Official Website of Ilocos Norte

 

Brief History

Long before the coming of the Spaniards, there already existed an extensive region consisting of the present provinces of Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, Abra and La Union) renowned for its gold mines.  Merchants from Japan and China would often visit the area to trade gold with beads, ceramics and silk.  The inhabitants of the region, believed to be of Malay origin, called their place “samtoy”, from “sao mi toy, which literally meant “our language”.

In 1571, when the Spanish conquistadors had Manila more or less under their control, they began looking for new sites to conquer.  Legaspi’s grandson, Juan de Salcedo, volunteered to lead one of these expeditions.  Together with 8 armed boats and 45 men, the 22 year old voyager headed north.

On June 13, 1572, Salcedo and his men landed in Vigan and then proceeded towards Laoag, Currimao and Badoc.  As they sailed along the coast, they were surprised to see numerous sheltered coves (“looc”) where the locals lived in harmony.  As a result, they named the region “Ylocos” and its people “Ylocanos”.

As the Christianization of the region grew, so did the landscape of the area.  Vast tracks of land were utilized for churches and bell towers in line with the Spanish mission of “bajo las campanas”.  In the town plaza, it was not uncommon to see garrisons under the church bells.  The colonization process was slowly being carried out.

The Spanish colonization of the region, however, was never completely successful.  Owing to the abusive practices of many Augustinian friars, a number of Ilocanos revolted against their colonizers.  Noteworthy of these were the Dingras uprising (1589) and Pedro Almasan revolt (San Nicolas, 1660).  In 1762, Diego Silang  led a series of battles aimed at freeing the Ilocanos from the Spanish yoke.  When he died from an assassin’s bullet, his widow Gabriela continued the cause.  Unfortunately, she too was captured and hanged.  In 1807, the sugar cane (“basi”) brewers of Piddig rose up in arms to protest the government’s monopoly of the wine industry.  In 1898, the church excommunicated Gregorio Aglipay for refusing to cut off ties with the revolutionary forces of Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo.  Unperturbed, he established the “Iglesia Filipina Independiente”.  Aglipay’s movement and the national sentiment it espoused helped restore the self-respect of many Filipinos.

“The great increase in population from 1715 to 1818 from 18,980 to 282,845 made the administration of the province very difficult. Due to the excessive monopolies and forced labor, there were several uprisings: first by the people of Dingras in 1589; one that was led by Pedro Almazan in 1616; the revolt of Diego Silang in 1762-1763; by Ambaristo in 1788; by Pedro Mateo in 1808 and uprising of Sarrat in 1815. For this reason, the division of the Ilocos into two provinces was recommended by the local authorities. On February 2, 1818, a Spanish Royal Decree was promulgated dividing the Province of Ilocos Norte from Ilocos Sur. Laoag City, which was then the biggest center of population, was made the capital of Ilocos Norte.”

Ilocos Norte’s global art heroine reveals path to success

“Everyone possesses talents before even being born to the world. Other people just either forgot them or failed to put them in good use,” said Lucia Najera Mangapit Valdez, the Batac-born global painter and fashion designer who stunned the world during the post-war era

MMSU wins FEM Intercollegiate Debate Tournament 2022

Mariano Marcos State University (MMSU) – Batac emerged as champion after defeating Northern Christian College (NCC) in this year’s Ferdinand E. Marcos (FEM) Intercollegiate Debate Tournament held on September 16 at the Provincial Capitol Auditorium.

The final round focused on the motion “This house believes that all public utility vehicles (PUVs) should be under government control” debating on an Asian Parliamentary System.

With the recent launching of the Metro Ilocos Norte Council (MINC), the motion relates to the on-going efforts of Governor Imee R. Marcos concerning the transportation developments in the province.

On the government side, Agatha Quidilla, John Galat and Jazerie Sales of MMSU – Batac argued that government control of PUV entails benefits in transport and traffic management, better provision of services to the commuting public and accommodation of tourists.

NCC’s team composed of Stephen Valencia, Sheena Bartolome and Jet Lee Dafun posed that government control of PUVs is unnecessary as current regulations are already well-implemented and functional.

Governor Imee noted that transportation is a burning issue for every Ilocano especially to the youth who are considered to be the main passengers of PUVs.

With this, she said that “this is a significant debate” and “wide ranging policy and programmatic actions are guaranteed after.”

