I was in Lallo, Cagayan

I was with the Vigan delegation on a pilgrimage trip to Lallo, Cagayan, the ancient seat of the Archdiocese of Nueva Segovia, 250 years ago.

The pilgrimage was the kick-off of the celebration of the 250th Anniversary of the Transfer of the Seat of the Archdiocese of Nueva Segovia and the Establishment of Ciudad Fernandina.

Lallo, or formerly Nueva Segovia, is a sleepy town, a 2nd class municipality led by its lady mayor, Maria Olivia Pascual.

Having left Vigan at 1:30 am of Tuesday, September 2,2008 the delegation arrived at the mayor's home at 8:30 where we had a hearty breakfast of beef tapa, scrambled eggs, rice and coffee. There were also "miniature patupat," complete with coco-fiber strings to hold it so as not to soil our fingers when you hold them.

A welcome program was held in front of the municipal hall where Mayor Pascual recalled the history of the transfer of the seat.

... when the statue of Our Lady of Piat arrived, we were asked to follow on its way to the church.

The historic church of Lallo was facing west, fronting the Rio Grande de Cagayan.. It beats me why the church didnt face eastward to greet the rising sun, like most structures do. Of course, if the church was built first, it would have been anathema to build the presidencia facing east. It would have lain its back to the church which would have rendered the plaza an awkward angle which was built in between. The own gymnasium was beside the church, facing east fronting the modern police station that faced west. It didnt look right to my sense of perspective. Maybe because I have been used to seeing the land uses of most Spanish cities with its institutional structures strategically located . Comparatively, Vigan has a more centralized blocking. The central plaza, Plaza Salcedo is centrifugal to the church and the municipal hall. Similarly though, the Vigan Cathedral faces west too, like its sister church of Lallo.
...
..to be continued

Jubilee year celebration of the Archdiocese of Nueva Segovia and the Establishment of Ciudad Fernandina

1. September 1-8, 2008 Open House for Museums (Free Entrance)
2. September 1-8, 2008 Plaza Encarnacion Comidas de Ayer and Ylocos Trade Fair
(Ilocos Norte, Abra, Cagayan, Baguio-Benguet, Batanes
3. September 2, 2008 Pilgrimage from Lal-lo to Vigan
4. September 5 or 6 Fun Ride Motorcycle Caravan from Lal-lo to Vigan
5. September 4, 2008 History Writing Contest
6. September 6, 2008 7:00 pm Plaza Burgos Cultural Show (Songs and Dances by local
talents (Vigan) with intermission from Lal-lo
7. September 7, 2008 GSPH Search for the First Child born on September 7,
2008 (natural born)
8. September 7, 2008 8:00 AM Family backyard Simultaneous Tree Planting
(2500 trees/families) with time capsules
9. September 7, 2008 2:00 PM Front of Arzobispado Awarding of Commemorative Pins to
all Biguenos born on September 7
10. September 7, 2008 4:00 pm Front of Arzobispado Re-enactment of the
transfer of the Seat of Nueva Segovia (with
procession of the symbolic cross around
Vigan)
11. September 8, 2008 1:30 pm Mira Hills Inauguration of the Buridek
Children’s Museum; MOA Signing of MVCC
12. September 8, 2008 3:00 pm UNESCO Marker Renewal of Pledge
13. September 8, 2008 4:00 pm Repazzo de Vigan
14. September 8, 2009 Jubilee Year Souvenir Book of Vigan

Ciudad Fernandina de Vigan

(Image courtesy of CPDO Files, Vigan City)
By 1764, there were already 21 sitios or barrios in Vigan as mentioned by Father Pedro de Vivar in the document entitled as “Relacion de los Alzamientos dela Ciudad de Vigan, cavesera dela provincia de Ilocos Sur el los años 1762 y 1763.”

In 1803, Ciudad Fernandina de Vigan has a population of 10,585 souls with 1,966 paying tributes. The natives were working on agricultural land and the mestizos engaged in business with other provinces including Manila. The mestizos played a very important role in the progress and prosperity of the city of Vigan.

