Dingras Church

Dingras is one of the most picturesque facades in the country not due to its Baroque grandeur, but because of its perfectly beautiful proportions, the patina of the ancient bricks and more importantly its enduring and eternal visage of a ruin.

An exploration of the built heritage of Dingras starts in the town center, with its splendid church ruins and the adjacent convento and atrio.

It is but just a shadow of a grand church destroyed by earthquake and fire in 1913, it once boasted of a tin roof and formidable walls. The church, which is 90 paces long and 20 paces wide is one of the largest in the Philippines. Started as a vicariate of Batac, was elevated to a parish by the Augustinians and dedicated to St. Joseph as patron. Father Bartolome Conrado became its first parish priest in 1598. It was changed back to a vicariate in 1603, then back to being a parish as it became the center of the the Augustinian Mission in 1605. It was destroyed by an earthquake in 1619; rebuilt before it was burnt down in 1838, and was destroyed by lightning in 1853. Last rebuilt by Father Ricardo Deza, OSA with the help of then Mayor Camilo Millan, from the contribution of 58 municipalities in 1879-1893, amounting to 128,649.31 Mexican pesos.

The present monumental church and convento were commenced by Fray Damaso Vieytez, OSA during his term which begun in 1849 until his death in 1854. This was the most ambitious project of Fr. Vieytez, OSA (he also instigated the building of roads and bridges to Dingras and stone watch towers in Santiago and San Esteban, both in Ilocos Sur). The church and convento of Dingras were shattered by fire and earthquake in 1914 and again in 1931 (on the feast day of the patron San Jose de Dingras) and had to be abandoned.

The Dingras façade, together with those at Sarrat and San Nicolas in Ilocos Norte and Santa Maria (Ilocos Sur) and to a lesser extent Bacarra (Ilocos Norte), recalls the lines of 1760 Manila Cathedral (which design in turn can be traced to the church of Il Gesu, Rome, a masterpiece of Vignola). The impressive church, though badly battered, gives the interested tourist the best opportunity to study brick architecture in the province. Much of the brickwork has been exposed, because most of the protective palitada (lime plaster) has crumbled; on some walls, it is possible to see holes meant to anchor the bamboo framework from where masons laid the bricks or toweled the plaster. Walking slowly along the sides, it is possible to observe the multi layeredness of brick composing the walls and also the variety of bricks; rectangles of different sizes, pie slices for the columns and leaf-and-volute shapes for the Composite Capitals. At the back of the façade, one can notice wooden girders through the brickwork, perhaps meant to serve as braces. By 1891, both church and convento had roofs with galvanized iron sheets, the government had banned brick tiles because of their weight and the danger of falling on pedestrians during storms or earthquake.

The old convento, now a school, precedes the church in a configuration unusual for Ilocos Norte.



The facade of the church as taken on April 5, 2009. There are already bamboo scaffoldings attached to the church












References:
Ilocos Norte; A travel Guidebook;Gameng Foundation, Inc. Museo Ilocos Norte,Laoag City, 2004
Pride of Place; Dingras church façade set for demolition, Augusto Villalon, Philippine Daily Inquirer, posted on February 9, 2009

History of ILOCANDIA

Before the influx of the Spaniards, the coastal plains in northwestern Luzon, stretching from Bangui (Ilocos Norte) in the north to Namacpacan (Luna, La Union) in the south, were, as a whole, known as a progressive region called the Ylokos. This region lies in between the China Sea in the west and Northern Cordilleras on the east. The inhabitants built their villages near the small bays on coves called “looc” in the dialect. These coastal inhabitants were referred to as “Ylocos” which literally meant “from the lowlands”. The entire region was then called by the ancient name “Samtoy” from “sao mi ditoy” which in Ilokano mean “our dialect”. The region was later called by the Spaniards as “Ylocos” or “Ilocos” and its people “Ilocanos”.

The Ilocos Region was already a thriving, fairly advanced cluster of towns and settlements familiar to Chinese, Japanese and Malay traders when the Spaniard explorer Don Juan de Salcedo, grandson of a Spanish Conquistador Miguel Lopez de Legazpi, and members of his expedition arrived in Vigan on June 13, 1572. Forthwith, they made Cabigbigaan (Bigan), the heart of the Ylokos settlement their headquarters which Salcedo called “Villa Fernandina” and which eventually gained fame as the “Intramuros of Ilocandia”. Salcedo declared the whole Northern Luzon as an encomienda. Subsequently, he became the encomendero of Vigan and Lieutenant Governor of the Ylokos until his death in July 1574.

