We arrived in the town of Sta. Ana in Cagayan Valley, the northernmost tip town in the Philippines at 3 a.m. in the morning. The first thing we noticed was the eerie sound of the place, or better yet, the lack of any sound of life.

There were no lamp post and all we saw was darkness. The only light available was emanating from the vehicle we were using. We drove for another half an hour and still all we saw was darkness, we didn't see any houses or any other living soul. For someone who has lived in the city all his life, the environment in Sta. Ana was a strange one to me. I came from the capital where the city never sleeps and that has been the case even in some provinces I have visited, this is the only town I have been to where all I heard was the sound of silence even at that hour of the morning.

Another 15 minutes passed and we finally arrived at the town center. There, we saw a lone soul walking, the first sign of life 45 minutes after we had entered Sta. Ana. We asked for a place where we could stay or have something to eat. We were told that a "restaurant" was open near the bus station and the town market.

But the restaurant was a small and dilapidated affair. It was so decrepit the floor was not even cemented. Worse, it served only instant coffee, some crackers and cup noodles. That would have to do as my party and I were already exhausted from the long hours of land travel and we were starving too.

The town of Sta. Ana in Cagayan Valley is the last town of the Philippines in the north. It is over 400 miles away from the capital Manila and is almost 15 hours away by land. There is a private airfield but no commercial domestic plane flies there. The town is very near Taiwan and I could literally hear the rooster's crowing in the morning.

Roaming along the town, I noticed the lack of everything that life in the city offers.

There were no malls, no fast food stores, no supermarkets, no movie houses and no public transport system, which is very common in most places. Life in the town was so laidback and backward there was no Internet access and children there have never seen Ronald McDonald or the popular mascot of Philippine fast food store Jollibee.

Sta. Ana's vast coastline invited any visitor to take a plunge in the waters. The only problem was, there are only two resorts available in the town, both owned by foreigners.

Fishing and farming form the basis of the local economy. The coasts contain rich natural sea resources that big foreign fishing boats were known to poach from its waters. Its crystal blue clear waters offer perfect fishing. The beaches boast fine white sands, particularly off the Palaui island. Progress has long forgotten this place that could be called a paradise.

Even the local fishermen, despite their good catch never earn much. An expensive type of local fish that sells for $10 a kilo in the city, is sold for $2 there. Obviously, the rich resources of the town have not made local residents economically independent.

But plans by the national government in Manila to expand the tiny port operations in Sta. Ana into a full-fledged special economic zone by October this year offer hope for locals.

There are at least three casinos operating in the town that are owned by Taiwanese investors and run by the Taiwanese. The casinos recently announced they would start hiring Filipino dealers, which would open the gates for local employment. Four more casinos have been scheduled to open soon.

The influx of Taiwanese gamblers has sparked plans to put create a domestic airport in Sta. Ana capable of allowing the simultaneous touch down of at least four domestic flights. A proposed 360-room hotel might hire locals.

The town of Sta. Ana, long forgotten by time and by Manila, has slowly begun awakening and rediscovering its richness, its people and its surrounding, which might propel the town into a first-class tourist destination.