The Chinese in Vigan on the other hand, settled in a place called “Pariancillo” while in Manila they were in “Parian”. With their talent and knowledge in business as well as their skills and mastery of the art of manufacturing, the Chinese became rich and powerful in society. They opened business in the heart of Vigan, employed the naturales, intermarried with the natives and mestizos of Vigan and as time passed by; they rose into the class of the elite. They triggered a business boom in the community and engaged in domestic and foreign trade. They exported indigo, lime, maguey, basi, jars, tobacco, woven cloth called abel, and other local products to Europe, China, Borneo and Malaysia. As a consequence of this business boom, there was a mark change in the lifestyle of the inhabitants.

Found in the Philippine Archives in Manila is a report in 1870 describing Vigan, the place. West of the cathedral are the Casa Real and the monument of Salcedo, north of the cathedral is a small house, and south of the cathedral is the Seminary. West of the Seminary were the hacienda publica, barracks of the Carabineros and the Ayuntamiento Municipal. Source: http://www.santa.gov.ph

To further justify the to category of Vigan as a city are the documents from “Instituto de Historia Programa de Modernization del Archivo Nacional de Filipinas” that describes that Vigan has its own carcel, casa de gobierno, mercado publico, Provincial High Court and one the only four (4) Public Works District in the entire Island of Luzon. More importantly, it has an Audencia Territorial, an implicit indication that it was a City.

ERECTION OF THE DIOCESE OF NUEVA SEGOVIA AND THE CIUDAD FERNANDINA DE VIGAN

Image courtesy of http://nschancery.blogspot.com
The Episcopal See of Manila was erected by Pope Gregory XVIII with the publication of his Bull Fulti Praesidio on December 21, 1581. It was elevated into a Metropolitan Church on August 14, 1595 through the Bull of erection of Pope Clement VIII with the Diocese of Santisimo Nombre de Jesus in Cebu, the Diocese of Nueva Caceres in Naga and the Diocese of Nueva Segovia in Lallo, Cagayan as its suffrage.

The Bull of Pope Clement VIII likewise elevated the seat of the four diocese including Lallo, Cagayan to the dignity of a city being the center of evangelization in their respective territories.

For 160 years from 1595 to 1758, all the Bishops of the Diocese of Nueva Segovia in Lallo Cagayan, starting with Fray Miguel Benavidez to Fray Diego de Soria preferred to stay in Vigan due to the deteriorating condition of Lallo at that time. Malaria was endemic to the place and was constantly flooded during the rainy season. The Rio Grande de Cagayan was eroding and destroying the site of the Diocese leading to a progressive decay of the town.

In sharp contrast, Vigan, during the same period, was a flourishing Spanish settlement nearer to Manila. It was fast developing into the center of Spanish influence and politico-economic power in the north.

When Don Juan dela Fuentes de Yepes became Bishop of Nueva Segovia in 1755, he requested the King Spain and the Pope for the transfer of the Diocese from Lallo, Cagayan to Vigan, which was at the height of its progress as center of religious, commercial and socio-cultural activities.

He summoned three former Alcalde Mayores: Don Maximino Ballero of Vigan, Don Juan Antonio Panelo of Pangasinan, and Don Francisco Ledem of Cagayan to testify and give their support of the requested transfer of the Diocese. Aside from the former Alcalde Mayores, Bishop Yepes also solicited the favorable endorsement of Fray Bernardo Ustaris of the Dominican Order and Fray Manuel Carillo of the Augustinians.

The transfer of the Seat of the Diocese of Nueva Segovia from Lallo, Cagayan to Vigan was formally approved during the Pontificate of Pope Benedict XIV during the reign of Fernando VI, King of Spain by virtue of the Royal Decree of September 7, 1758.

