The Museo de Iloko, (also called the Agoo Museum or the Agoo Presidencia), is a heritage building and museum located in

Agoo Agoo, officially the Municipality of Agoo ( ilo, Ili ti Agoo; pag, Baley na Agoo; fil, Bayan ng Agoo), is a 1st class municipality in the province of La Union, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 66,028 people. Ago ...

La Union La Union (), officially the Province of La Union ( ilo, Probinsia ti La Union; Kankanaey'': Probinsyan di La Union;'' Ibaloi'': Probinsya ne La Union;'' pag, Luyag/Probinsia na La Union; Tagalog'': Lalawigan ng La Union),'' is a province in th ...

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

, known for its collection of "artifacts and other pieces of cultural importance to the Ilocanos", and for being one of few surviving examples of American Colonial Era architecture in the Ilocos Region. It is one of only two major public museums in the province of La Union.Dacumos, Jane. (22 June 2012) Museums of La Union. vigattintourism.com https://www.vigattintourism.com/tourism/articles/Museums-of-La-Union accessed 30 August 2015 The first floor of the building was converted into a franchise of fastfood giant

Chowking Chowking () is a Chinese cuisine fast food restaurant selling mostly noodle soups, dim sum and rice bowls. Its headquarters in the Philippines. After Jollibee Foods Corporation (JFC) acquired Chowking in 2000, the brand was placed under F ...

in 2013. Artifacts in the museum include religious paraphernalia connected with Archbishops Mariano Madriaga and Antonio Mabutas, some personal effects of former president

Elpidio Quirino Elpidio Rivera Quirino (born Elpidio Quirino y Rivera; ; November 16, 1890 – February 29, 1956) was a Filipino lawyer and politician who served as the sixth president of the Philippines from 1948 to 1953. A lawyer by profession, Quirino enter ...

, and locally excavated

Ming Dynasty The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...

artifacts.

History

The Museo de Iloko was originally created in the days of the American occupation as the Presidencia or municipal building of Agoo. The presidencia was renovated and converted into a museum in 1981, part of a wave of local museums created during the later days of the Marcos administration, with the influence of then-tourism minister Jose D. Aspiras. It was severely damaged during the

1990 Luzon earthquake The 1990 Luzon earthquake struck the island of Luzon in the Philippines at 4:26 p.m. on July 16 ( PDT) or 3:26 p.m. ( PST) with an estimated moment magnitude of 7.7 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (''Violent'') and produced a 1 ...

, so its collections were temporarily transferred to the nearest museum, the Museo de La Union in

San Fernando, La Union San Fernando City, officially the City of San Fernando ( ilo, Siudad ti San Fernando; fil, Lungsod ng San Fernando), is a 3rd class Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, component city and capital of the Provinces of the Philippines, p ...

. The structure was repaired and restored after the earthquake, retaining its heritage design until 2013, when the local government of La Union approved the conversion of the first floor of the building into a franchise of fastfood giant

References

{{coord missing, Philippines Buildings and structures in La Union Museums in the Philippines History museums in the Philippines