Albay, officially the Province of Albay, is a province in the Bicol Region of the Philippines, mostly on the southeastern part of the island of Luzon. Its capital is the city of Legazpi, the regional center of the whole Bicol Region, which is located in the southern foothill of Mayon Volcano.
The Bicol Region, commonly shortened to Bicol and designated as Region V, is an administrative region of the Philippines. Also referred to as Bicolandia, 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, in terms of population. It is the region's center of tourism, education, health services, commerce and transportation in the Bicol Region.
The Philippine National Railways (PNR) is a state-owned railway company in the Philippines which operates one commuter rail service between Metro Manila and Laguna, 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, Spanish: Ciudad de Nueva Cáceres, or the Pilgrim City of Naga, is a 1st class independent component city in the Bicol Region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 209,170 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.
Bicol University, also referred to by its acronym, is a regional state, research and coeducational higher education institution in Legazpi City, Albay, Philippines, with external campuses scattered throughout the provinces of Albay and Sorsogon. BU is an ISO 9001:2008 certified public university.
PBN Broadcasting Network, Inc. is a Philippine media network. Its corporate office is located at the 3rd floor, Eesan Bldg., #32 Quezon Ave., Quezon City.
DWNXRMN Naga is a radio station owned and operated by the Radio Mindanao Network. The station's studio and transmitter are located at the RMN Broadcast Center, Maharlika Highway, Brgy. Del Rosario, Milaor.
DWAI-TV is a television station in Naga, Camarines Sur, Philippines, airing programming from the GMA network. It is owned and operated by the network's namesake corporate parent alongside GTV outlet DZDP-TV and DWQW. All GMA Naga stations share studios and transmitters at the GMA Broadcast Complex, Concepcion Pequeña, Naga City.
Bicol express, known natively in Bikol as sinilihan, is a popular Filipino dish which was popularized in the district of Malate, Manila but made in traditional Bicolano style. It is a stew made from long chili peppers or small chili peppers, coconut milk/coconut cream, shrimp paste or stockfish, onion, pork, ginger and garlic. The dish was termed by Laguna resident, Cely Kalaw, during a cooking competition in the 1970s in Malate, Manila. The name of the dish was inspired by the Bicol Express railway train that operated from Tutuban, Manila to Legazpi, Albay. The widely-known name for this dish in the Bicol Region of the Philippines was identified as gulay na may lada, which is currently one of the vegetarian variants of the Bicol express dish. As time progressed, variants of the Bicol express dish expanded with seafood, beef, pescatarian, vegetarian, vegan, and other versions. The preparations for these dishes vary according to the meat present within the dish. In terms of nutritional value, the original version of the Bicol express dish is beneficial in protein but unhealthy in regards to its high levels of saturated fats and cholesterol. The dish has moved into food processing and commercial production so that it can be sold conveniently and stored for a longer period of time.
Ako Bicol Political Party (AKB) is a political party in the Philippines participating in the party-list elections in the Philippines. It represents the Bicol Region and the Bicolano people. In the 2016 elections, AKB was the top partylist with 1,664,975 votes, earning it 3 seats in Congress.
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.
The PNR 900 class is a class of 21 GE Universal Series diesel–electric locomotives operated by the Philippine National Railways since 1973. The locomotives comes with three different types: U14CP (1973), U14C (1979), and U15C (1991). Initially used for long-distance express services throughout Luzon, they were relegated to hauling commuter trains within Metro Manila, a task previously done by PNR's diesel multiple units fleet. This was further exacerbated by the closure of the PNR South Main Line's intercity section in 2012 after an accident in Sariaya, Quezon.
DWLA-TV is a television station in Legazpi City, Albay, Philippines, airing programming from the GMA network. It is owned and operated by the network's namesake corporate parent alongside GTV outlet DWJB-TV. Both stations share transmitter facilities atop Mt. Bariw, Estanza, Legazpi City.
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.
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 PNR Metro Commuter Line between Tutuban station and Laguna, Inter-Provincial Commuter from San Pedro to Lucena and the Bicol Commuter regional rail service between Sipocot, Naga Camarines Sur and Legazpi Albay.
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.
The PNR South Long Haul Project, also known as PNR Bicol is a proposed inter-city rail line in southern Luzon, Philippines. It is part of the larger Luzon Rail System, a network of long-distance standard-gauge lines being built by the Philippine National Railways throughout Luzon. It is one of the two lines that will reconstruct the historic PNR South Main Line, along with the electrified North–South Commuter Railway South section to Calamba, Laguna.