By this Royal Decree, Villa Fernandina which became the new seat of the Diocese automatically elevated its status as a City known as Ciudad Fernandina de Vigan in honor of the then current King of Spain. Source: http://www.santa.gov.ph

Vigan, Pre-Spanish Times

Image courtesy of http://upload.wikimedia.org

Vigan was an important coastal trading post in pre-colonial times. Long before the Spanish galleons, Chinese junks sailing from the South China Sea came to Isla de Bigan through the Mestizo River that surrounded the island. On board were sea-faring merchants that came to barter exotic goods from Asian kingdoms in exchange for gold, beeswax and other mountain products brought down by natives from the Cordilleras. Immigrants, mostly Chinese, settled in Vigan, intermarried with the natives and started the multi-cultural bloodline of the Bigueños. Source: http://www.santa.gov.ph

Bigaa, how Vigan got its name

Image courtesy of http://k53.pbase.com

How Vigan got its name is told from an anecdote carried by the tongue of generations, which tells of a Spaniard walking along the banks of the Mestizo River. There, he met a native of the place and stopped to inquire: “Como se Ilama usted de esta lugar?”

Not understanding a word of Spanish, the native scratched his head and upon seeing that the Spaniard was pointing to a plant, exclaimed in Ilocano: “Bigaa Apo”. Bigaa being Alcasia Macroniza, a giant Taro plant belonging to the Gabi family which used to thrive at the bank of the Mestizo River. From the name of the plant – Bigaa, whence Vigan derived its name. Source: http://www.santa.gov.ph/ilocossur/cmviganhistory.html

The Founding of Vigan

(Image courtesy of http://es.geocities.com/losconquistadoresespanoles/)
In the book, The Philippine Island, Vol. III, p. 276, Blair and Robertson, two letters of Governor General Guido de Lavezares to King Philip II of Spain mentions: “It seemed best to send Captain Juan de Salcedo with 70 or 80 soldiers to people the coast of Los Ilocano on the shores of the river called Bigan.” Salcedo then sailed from Manila on May 20, 1572 and arrived in Vigan on June 12, 1572.

Thus, after the successful expedition and exploration of the North, Don Juan de Salcedo founded “Villa Fernandina de Vigan” in honor of King Philip II’s son, Prince Ferdinand who died at the tender age of four. From Vigan, Salcedo rounded the tip of Luzon and proceeded to pacify Camarines, Albay, and Catanduanes.

As a reward for his services to the King, Salcedo was awarded the old province of Ylocos which then composed of the Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, Abra, La Union and some part of Mountain Province as his Encomienda and was accorded the title as Justicia Mayor de esta Provincia de Ylocos.


In January 1574, Salcedo returned to the capital of his Encomienda, Vigan, bringing with him some Augustinian Missionaries to pioneer the evangelization of Ylocos and established a Spanish city, for the purpose of controlling the neighboring country.

Governor General Gomez Perez Dasmarinas, in his Account of Encomienda dated in Manila on May 31, 1591 states: “The town of Vigan called Villa Fernandina has five or six Spanish citizens with one priest, a Justice, one Alcalde Mayor (Governor) and a Deputy. The King collects 800 tributes (equivalent to 3,200 subjects). During this period, the old Vigan was composed of 19 barrios.

In 1645-1660, Vigan was already divided into 21 Cavezas de Barangay as mentioned in the “Libro de Casamiento”, the oldest records of the parish house of Vigan found in its Archives. Separated from the naturales, the Chinese have their own place of settlement called pariancillo, “Los Sangleyes del parian” and the Spaniards were residents in a villa called “Los Españoles de la Villa”.
Source: http://www.santa.gov.ph/ilocossur/cmviganhistory.html

The Vigan Song

Vigan, Naidumduma a Lugar ti Amianan

(Vigan, a place like no other in the North)

