HISTORY
Ilocos Sur (Ilokano: Abagatan nga Ilocos; Tagalog: Timog Ilokos) is a province of the Philippines located in the Ilocos Region inLuzon. Vigan City, located on the mouth of the Mestizo River is the provincial capital.
Ilocos Sur is bordered by Ilocos Norte and Abra to the north, Mountain Province to the east, La Union and Benguet to the south, and the South China Sea to the west.
Before the coming of the Spaniards, the coastal plains in northwestern Luzón, stretching from Bangui (Ilocos Norte) in the north to Namacpacan (Luna, La Unión) in the south, were a region called the Ylokos. This region lies in between the China Sea in the west and Northern Cordilleras on the east. The inhabitants built their villages near the small bays on coves called “looc” in the dialect. These coastal inhabitants were referred to as “Ylocos” which literally meant “from the lowlands”. The entire region was then called by the ancient name “Samtoy” from “sao ditoy” which in Ilokano mean “our dialect”. The region was later called by the Spaniards as “Ylocos” or “Ilocos” and its people “Ilocanos”.
The Ilocos Region was already a thriving, fairly advanced cluster of towns and settlements familiar to Chinese, Japanese and Malay traders when the Spaniard explorer Don Juan de Salcedo and members of his expedition arrived in Vigan on June 13, 1572. Forthwith, they made Cabigbigaan (Bigan), the heart of the Ylokos settlement their headquarters which Salcedo called “Villa Fernandina” and which eventually gained fame as the “Intramuros de Ilocandia”. Salcedo declared the whole Northern Luzón as an "encomienda", or a land grant. Subsequently, he became the encomendero of Vigan and Lieutenant Governor of the Ylokos until his death in July 1574.
Augustinian missionaries came to conquer the region through evangelization. They established parishes and built churches that still stand today. Three centuries later, Vigan became the seat of the Archdiocese of Nueva Segovia.
A royal decree of February 2, 1818 separated Ilocos Norte from Ilocos Sur, the latter to include the northern part of La Unión (as far as Namacpacan, now Luna) and all of what is now the province of Abra. The sub-province of Lepanto and Amburayan in Mt. Province were annexed to Ilocos Sur.
The passage of Act 2683 by the Philippine Legislature in March 1917 defined the present geographical boundary of the province.
There are many writers and statesmen throughout the history of the Philippines. Pedro Bukaneg is the father of Iluko Literature.Isabelo de los Reyes will always be remembered as the Father of the Filipino Labor Movement. His mother, Leona Florentino was the most outstanding Filipino woman writer of the Spanish era. Vicente Singson Encarnación, an exemplary statesman, was also a noted authority on business and industry.
From the ranks of the barrio schoolteachers, Elpidio Quirino rose to become President of the Republic of the Philippines which is the town's most illustrious and native son of Caoayan, Ilocos Sur. Col. Salvador F. Reyes, a graduate of the Westpoint Military Academy, USA, led an untarnished and brilliant military career.
The Ilocos Sur story
Ilocos Sur's history reflects that of the Philippine history in its entirety. In Vigan, the Villa Fernandina founded in 1574 by Juan de Salcedo, grandson of the Adelantado Miguel Lopez de Legaspi, markers and inscriptions can be found throughout the city.
Following the exploration and conquest of the Ilocos by the Castillan sword, the evangelization of the inhabitants was pursued with the characteristic zeal of the Augustinian missionaries. The stone churches built over the centuries reflect Spanish power that held sway in union with the Church. It is thus interesting to read the marker found near the door of the Vigan Cathedral, placed there by the Philippine Historical Committee.
Heart of Ilocandia
This section possibly contains original research. Please improve it by verifying the claims made and adding inline citations. Statements consisting only of original research should be removed. (February 2015)The ancient land of Samtoy
On the northwestern part of Luzon, the Ilocos range restricts a narrow stretch coastal plain throughout its entire length as the home of one of the tribes of the Malay race, the Ilocanos.