Salcedo organized the Ilocos Region into a province in June 1574. This new province included a coast that stretched from Bangui (Ilocos Norte) to the Gulf of Lingayen, (Pangasinan). The region was divided further into alcaldias with Vigan as its center

As the Christianization of the region grew, so did the landscape of the area. Vast tracks of land were utilized for churches and bell towers in line with the Spanish mission of "bajo las campanas". In the town plaza, it was not uncommon to see garrisons under the church bells. The colonization process was slowly being carried out.

The Spanish colonization of the region, however, was never completely successful. Owing to the abusive practices of many Augustinian friars, a number of Ilocanos revolted against their colonizers. Noteworthy of these were the Dingras uprising (1589) and Pedro Almasan revolt (San Nicolas, 1660). In 1762, Diego Silang led a series of battles aimed at freeing the Ilocanos from the Spanish yoke. When he died from an assassin's bullet, his widow Gabriela continued the cause. Unfortunately, she too was captured and hanged. In 1807, the sugar cane ("basi") brewers of Piddig, Ilocos Norte rose up in arms to protest the government's monopoly of the wine industry. The Basi Revolt actually started in Piddig and spread to other towns of Ilocos Sur. The fierce and bloody battle ended near the banks of Bantaoay river, now known as barangay Gongogong, in San Ildefonso (Ilocos Sur)

In an effort to gain more political control and because of the increasing population of the region, Governor Manuel Bernaldez recommended a Royal Decree called “Cedula Real” which was signed on February 2, 1818 splitting Ilocos into two provinces: Ilocos Norte and Ilocos Sur with Sarrat and Vigan as the respective provincial capitals. During that period, Ilocos Sur still includes the northern part of La Union (as far as Namacpacan, now Luna) and all of what now the province of Abra. The subprovince of Lepanto and Amburayan in Mt. Province were annexed to Ilocos Sur. Soon thereafter, the provinces of La Union and Abra likewise became independent.

In 1988, the area of Ilocos Region was further diminished when Abra was declared as part of the Cordillera Administrative Region.

References:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilocano_people
http://diossel.tripod.com/id10.html
http://www.visitregion1.com/perprov.php?menu=1&mid=2
http://www.ilocossur.com.ph/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=59&Itemid=148
http://www.geocities.com/vigansite/contents/history.htm
http://www.travelsmart.net/article/10000406
Ilocos Norte; A travel Guidebook; Gameng Foundation, Inc. Museo Ilocos Norte, Laoag City, 2004

Pinakbet

Pinakbet or pakbet is a native dish in Ilocandia. It is a contracted Ilocano word “pinakebbet” which means shrunk or shrivelled. The basic ingredients are tarong (eggplant), okra (ladyfinger), parya (bitter gourd), kamatis (tomatoes), bawang (garlic) & lasona (onion with or without its spring). These vegetables are usually cooked until almost dry. The flavor of the veggies is accentuated by buggoung (fermented fish) but in some municipalities, they use buggoong aramang (fermented shrimp). Karne ti baboy (pork), sometimes cooked into different dishes like bagnet, lechon or chicharon, is also added.

Aside from the basic ingredients, some Ilocanos put additional veggies like repolyo (cabbage), cauliflower,patani (lima beans), parda (Indian beans), Utong (string beans) karabasa (squash), and chicharo. In some areas, they prefer kamote (sweet potato), sili a pimmasayan (long pepper), kabatiti (sponge gourd), cardis (green peas) and other vegetables available in their backyard garden..

Originally, when Ilocano cook this dish, they just place all the ingredients in a banga (earthen pot), putting the veggies which are harder to cook below the easier ones like the repolyo, kamatis and the like, then stirred frequently until it is almost dry. But in some areas lately, they sauté first the pork, kamatis, lasona, laya and buggoong before putting the veggies.

Ilocano enjoys eating this dish especially when it is cold (even a day after it was cooked) and with fried rice.

Welcome to The Ylocos Heritage

Welcome to The Ylocos Heritage!

It has been observed that due to the modern life and technology, the Ilocano, especially the youth, already ignoring their heritage, and gradually forgetting it. Due to commercialization and sometimes politics, built as well as natural heritage were being demolished. Some people do not value these tangible and intangible things that inherited to us by our old folks and some people do not appreciate its importance.

But, if we try to continue ignoring its value, we will lose everything. Future generations will have no references of the past. Old folks might blame these children of not following on what they’ve believed and of not preserving on what they’ve built for us.

This site was created to promote the Ilocano heritage. It will feature, of course, the culture, tradition and the built and natural heritage and other features found in Ilocandia.

Everybody is welcome to share their thoughts, knowledge and ideas regarding the Ilocano heritage. May this will serve as an inspiration to the people to promote and preserve our legacy….