The newly found city of Candon faces a tough challenge to prove its worth after becoming the next city to the province of Ilocos Sur. It is a challenge in that as much as how enthusiastic the people voted for its conversion; the same proud Candonians expect only the best changes and development in the most expeditious manner.
Looking at a tight 3-year critical window to effect the needed changes in so far as growth and development becomes evident and satisfy the public's expectations, areas of change should now be identified, planned on and changed as soon as possible. The new city administration should be decisive, focused, and willful in promoting the essential changes and should also evaluate itself in the process in order to set safeguards just in case some other sector might get adversely affected as a consequence.
The Tobacco Industry
Industries like the Philippine Tobacco Flue-Curing and Redrying Corporation ( PTFC ) and Union Leaf Tobacco are stationed here to buy the world-class tobacco products here. They employ a large number of local residents, thereby lifting the standards of living in our town.
The tobacco plant is one of the most important commercial non-food crops grown in the Ilocos region. Mature tobacco plants, reaching one to three meters ( 3 to 10 ft ), produce between 10 and 20 broad leaves. These are dried, cured, and used to produce cigarettes, cigars, and pipe and chewing tobacco.
The curing of tobacco is a slow process carefully monitored to produce tobacco leaves with specific colors, wilts, and degrees of dryness. Three different methods of curing: air curing, fire curing, and flue (heat) curing, impart distinctive flavors to the tobacco leaves. Since freshly cured tobacco has a bitter taste, most cigarette tobacco is dried, cooled, somewhat rehydrated, and then stored for two or three years. The leaves ferment as they age, becoming milder and darker.
Tourism
- Tobacco Festival – Celebrated every month of March as thanksgiving for the city's vast harvest of tobacco
- Candon Beach Resort – A classy tourist attraction that offers large-sized pools and well maintained beaches.
- Candon Church (Saint John de Sahagun Parish Church)
- Candon City Hall
- Darapidap Beach
The City of Candon has always been responsive to the people's needs and best interests. By this concern to render service, Candon has kept abreast with the demands of industry and commerce through its electrification and communication facilities, as well as the extension of services to maintain cleanliness, peace and order. A variety of local and popular food stores cater even to the most discriminating customers.
How to get there
Candon City is accessible via the McArthur National Highway, which is also the city's main thoroughfare. Other major streets in the city are 25 de Marzo Street and San Juan Street, both parallel to the National Highway. Quirino Boulevard is a secondary highway that connects the city proper to the upland barangays of Candon City and the upland municipalities of Ilocos Sur. The Darapidap Beach Road or the Samonte Boulevard connects the seaside barangays to the urban center.
Tricycles and jeepneys are the major types of transportation in the city. There are over 3000 registered tricycles in the city, the highest number of registered tricycles in the province (as an individual local government unit)
Buses provide long distance trips to major cities like Manila, Baguio and Laoag. Mini-Buses provide short trips to neighboring municipalities and the nearby cities of Vigan and San Fernando, La Union. Major Bus Companies also established their terminals in the city, among them are:
- Partas
- Dominion Bus Lines
- Sta. Lucia Express and Martinez Trans (managed by Victory Liner)
- Candon Bus Line