Gleanings from ancient chronicles such as that of Fray Andrés Carro say that the word Samtoy was applied to ancient Ylokos or to the most important town of the region, where the most important dialect was spoken.
The ancient land of Ylokos or Samtoy extended from Bangui in the north to Aringay in the south. Hemmed in between the reefy coast of the China Sea and the rugged mountain ranges of the Cordillera is a long narrow strip of coastal plain. On the western China Sea side, the land is sandy. On the eastern side, near the slopes of the mountains that separates the region from the Mountain Province, the land is rocky, leaving just a narrow strip of plain here and there for cultivation. In places, the mountains come so close to the sea that the public highway has to wind along the steep mountain and sea. The pressure of increasing population and consequent land hunger has made the people of this region thrifty.
Exploration
The coast of Samtoy, already familiar to Chinese and Japanese traders before Magellan’s time, was known to the Spanish colonizers in 1572 when Juan de Salcedo traveled along Samtoy or what is now known as the Ilocos Provinces. Sent by the “Adelantado”, Miguel López de Legaspi, to explore the whole island of Luzón, Salcedo founded Ciudad Fernandina in 1574 in the heart of Yloko settlement in Bigan, in what is now Ilocos Sur. It became the center of Spanish rule and influence, and the evangelization and pacification movements.
The Spaniards, after Salcedo’s exploration, created Samtoy, the whole northwestern region of Luzon into an encomienda with Villa Fernadina at Tamag (Bigan) as the capital.
Salcedo was made lieutenant governor of Ylokos and the “encomendero” of Bigan where he died on March 11, 1576. It was due to his efforts that the settlements in Tagurín, Santa Lucía, Nalbacán, Bantay, Candón and Sinayt were pacified and made to pay tribute to the King of Spain.
Conversion of the natives
To implement Spain’s policy, missionaries came to convert the natives to Christianity. A Spanish chronicler[who?] wrote: “The Ilocos are all Christians and are the humblest and most tractable.’
The evangelization of Ilocos Sur was allotted to the Augustinians who established parishes in Santa in 1576, Tagurín in 1586, Sta. Lucía in 1586, Nalbacán in 1587, Candón 1591, and Bantay in 1590. In 1641 they built a church in Bigan, which 117 years later, was to become the cathedral of the Episcopal See of Nueva Segovia.
Partition of Ylokos
Ylokos comprised the present provinces of Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, La Union, Abra, and a part of Mountain Province. When Pangasinan was made a province in 1611, a part of La Union was taken from Ylokos and annexed to Pangasinan.
A royal decree dated February 2, 1818, separated the northern part of Ylokos which became the province of Ilocos Norte. The southern part called Ilocos Sur, included the northern part of La Union and all of what is now the province of Abra. In 1854, the province of La Unión was created out of the towns that had heretofore belonged to Ilocos Sur and Pangasinan. Ilocos Sur previously extended as far south as Namacpacan (Luna), and the territory south of this belonged to Pangasinan. It was the union of portions of Ilocos Sur from the Amburayan were taken from the Mountain Province and incorporated with Ilocos Sur.
Abra which was one a part of Ilocos Sur, was created in 1864 with Lepanto as a sub-province to Ilocos Sur, and remained as such until March, 1971 when the passage of Act made it again a separate province.
Vigan, capital of Yloco
Vigan is almost four centuries old, and was once known as “Kabigbigaan” from biga (Alocasia Indica), a coarse erect and araceous plant with large and ornate leaves with grows on the banks of the rivers. Its name “Bigan” was later changed to Vigan. To the Spaniards it was Villa Fernandina in honor of King Ferdinand, the Spanish ruler then.
Founded in 1574 by Juan de Salcedo as capital of ancient Ylocos, Vigan vied in importance and gentility with the city of Intramuros. Even before Salcedo came to Bigan, the town was already a center of Malayan civilization with a population of 8,000, a population greater than that of Manila then. It was already enjoying some prosperity, trading with the Chinese and Japanese who brought fine jars, silk and crockery through the nearby port of Pandan, Caoayan.
