BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE LGU:
BANTAY is one of the Municipalities of the first District of Ilocos Sur, situated just northeast (or as a gateway) of Vigan City, the Provincial capital. It lies within the latitude 17’33’ to 17’40’ and longitude 120’23’ to 120’31’. It is bounded on the North by Municipalities of San Ildefonso, Santo Domingo and Magsingal; on the South by Abra river and a portion of Vigan City; on the West by San Vicente and partly by Vigan; and on the East by the Province of Abra and by Santa. Traversed via the Manila North Road (MNR), Bantay is approximately 138 kilometers north of San Fernando, La Union, the regional center of Region 1, and 403 kilometers away from Manila, the capital of the Philippines. Based on the latest (2005) census report of NEDA, Bantay has a total population of 32,693, 5,449 numbers of households and 15,522 registered voters. Its total land area is 104.85 sq. kms. or 10,485 hectares with a network of 100.706 kms. of Barangay road, 5.33 kms. of Municipal road and 13.75 kms. of National road. It is classified as a 4th class LGU with thirty four (34) barangays.
HISTORY OF “BANTAY”:
The naming of the town as a Local Government Unit has two versions. One, some people believed it was named ‘bantay’ [or ‘kabanbantayan’] after its natural and physical features, meaning MOUNTAIN, because of its hilly and mountainous terrain, particularly at its eastern portion. Second, the other explanation is linked to the Holy Shrine of the famous and miraculous Image of our Lady of Charity, which was accidentally found by fishermen on board a ship that got stranded on the shores of the Ilocos coast during the Spanish colonial period where only people from Bantay were able to carry it. Bringing home to their place, the Bantay residents built a chapel, which is now the main feature of St. Augustine Parish Church. It is often said that, from the time the miraculous Image was brought to Bantay, Tagalogs and Zambals would come to town claiming for the Holy Shrine and Image of Our Lady of Charity but even with all their might and efforts, they were not able to move nor possess it. Instead, they left Bantay with the notion and belief that the Holy Shrine was meant purposely, and the miraculous Image of the Virgin intended, to remain for the residents of Bantay only, therein to reside forever to “guard” the place. Thus, evolved the name of the town as -BANTAY-, meaning, GUARDIAN.
CREATION OF THE TOWN:
Juan de Salcedo, the great Spanish conquistador, first arrived in Ilocos in 1571 and began setting up tribunals that soon became the seat of municipal governance; while the Augustinian friars followed in 1572 and started building the convent or house of worship that later became the St Augustine Parish Church. But it was only in 1591 that the parish was recognized or first established, while the town of Bantay was formally founded (as duly organized pueblo) in 1593 because it was formerly a part of Vigan. It is one of the thirty-four (34) towns of the Province of Ilocos Sur, the legal basis of its juridical existence is the MAURA LAW OF 1893 and, thus, was constituted as a separate political subdivision during the American regime.
MAJOR AND SIGNIFICANT EVENTS:
The early Spanish settlers made the town beautiful by building the ‘tribunal’, otherwise known as the town hall, the church, bell tower, roads and streets by forced labor. The St. Augustine church was originally made of bamboo and cogon structure built by Bantay residents to house the miraculous Image of Our Lady of Charity, but it was later-on changed into a permanent edifice (built and completed in 1590) because of the good fortune it brought to the people. The Augustinian friars chose Saint Augustine de Hippo, the Doctor of Grace, as the Patron Saint and the town fiesta used to be celebrated every 28th of August, but because of inclement weather during this month, Fr. Alfredo Verzosa (Parish Priest, 1912-1916) caused the transfer of the festivity to May 5 of every year.
The original inhabitants of the town have family names start with letter “P” taken from the designated listing, as an adopted system of the Spanish rulers in all the towns of Ilocos Sur, to easily identify and monitor movement of residents. In a report of Bishop Domingo de Soria on August 15, 1613, the population of Bantay was 4,000 souls while at that time, Vigan parish has only 2,000. This can be explained by the fact that by then, Bantay parish was very extensive and broad with the inclusions of the parishes of Magsingal (separated in 1676), Santo Domingo (separated in 1742), San Ildefonso (separated in 1769), San Vicente (separated in 1795), Sta. Catalina de Baba (separated in 1795) and Sta. Catalina de Alexandria (now Santa) within its coverage or bisitas.
One of the Augustinian friars, Fr. Francisco Lopez, a great Augustinian Philologist, with the help of Pedro Bucaneg, the blind genius of the Ilocano tongue who was from this place and author of the epic Biag ni Lam-ang, labored hard to translate the Bellarmine Catechism originally written by Robert Cardinal Bellarmine. The book was approved at the Bantay convent in 1616 printed in Malayan script and Spanish alphabet and was first published in 1621. The Bellarmine Catechism was the first book in Ilocano to be printed and its influence on the morality, culture and language of the entire Ilocos is immeasurable.
