IN A calesa with a cochero gently guiding the dark-brown coated horse, we went around las calles de la Ciudad de Vigan and the adjacent municipality of Bantay in Ilocos Sur on a steady pace. While immersed on the ride, I couldn’t help but feel awed by the wealth and grandeur of the families who originally lived in these rows of two-story houses made of bricks, characterized by expansive windows, intricate awnings, wooden second floors, and huge doors on the ground floor! What splendor could that have been!
According to Liezel Pajo of Crisologo Museum, an ancestral house-turned museum, the enormous doors are designed to accommodate the elegant carruaje of the owners, the caritela which serves as the houseworkers’ farm and market transport, the calesin for sports, and their stockrooms or stores. Of course, the ubiquitous calesa was the official public transport.
“Every house had a well – it’s a sign of wealth,” said Jo-Anne Margarita R. Gutierrez community affairs assistant I, of the local government unit (LGU) of Vigan City. I didn’t know that! Of course, there was no water system at the time and to ensure the availability of water supply, a well had to be dug. Noticeably absent were gardens fronting the houses which I believed was compensated by a courtyard. I can imagine the adinerada y adinerado entertaining guests in the courtyard following a sumptuous meal. I wish I could have lived in that lifetime!
And since a well and a courtyard distinguished the rich at the time including the carruaje, my eyes automatically searched for those in the museums I explored. I wasn’t disappointed. I saw a courtyard in the Crisologo ancestral home and a well in the Padre Burgos House.
I wonder how they conduct their daily tasks then. What time do they get up in the morning, their siesta, what time do they retire at night, and what activities serve as their entertainment. It must be interesting to get a glimpse of that.
In our guided Vigan Conservation Complex tour, Cyrille Precious Mae Cachola, community affairs assistant I of Vigan LGU explained that Vigan was an important coastal trading post in pre-colonial times. It simply means the community was thriving long before the Spanish galleons arrived on their shores. Think about that! In fact, according to their history, “Chinese junks sailed from the South China Sea to Isla de Bigan through the Mestizo River.” Additionally, “immigrants, mostly Chinese, settled in Vigan, intermarried with the natives and started the multi-cultural bloodline of the Bigueños.”
Interestingly, as Cyrille further narrated, “King Philip II sent Captain Juan de Salcedo with about eighty soldiers to explore the coast of Los Ilocano” sailing from Manila to Vigan on May 20-June 12, 1572. The success of his voyage prompted him to establish “Villa Fernandina de Vigan” in honor of King Philip II’s son, Prince Ferdinand who died at the age of four.
When I asked about the origin of “Vigan”, both Cyrille and Jo-Anne said it was believed that when Salcedo, speaking Spanish, asked a native about the place’s name, the native could not understand him (naturally!) but since Salcedo pointed at a plant on the ground, the native easily replied, “bigaa apo, bigaa apo”, referring to a tuber plant from the “gabi” or “taro” family. Thus, Bigan was born! Don’t we hear related stories all over the Philippines?
From 1595 to 1758, Vigan flourished as a Spanish settlement nearer to Manila, but I wouldn’t be surprised because they were already an enterprising community interacting with Chinese merchants long before the Spaniards came. With this evolution, Vigan became the center of Spanish influence and politico-economic power in the north.
In addition to its politico-economic power, the Seat of the Diocese of Nueva Segovia in Lallo, Cagayan was transferred to Vigan via a Royal Decree dated Sept. 7, 1758, approved by King Fernando VI of Spain. This Royal Decree automatically elevated Villa Fernandina de Bigan to the status of a city known as Ciudad Fernandina de Vigan.
Thus, Cyrille and Jo-Anne said Vigan became a city in 1758 during the Spanish era. In contrast, it was only in 2001 when Vigan became the first component city of Ilocos Sur known as the City of Vigan. What a contradiction huh!
Cyrille and Jo-Anne further expounded that validating the category of Vigan as a city were the documents from “Instituto de Historia Programa de Modernization del Archivo Nacional de Filipinas” authenticating that Vigan in 1758 had its own carcel, casa de gobierno, mercado publico, Provincial High Court, and one of the only four Public Works Districts in the entire Island of Luzon. It also had an Audencia Territorial, “an implicit indication that it was a city.”
The LGU of Vigan is the repository of a certified true copy of King Fernando VI’s Royal Decree, stating among others, that for as long as the cathedral stands and Vigan is the seat of the diocese, it will always remain as a city. Now, who could argue that! (To be continued)
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The writer hosts Woman Talk with Belinda Sales at 91.1 Balita FM Tagbilaran City every Saturday, 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. She can be reached at belindabelsales@gmail.com. Twitter @ShilohRuthie./PN