In the 19th century, Vigan also traded with Europe. Ships loaded indigo in its port for the textile mills in the Continent. The invention of chemical dyes in Germany ruined this industry. By then, the affluent citizens of Vigan had stocked their homes with statuettes of brass and iron, dinner wares, other artifacts of European civilization, fine ivory and inlaid furniture and China wares.
The People - Theirs is a Granite that Makes the Ilocano Nation
Ilocos Sur is inhabited mostly by Ilocanos belonging to the third largest ethnic group of Malay origin. A Spanish chronicler wrote that “the people are very simple, domestic and peaceful, large of body and very strong. “They are highly civilized. They are a most clean race, especially the women in their homes which they keep very neat and clean.”
Miguel de Loarca records around 1582 that the Ilocanos “are more intelligent than the Zambaleños for they are traders and they traffic with the Chinese, Japanese and Borneans. The main occupation of the people is commerce, but they are also good farmers and sell their articles of good farmers and sell their articles of food and clothing to the Igorots.”
Father Juan de Medina noted in 1630 that the natives are ‘the humblest and most tractable known and lived in nest and large settlements’.
Cultural heritage
The Ilocos Sur Museum, founded on August 22, 1970, has a sizable collection of cultural treasures to be proud of. Here, Ilocos Sur art include paintings, centuries-old sculptures and pieces of carved furniture. Here, too, are found relics of Spanish European and Chinese cultures that had influenced Ilocano life for centuries. These relics show Ilocos arts not only for their intrinsic and artistic worth, but also as part of a culture influenced by foreigners, and in turn influencing other regions of the Philippines.
Chapters of Philippine history and religion are found in the Crisólogo collections which includes family heirlooms, centuries –old “santos”, statuettes, ivory images, Vienna furniture, marble-topped tables, ancient-carved beds, rare Chinese porcelains, jars and jarlettes, lamps, Muslim brass wares, and Spanish and Mexican coins.
The Syquia collections, including the late President Quirino’s memorabilia, vie in quality with the Crisólogo collections. But in the midst of the fire scare in Vigan last year,[when?] the relics in the Syquia Mansion were transferred to Manila for safekeeping.
Geography
Physical
Ilocos Sur is located along the western coast of Northern Luzon. It is bordered by Ilocos Norte to the north, Abra to the northeast, Mountain Province to the east, Benguet to the southeast, La Union to the south, and the South China Sea to the west. Its area of 2,579.58 square kilometers occupies about 20.11% of the total land area of Region 1.
The topography of Ilocos Sur is undulating to rolling with elevations ranging from 10 to 1,700 metres (33 to 5,577 ft) above sea level.
Climate
The climate is generally dry as defined by the Hernandez climate classification—the dry months are from October to May. However, the southernmost portion, Cervantes, is humid and rain is evenly distributed throughout the year while the eastern part of Sugpon is drier. August has the most rainfall while January and February have the least. The mean temperature in the province is 27 degrees C. January is the coldest.
Administrative
Main article: Administrative divisions of Ilocos Sur
Ilocos Sur is politically subdivided into 32 municipalities and 2 component cities, all of which are organized into two legislative districts.[5]
Cities:
Municipalities:
- Alilem
- Banayoyo
- Bantay
- Burgos
- Cabugao
- Caoayan
- Cervantes
- Galimuyod
- Gregorio Del Pilar
- Lidlidda
- Magsingal
- Nagbukel
- Narvacan
- Quirino
- Salcedo
- San Emilio
- San Esteban
- San Ildefonso
- San Juan
- San Vicente
- Santa
- Santa Catalina
- Santa Cruz
- Santa Lucia
- Santa Maria
- Santiago
- Santo Domingo
- Sigay
- Sinait
- Sugpon
- Suyo
- Tagudin
BarangaysThe 32 municipalities and 2 cities of the province comprise a total of 768 barangays, with Puro in Magsingal as the most populous in 2010, and Montero in Banayoyo as the least.