Bauang, La Union

Bauang, officially the Municipality of Bauang ( ilo, Ili ti Bauang; fil, Bayan ng Bauang), is a 1st class municipality in the province of La Union, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 78,449 people. In Philippine Literature and History, it is known for being the homeplace of literary icon and World War II martyr Manuel Arguilla.

The MacArthur Highway runs through the town which junctions with Naguilian Road, one of the mountain roads leading to Baguio.

Etymology

Bauang originated from either two Ilocano language words: ''baoang'' (meaning "garlic") or ''buang'' also means "river split into two" flowing into the sea (in reference to the delta that divides an eponymous river into two).

History

Bauang was a pre-colonial settlement in the country that became one of the first missions organized by the Augustinians in Northern Luzon. It used to belong to the federation of towns and settlements jointly known as “Baratao, Buratao and Balitao”. In 1587, Bauang became the center of the “ministerio” of Baratao and was first placed under the patronage of Sts. Peter and Paul. Fr. Miguel Sano, an Augustinian missionary, was the first priest of the Parish of the Chair of St. Peter which was later on reverted to its historical titular Saints Peter and Paul.

Like other towns in the province, Bauang also had its share in the devastating invasions of Moro pirates ("''tirong''") made series of invasions in Bauang. These invasions gave rise to the construction of watchtowers or ''baluarte'', by then ''Gobernadorcillo'' Don Juan Mallare. In 1890, Bauang ''revolucionarios'' led by Remigio Patacsil and Mauro Ortiz ousted the Spanish colonizers (''cazadores'' or Spanish soldiers).

In 1913, however, Bauang barrios were given to San Fernando: Pagudpud, Pagdalagan, Sevilla, Bungro, Tanquigan, and Sibuan-Otong. During the Pacific War, heroes of Bauang fought in its beaches, in Lingayen Gulf, Bataan and Corregidor (as USAFIP-NL). The Japanese executed Manuel Arguilla, poet and journalist, Major Alberto O. Fenit ( USAFFE), and Bauang Mayor Ambrosio Rimando. A town plaza monument today honors these Bauang heroes.

On March 14, 1945, the Allied Forces, along with guerillas and local inhabitants successfully captured the Bauang Bridges from the Japanese forces. The bridge was heavily guarded by the Japanese Army as it is the feasible route to Baguio, where the Japanese themselves virtually inaccessible from any ground attack. The capture of the two bridges is one of the most brilliant small unit actions of World War II.

Bauang is known as the Beach Capital of the Philippines (1970, the shorelines of Baccuit Sur to Pagdalagan Sur). Bauang has a treasure: Research Reef (a dive spot for local and foreign scuba divers).

Geography

Bauang is located from Metro Manila, and from San Fernando, the provincial capital. Bauang is also lying west of Baguio via Naguilian Road.

Climate

Barangays

Bauang is politically subdivided into 39 barangays. These barangays are headed by elected officials: Barangay Captain, Barangay Council, whose members are called Barangay Councilors. All are elected every three years.

Demographics

In the 2020 census, the population of Bauang was 78,449 people, with a density of .

Economy

Tourism

Festivals and local events

The natives, who are predominantly Roman Catholic, speak Iloko, Filipino, and English. The primary industries are farming, fishing, power plant, and quarrying.

Bauang's main products are rice, corn, guapples and native grapes (barangays Payocpoc, Santiago, Bagbag, and Urayong), mango, lowland vegetables, livestock, tobacco, marine products, saltwater fish politically.

Guapple by-products are also sold in Bauang: bread, buchi, chunky, cocktail, cookies, cupcake, dried, empanada, espasol, flan, guinataan, gulaman, inipit, jam, jelly, juice, kutsinta, pastilles, maja, marmalade, oatmeal, pie, yema, polvoron, preserved, rolls, siopao, tarts, turrones, macaroons, bars, and fingers as pasalubongs.

Beaches and sunsets of Bauang

Bauang is known for its fine-sand beaches, including Taberna, Baccuit Sur and Norte, Paringao, and Pagdalagan Sur beaches.

Bauang's beaches are accessible from several resorts: Bali Hai Beach Resort (Paringao), Long Beach Resort, Coconut Grove Beach Resort and San Luis del Mar (Baccuit Norte), inter alia.

Manuel Arguilla commemorations

Among the Philippines literary circles, Bauang has become a piligrimage site of sorts for celebrating the life of and works of writer and World War II martyr Manuel Arguilla, with writers visiting the author's hometown to experince the landscapes that inspired him, and which featured prominently in his stories.

The most prominent event celebrating Arguilla was the 2017 run of the Taboan Literary Festival, a celebration of Philippine literature which changes venues every year, organized by the National Commission on Culture and the Arts during every National Arts Month in February. Among the prominent artists who came to the festival to celebrate Arguilla were writer-academic Butch Dalisay and National Artist of the Philippines Bienvenido Lumbera.

The ancestral house where Arguilla grew up is still standing at Barangay Nagrebcan in Bauang, bearing a historical marker put in place by the National Historical Commission of the Philippines.

Saints Peter and Paul Parish Church

The Sts. Peter & Paul Parish Church (canonically erected on 25 April 1587 by the Augustinian missionaries) celebrates its fiesta every June 29. It is under the jurisdiction of the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Fernando de La Union (Dioecesis Ferdinandopolitana ab Unione, Suffragan of Lingayen – Dagupan, which was created on January 19, 1970, and erected on April 11, 1970, comprising the Civil Province of La Union, under the Titular, St. William the Hermit, February 10). It has been headed by the Most Rev. Rodolfo F. Beltran, D.D., bishop since 18 January 2013. The Church is under a diocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church in the Philippines from the Archdiocese of Nueva Segovia

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