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PROVINCIAL PROFILE OF ILOCOS SUR
FAST FACTS
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LOCATION
Ilocos Sur is in northwestern Luzon. It is bounded by Ilocos Norte on the north, Abra and Mountain Province on the east, Benguet and La Union, on the south, and the South China Sea, on the west.
THE LAND
The terrain consist of a long and narrow coastal plain that becomes hilly and mountainous towards the east where it forms part of the Cordillera Mountain Range. Thirteen municipalities are called "interior towns" because they are in the uplands. Nine rivers flow down from the mountains, with Cabuyao River at the northernmost and Amburayan River at the southern end. The province has two pronounces seasons: dry from November to May and wet the rest of the year. The Philippines Fault traverses the eastern side of Ilocos Sur.
A BRIEF HISTORY
A thriving trade with the Chinese existed before the coming of the Spaniards. Over the centuries, numerous Chinese settled in Vigan, intermarried and built many of the town's big houses. Hence, the section of the town where these Castilian houses are now found in Vigan is called the "Kamestizohan" District.
When Juan de Salcedo explored the area in 1572, he founded Ciudad Fernandina (now Vigan) in honor of King Ferdinand VI of Spain. As a reward, Miguel Lopez de Legaspi, the first Spanish general of the Philippines, named him Lieutenant General of Ilocos Province and encomendero of Vigan, its capital. The Ilocanos were among the first Filipinos to oppose foreign rule. The Malong Rebellion of 1660 tried to establish a kingdom in Pangasinan and the neighboring provinces as far north as Vigan. At the height of his revolt in 1762-63, Diego Silang practically succeeded in establishing an independent government in Ilocos Sur, Pangasinan, and Cagayan.
On February 2, 1818, a royal decree divided the Ilocos province into Ilocos Norte and Ilocos Sur. the latter then include the northern part of La Union, Abra, and Lepanto in the old Mountain Province. In 1846, Abra was made into a separate province with Lepanto as its sub-province. In 1854, the province of La Union was formed out of towns belonging to Ilocos Sur and Pangasinan. Abra was again annexed to Ilocos Sur in 1905 but reverted to its provincial status in 1917.
During the Filipino-American War at the turn of the century, Gregorio del Pilar, Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo's youngest general, valiantly fought the American at the Battle of Tirad Pass in the province's highlands to allow Aguinaldo and his men to retreat into the mountains. Among Ilocos Sur's other prominent Filipinos are Gabriela Silang, the first Filipino woman rebel leader and wife of Diego, Father Jose Burgos, one of the three priests martyred in 1872 on account of the Cavite Mutiny, Isabelo de los Reyes, father of unionism in the Philippines, Ignacio Villamor, the first Filipino president of the University of the Philippines, and Elpidio Quirino, President of the Republic from 1948 to 1953.
THE PEOPLE
The people here are as hard-working and thrifty as those of Ilocos Norte. It is said that the nighttime curfew hours during Marcos' martial law years did not apply to this province as farmers tilled their fields even after midnight. Front yards are not planted with flowers as in other localities, but with vegetables. Families living in modest houses send their children to Manila's choice universities. Ilocano is the language spoken by the majority of the population.
COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY
Despite its limited arable land, Ilocos Sur is self-sufficient in rice, vegetables, rootcrops, and fruits. It has the largest area in the region devoted to tobacco and cotton production. Cottage industries include blanket-weaving, basketry, pottery, and furniture-making.
Information gathered from:
League of
Provinces
by:Roberto C. Arellano
This page last revised:January 20, 1999.
