following the closure of the main line, the PNR Metro Commuter Line between Tutuban station and Laguna.
The COVID-19 pandemic in the Bicol Region is part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. The virus reached the Bicol Region on March 27, 2020, when the first case of the disease was confirmed in Albay.