-written and composed by Elpidio Lopez Palapala**

I

Umaykan gayyem ditoy siyudad ti Vigan/

Natalna ken napintas inda ap-apalan/

Uray sadino man lugar nga inka naggappuan/

Madadaan kami a makipagayam

II

Ditoy Vigan laeng ti inka pakakitaan/

kadaanan a balbalay napnuan pakasaritaan/

Ta isu dayta ti inna naglatakan/

Ditoy pagilian ken ti sangalubungan

Koro

Agkaykaysa tay ngarud ta intay saluadan/

Siyudad ti Vigan a kapipintasan/

Ta daytoy ket gameng a kapapatgan/

Nga intay ipatawid sumaruno a kaputotan

III

Adu met ti bannuar maitangsit iti Vigan

Da Apo Quirino kenni Diego Silang

Leona Florentino Mannaniw ti Kailokuan

ken Padre Burgos Martyr a kasingpetan

IV

Siyudad ti Amianan ken inka pakasarakan

Pagaramidan ti burnay ken abel ti kailokuan

Longganisa, empanada, naimas a makmakan

Ken tay kalesa napintas a pagluganan (Koro)

V

Ti Vigan laeng nabati a nagtaengan

Dagiti kastila immay ditoy pagilian

RUmbeng ngarud nga intay aywanan

Ta maipagtangsit uray sadino man (Koro)



...Nga intay ipatawid sumaruno a kaputotan

VIVA VIGAN!

Gobernadorcillos de Vigan

Spain Colonial Rule

MESTIZOS AND NATURALES

1654 Don Mathias Barcena
1711 Don Lorenzo Baguis
1721 Don Lorenzo de Quezada
1773 Capn. Manuel Prudencio
1785-1786 Don Policarpio Quintero Don Pablo del Castillo
1789 Don Marcos de Tugale
1807 Don Juan Antonio Don Lucas Arce de Purugganan
1817 Don Guillermo Lizardo De Jesus
1821 Don Vicente Purugganan
1822 Don Pablo Tolentino
1825 Don Clemente Mariano Don Narciso de la Vega
1838 Don Teodoro Panalasigui
1839 Don Pedro Pichay Don Miguel Espejo
1840 Don Agapito Bernardo
1844 Don Gil Encarnacion
1846 Don Leon Singson Don Castro Segundino de Ferrer
1847 Don Juan Florentino Don Antonio Panlasigul
1849-1850 Don Calixto Fabila Bernado Don Tranquilino Centeo
1851 Don Laureano de Leon Don Jose Arce y Cruz
1852 Don Estanslao Singson Don Pedro dela Cruz Alcantara
1853 Don Ramon Festejo Anastacio Don Mariano Colina
1854 Don Domingo Singson
1856 Don Damaso Foz Prudencio Don Cecillo Villanueva y Cruz
1857 Don Cecillo Alcantara
1858 Don Tomas Singson Don Rafael Maria delos Reyes
1859 Don Agapito Florendo Bonifacio Don Leonardo Alves
1860 Don Santiago Villanueva Don Macario Peres
1861 Don Mariano Donato Don Marcos Alegre
1862-1863 Don Benito Acosta Don Ysaac Centeno
1868 Don Mariano Sales Don Eriberto Centeno
1869-1871 Don Severino Verzosa Don Gil Arizabal
1874 Don Justo Angco
1875-1876 Don Luis Reyes Don Juan Mesis
1877-1879 Don Jose Singson Don Francisco Ponce
1891 Don Francisco Rivero
1892 Don Ladislao Donato Don Valentin Ramirez
1896-1898 Don Gregorio Sy-Quia
1901 Don Jose Rivero

American Colonial Regime

1904-1907 Hon. Estanislao Reyes
1908-1911 Hon. Jose Villanueva
1912-1915 Hon. Jorge Nolasco
1916-1919 Hon. Alejandro Itchon
1920-1927 Hon. Jose Tongson
1924-1927 Hon. Antonio Reyes
1928-1939 Hon. Perfecto Faypon

Japanese Occupation

1940-1943 Hon. Monico Gutierrez
1944-1947 Hon. Gregorio Favis
Republic of the Philippines
1948-1951 Hon. Mariano Formoso
1952-1958 Hon. Lorenzo Formoso Sr.
Aug. 1958 Dec. 1959 Hon. Atilano Nolasco
1960-1963 Hon. Lorenzo Formoso Jr.
1964-1967 Hon. Francisco Crisologo
1968-1971 Hon. Jose S. Singson
1972-1986 Hon. Evaristo "Titong" Singson
1988-1995 Hon. Priscilo Agdamag
1995-2004 Hon. Eva Singson Medina