‘Debate community’

Now on its third year, tournament director Herdy La Yumul described how the FEM Debate Cup has evolved to become a community of brilliant Ilocano speakers.

Unlike in the past tournaments, this year has welcomed the election of officers of the first ever Ilocos Norte Debate Union during the participants’ socialization night on September 15.

Yumul said that with the debate union, “we no longer want to just compete against one another anymore but we are looking forward to the higher ends.”

Moreover, a new feature of the tournament has been highlighted during the three-day competition wherein nine student adjudicators were trained during the elimination rounds.

Julianne Bugaoisan of MMSU – Laoag was proclaimed as the best student adjudicator.

During the final round, Bugaiosan, together with SP02 Aurora Manuela, Atty. Val Pascua, Atty. Erme Labayog, Mr. Herdy Yumul, Ms. Janet Clark and Prof. Romeo Abucay was a part of the final adjudication panel.

Meanwhile, John Gallat of MMSU – Batac was declared as the tournament’s best debater while Patrick Quitoriano of MMSU – Batac and Antonio Guerrero of Northwestern University tied for the best speaker.

“As the most debate friendly governor in South East Asia, I would like to extend my gratitude to Governor Imee for giving the Ilocano youth the chance to contribute to the pressing issues of the province,” said Gallat.

Capping off the week-long celebration of FEM’S 98th birthday anniversary, the debate tournament is a fitting tribute to his legacy as a great debater during his time.

The FEM Intercollegiate Debate Tournament 2020 was joined by five colleges and universities in the province namely MMSU – Batac, MMSU – Laoag, Northwestern University, Northern Christian College and Data Center College of the Philippines.

Governor Imee highlighted that “we had a very balance, well-placed and even competition as all the participating schools have shown that they have excellent speakers, great debaters and analytical minds indeed.”John Michael Mugas, PGIN-CMO

 

Gov. Marcos, JICA conducts aerial inspection, seek for quick mobilization of dikes ravaged by typhoon ‘Ineng’

After conducting series of aerial inspections days after typhoon ‘Ineng’ hit the province, Governor Imee Marcos requested for further assessment of the damaged dike systems particularly of the Madongan Dam in Solsona and Sabo Dam in Nueva Era on September 10, 2015.

The inspection team included Ms. Misaki Kawaguchi, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) representative; Mr. Takeshi Muronaga, JICA Flood Management Adviser in DPWH Central Office; Mr. Gil Iturralde, Engineer of Flood Management Control Management Cluster DPWH; and Mr. Glen Reyes, Engineer of DPWH Ilocos Norte.

According to Engr. Reyes, further assessment and recommendations from JICA, Japan’s foreign aid arm, are necessary since the original design and loan funding of the project came from the said organization.

“(The aerial inspection aims to) come up with a solution that would mitigate or control the damages brought about by big typhoons,” Reyes added.

Aerial rounds showed that the dike systems were severely damaged, have full of sediments from the mountains and that the river flow is undefined.

Gov. Marcos said that the Provincial Government of Ilocos Norte (PGIN) and JICA, together with concerned agencies, plan to redesign the Sabo Dam in order to avoid any adverse impact of severe floods in the future.

“Right now what we’re planning is the design. Ang problema kasi dito sa Sabo river basin, hindi na pwedeng i-repair or i-rehab. Start from scratch tayo. Di natin ibabalik yung dati kasi hindi na nagse-serve ng purpose so kinakailangang mag-redesign.”

One of the major causes of its destruction, Gov. Marcos said, is the “(failure to construct the) upstream section which should’ve protected us, ‘yun yung pinakaimportante, ‘yun yung ginawang phase two na hindi na nangyari.”

Another problem is lack of maintenance since its construction in 2008. According to Gov. Marcos, five percent of the project cost should be allocated annually, which unfortunately was never given.

Nevertheless, Gov. Marcos continues to seek for the assistance of the national government and private sectors in order to mobilize the damaged infrastructure as soon as possible.

“I’m asking everyone to come and help including the Army Corps of Engineers. We are hoping that the National Irrigation Administration can expedite their own dam, the Madongan, Solsona and Dingras river irrigation systems. The private contractors have also been very generous in lending their equipment.”

Aware of the calamities’ serious threat to Ilocano lives and properties, Gov. Marcos said PGIN will certainly find any possible solution in order to fast track the restoration and reconstruction of the said infrastructure.—Jennifer T. Pambid, PGIN-CMO

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