Pila Historical Society Foundation Inc.
3. La Villa Fernandina de Vigan (1574)
“The Conqueror of Northern Luzón,” Don Juán de Salcedo likewise founded La Villa Fernandina in Vigan on the authority of Governor Labezares. Its indigenous name, Biga, refers to a plant (Alocasia macrorrhiza) with large heart-shaped leaves and edible stem. At once building a wooden palisade around the villa that led to the Igorot gold route, Salcedo named it for Prince Ferdinand, eldest son of Philip II. Surprisingly, the “war-like” though industrious Viguenses had taken kindly to the young conquistador. Ominously, Prince Ferdinand died in 1575 at the age of four and the following year, the 27 year-old Salcedo followed him to the next life. Suffering from a malignant fever reportedly after drinking impure water, he was nursed with gentle care by certain inhabitants of the villa but in vain. Before he died, Salcedo, in gratitude, had named them his heirs. But his estate had whittled down due to insufficient management. xv
At various times in the late 16th and early 17th centuries, Pampango farmers and Ilocano and Pangasinense soldiers were deployed for the exploration of the Igorot mines but without much success. Probably as a result of this, Villa Fernandina was bypassed by the Spaniards in the 17th century in favor of Lal-lo, Cagayan where the seat of the Northern diocese of Nueva Segovia was established. It was Bishop Juán de la Fuente Yépez (1753-57) who officially shifted the center of the see to Vigan and petitioned the king to confirm the move. On September 7, 1758, the monarch obliged in a royal decree and moreover, declared Vigan a city.xvi As cited earlier, it was one of the only two Philippine villas, which also became a city, the other being Cebú.
Thereafter, several Spanish families settled in Vigan. The most prominent among them were the Burgoses who produced Padre José Apolonio Burgos, a luminous leader of the diocesan clergy. Their ancestral mansion still stands in the city center. No sooner had he earned two doctorates in the ecclesiastical sciences at the University of Santo Tomás in Manila than he was cut down for alleged complicity in the Cavite Mutiny of 1872. Not the Spaniards, however, but the Chinese mestizos with their entrepreneurial spirit hastened the economic growth of Vigan starting in the late 18th century. xvii
At various times in the late 16th and early 17th centuries, Pampango farmers and Ilocano and Pangasinense soldiers were deployed for the exploration of the Igorot mines but without much success. Probably as a result of this, Villa Fernandina was bypassed by the Spaniards in the 17th century in favor of Lal-lo, Cagayan where the seat of the Northern diocese of Nueva Segovia was established. It was Bishop Juán de la Fuente Yépez (1753-57) who officially shifted the center of the see to Vigan and petitioned the king to confirm the move. On September 7, 1758, the monarch obliged in a royal decree and moreover, declared Vigan a city.xvi As cited earlier, it was one of the only two Philippine villas, which also became a city, the other being Cebú.
Thereafter, several Spanish families settled in Vigan. The most prominent among them were the Burgoses who produced Padre José Apolonio Burgos, a luminous leader of the diocesan clergy. Their ancestral mansion still stands in the city center. No sooner had he earned two doctorates in the ecclesiastical sciences at the University of Santo Tomás in Manila than he was cut down for alleged complicity in the Cavite Mutiny of 1872. Not the Spaniards, however, but the Chinese mestizos with their entrepreneurial spirit hastened the economic growth of Vigan starting in the late 18th century. xvii