The Gobernadorcillo is equivalent to present day Municipal Mayor . The list was taken from the Vigan Convent Archives entered in the Libro Casamiento, Libro de Entierros, and Libro de Baptismos.
Contributors: Damaso King and Boni R.
Source: http://members.fortunecity.com/amorsfx/mayors.htm

The History of Vigan by Damaso King

CIUDAD FERNANDINA O' VIGAN

by Damaso King

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1990 is a great event in Vigan history for it coincides with the Centennial Celebrations of the birth anniversary of one of his illustrious son, the late President Elpidio Quirino , born on November 16, 1890 at the ?Carcel Publica? to the spouses Don Mariano Q. Quirino, warden of the carcel publica and Doña Gregoria Rivera.

Four hundred eighteen years ago, Don Juan Salcedo, the last and youngest among all the conquistadors, presented himself to his grandfather, Don Miguel Lopez de Legaspi, the then Governor General of the Philippines, with the request to explore Northern Luzon. His intention was to find the limits of the place and to discover a shorter passage to Mexico. He sailed from Manila on May 20, 1572 with 45 soldiers on eight armed boats (Navios).

On June 12, 1572, at nightfall, he arrived at Caoayan. The following day June 13, 1572, Salcedo entered the mouth of Mestizo River called ?El Mestizo? and proceeded towards Vigan. The inhabitants gave a little resistance but soon found out that the weapons of the Spaniards were stronger and can ?spit fires? as they exclaimed. The men retreated to their hideout in Bantay, leaving the children, the old women and men. Salcedo upon seeing this, ordered his men not to harm them, limiting themselves only to obtain the necessary provisions.

The natives of Vigan upon sensing that the Spaniards were not hostile, returned from their hideout in Bantay and presented themselves to Salcedo who received them courteously and cordially. Peace was then forged between two sides. The great conquistador Salcedo did not forget the love, loyalty and affection of the people of Vigan. Upon his arrival as Encomiendero and Justica Mayor of Ilocos, he rushed back to Vigan where the people received him cordially and established a Spanish city, for the purpose of controlling the neighboring country. Vigan became the capital of the Ilocos Province which was then composed of Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, Abra , La Union and some parts of the Mountain Province.

March 11, 1576, was unpropitious to the Spaniards in the Philippines for they have the misfortune of losing of Juan de Salcedo who died on this day. While in Ilocos he was seized with fever that when he drank some cold water that had worked powerfully on his intestines, he died in three hours. The commander was only 27 years old. Vigan, in the 18th century, erected a monument in his honor, the father and founder of Villa Fernandina de Vigan. It is purportedly the first historical monument in Ilocos. It is a stone monument with a cup on top with a serpent. He is now resting side by side with his grandfather Capitan General Don Miguel Lopez de Legaspi in the crypt of San Agustin church in Intramuros, Manila. On August 15, 1613, Don Diego de Soria, the second Archbishop of Nueva Segovia reported that Vigan has a population of 2,000 souls while Bantay has 5,000 souls.

The oldest records of the parish house of Vigan found in its Archives is a ?Libro de Casamiento?. In 1645-1660, Vigan was already divided into Barangays. There were 21 Cavezas de Barangay mentioned in this book of entry. Separated from the naturales, the chinese have their own place of settlement called pariancillo, ?Los Sangleyes del parian? Furthermore, the Spaniards were residents in a Villa, called ?Los Españoles de la Villa?.