Several battles have spillovers in Bantay, one of which was the Ilocos revolt (Dec. 24, 1762 to May, 1763) led by Diego Silang. Here, this heroic figure resolved to kill the bishop-elect Bernardo Ustariz and all Spanish friars imprisoned by him in Bantay. The prisoners prayed fervently to our Lady of Charity for their deliverance then a Spanish mestizo nicknamed “Vicos” treacherously killed Silang on May 28, 1763 with a pistol at his makeshift fort that took place on a hillside referred to as Calle Encuentro (now Crisologo St). For the Spaniards, Vicos was their savior and to his honor a commemorative monument was erected in 1763 which became the epitome of the Municipal plaza. However, by the end of the 19th century, it was renamed as Diego Silang Park where a statue of Diego Silang now stands but the Vicos memorial was not removed for historical significance.
Education gained acceptance during the Spanish rule, however, it was at the time of the American regime that more schools were established.
Not long before the coming of the Japanese, the people of Bantay were divided into two opposing groups called the Westerners and the Easterners. The national road going to the North, which is located at the Poblacion, was then known as the ‘caratela general’ that served as a demarcation or borderline between the two feuding factions. The spirit of strong sectionalism prevailed between the two groups that not anyone from either group dared to step in the other’s ground to enjoy any form of social intercourse or to ask for help. This dissenting spirit only ceased after the battle of the Greater East Asia Co-prosperity sphere, the aggressors of whom were the Japanese who occupied the Philippines in 1941. In their evacuation places in the mountains and remote barrios, the two opposing groups finally decided to bury their hatred and fought united against the Japanese aggressors.
During World War II, exactly on April 15, 1945, three big incendiary bombs hit the church but none of them exploded, however five other bombs exploded fifty meters away from it that resulted in the collapse of its roofs. Miraculously, the Image of Our Lady of Charity, which is probably the oldest Marian Image in Ilocandia, remained unscathed. The Church was later rebuilt (in 1950) after the cessation of the arm conflict.
Bantay is one of the very few towns in the country with two (2) established parochial parishes, the other one -Christ the King Parish- at Barangay Paing was inaugurated by Archbishop Santiago Sancho and Auxiliary Bishop, the Most Rev. Juan C. Sison, on December 12, 1953.
On January 12, 1956, Apostolic Nuncio to the Philippines, Egidio Vagnozzi canonically crowned, while Archbishop Santiago Sancho of Nueva Segovia proclaimed, the holy Image of Our Lady of Charity as the shrine of “Queen of Ilocandia” which is now figuratively adorned at the Bantay parish church, turning Bantay as the sanctuary of Nuestra Senora de la Caridad in Northern Luzon. Thereafter, a Templete of Apo Caridad was built by the parishioners where the coronation anniversary is celebrated.
In the late 1960’s, Ilocos Sur was disreputably renowned for its notoriety due to the relentless clashes of feuding political clans and herein coined the lingo ‘saka-saka’ (barefooted), which refers to the dreaded private armies, cunningly representing themselves as militia men, who would ruthlessly kill and malevolently carry out orders for their benefactors. Barangay Ora-West was then an identified lair of the Crisologos; while Ora-East was a known coddler of the Singsons that the people in these Barangays were at grave odds, depending on the purok (either sitio West, East or Centro) a resident belongs. Then came nightfall of May 22, 1969, almost all the households of sitio Ora-East and Ora Centro lost their houses and belongings when, right before the folks eyes, these were burned to the ground by attacking mercenaries, several of whom believed were their adversaries from Ora-West. The atrocity that took place was very historical as it triggered one of the causes for the declaration of martial law in 1972 and was decided in a celebrated landmark arson case (People vs Camilo Pilotin, et. al., L-35377-78, 7/31/75), which is the leading jurisprudence and classical illustration cited in law books where the Supreme Court exercised its constitutional mandate ‘to order change of venue or place of trial to avoid miscarriage justice’. Presently, however, all is put to oblivion as adherents of the disputing families rested their political reprisals and rivalry and the only remnants were the terrified inhabitants, some still lives today recounting their horrifying experience.
Inspired with the common vision that it will strengthen and improve the totality of local governance, Municipal buildings [Annex I (Legislative Building) and Annex II (Puericulture Center)] were blessed and inaugurated on December 23, 1999 and May 5, 2003, respectively. Considered as major breakthroughs and milestone feats in the history of Bantay, these massive structures were built to ‘reinforce’ the old (main) town hall in order to meet the vast administrative demands and service requirements of the public clientele. Sourced from Provincial and Municipal funds, these expansion edifices are the lasting tributes of the town administrators (1995-1998 and 1998-2001) showcasing local accomplishment and a legacy during their incumbency.
Source: The Insights of Bantay by Leo Dagdag
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