In another document entitled as ?Relacion de los Alzamientos dela Ciudad De Vigan, cavesera dela provincia de Ilocos Sur en los años 1762 y 1763, ?Father Pedro de Vivar mentioned that there were 21 sitios in Vigan. Written in 1764, a year after the Diego Silang uprising, de Vivar enumerates them as follows: Anunang, Ballo Barangobong, Bongtolan, Bulala, Pantoc, Paoa, Pong-ol, Caoayan, Cotta, Guadalupe, Manangat, Manquit, Pagbantayan, Salindeg, San Julian, San Sebastian, San Vicente, Santo Tomas, Santa Catalina and Tamag. There were a total of 21 barrios in all. Vivar called the barrios as Rancheras, while the parish book spoke of sitios and barrio without distinction. Vivar complained that the secular priest of Vigan permitted too many settlements too far away from the bells of the church. The towns of Caoayan, Sta. Catalina and San Vicente were former barrios of Vigan. San Vicente and Santa Catalina were separated from Vigan in 1793 and Caoayan in 1825.

In 1803, Ciudad Fernandina has a population of 10,585 souls with 1,966 paying tributes. The natives were working on agricultural land and the mestizos engaged in business with other provinces including Manila. The mestizos played a very important role in the progress and prosperity of the city of Vigan. The Chinese in Vigan settled in a place called ?PARIANCILLO? while in Manila they were in ?Parian?. The Chinese migration to the Philippines came from Fookien Province with its different districts such as: Tangua, Oasay, Chiocboy-Only few came from Canton.

With the talent and knowledge in business as well as their skills and mastery of the art of manufacturing, the Chinese became rich and powerful in society. They opened business in the heart of Vigan, employed the naturales, Intermarried with the natives and mestizos of Vigan and as time passed, they rose into the class of the elite. They triggered a business boom in the community and engaged in trade with the provinces of Caoayan, Pangasinan and including the city of Manila. They have been involved not only in domestic trade but also in foreign trade. They exported Indigo, lime, maguey, basi, jars, tobacco, woven cloth and other local products of Europe, China, Borneo and Malaysia. As a consequence of this business boom, there was a mark change in the lifestyle of the inhabitants.

The rich and influential mestizos of Vigan, constructed their own residential houses-these mestizos were as follows: Singson, (there are two Singson clans but not related, the marriage of Don Manuel Singson and Doña Nieves Singson brought the two families to relationship) Angco, Florendo, (there are three Florendos but not related: they are Bonifacio Florendo Juan Florendo and Benigno Florendo) Florentino, de Leon, Encarnacion (there are also two Encarnacion clans but not related) Sy-Quia, Tongson, Acosta, Feril, Quema, Villanueva, delos Reyes, Sales, Figer and Sebastian. Up to this day, their residential houses still stand and are mostly inhabited.

It was only in Vigan, that there were two Gobernadorcillos-One for the Gremio de mestizos which embraces the eastern part of Vigan and the Gremio de naturales which embraces the western portion of the town. The demarcation point is at present Rizal St.; all eastern portions of Rizal St., belong to the mestizo and all western portions belong to the naturales during the early days. In Vigan, the mestizos? surname begin with the letter ?F?, and the naturales with the letter ?A? as according to the decree of Gov. Gen. Narciso Claveria in 1847 changing all the surnames of the people of the Philippines.

Found in the Philippine Archives in Manila is a report in 1870 describing Vigan, the place. West of the cathedral is the Casa Real and the monument of Salcedo, north of the cathedral is the Episcopal Palace and the Catholic cemetery, west of the Episcopal Palace is a small house, south of the cathedral is the Seminary. West of the Seminary were the hacienda publica, barracks of the Carabineros and the Ayuntamiento Municipal. Vigan has the most number of brick houses numbering around 80 in all which stand up to this day.

The barangays of Vigan thrive in various kinds of industry. Most of them producing in agriculture, corn, tugui, rice, onions, sugar cane, balatong, vegetables and others. Some have their household or Industries such as cattocong making or salakot, weaving, pottery making as well as blacksmithing. Vigan at present is awaiting for its inclusion in the World Heritage. List of the Unites Nations.

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References:

Philippine Archives, Manila
Historia de los Ylocos por Don Isabelo de los Reyes
Records of Entry at Vigan Convent Archives

* Damaso Q. King, mestizo de sangley, researcher and consultant, Vigan Nomination to the World Heritage List.*