Inauguration Date - March 9, 1917
Area - 3,975 sq. km.
Population - 195,964(1995)
Native languages spoken:
Number of Municipalities - 27
Number of Congressional Districts - 1
Representative - Hon. Vicente Ysidro "Vicsyd" P. Valera
Governor - Hon. Ma. Zita C. Valera
Vice-Governor - Hon. Luis "Chito" P. Bersamin, Jr.
Due to the mountainous terrains, many paddy fields are in the form of rice terraces and although the Banaue rice rerraces are more popular, Abra's rice terraces cover a larger area. Abra has a fairly large deposit of manganese, copper, and gold, which are still untapped. The forest yields hardwoods like narra, molave, mahogany, and pine trees. When Baguio was developed into a city, pine tree saplings from Abra were transplanted there.
The weather is hot in the lowlands during summer but it is milder in the elevated municipalities. The coolness of winter in Abra is more pronounced than in the other Ilocos provinces.
Although wild boars and deers are not common in the lowlands anymore, they are still roaming around in the mountains.
POINTS OF INTEREST
Despite of the government's efforts to develop places as tourist destinations through the Department of Tourism, the Abrenians are not eager to allow outsiders to discover and exploit their well-preserved and well-guarded habitat. Due to this, the amenities accorded to tourists are minimal and the places, except those located in the capital, are difficult to reach since most of the paths are unpaved or poorly-maintained. The following places though worth the trouble:
3. Libtek Cave - this cave has not been scholarly explored. It can be reached thru a 1-km. tricycle ride from the junction of the Dolores-Lagangilang route.
Aside from the places, there is also an object originally Abrenian. This is the bamboo owner-type jeep with fenders, roof, flooring, seats, hood, spare tire cover, and other parts made of bamboo.
Other points of interest - from European Philippine Services
Tangadan Tunnel. This 40-m tunnel is the only paved access to the province.
III. History
In general, Abra has never been explored extensively to provide evidence of any civilization earlier than 2,000 years ago. It is believed that the rice terraces in Abra were built by the same people who built the famous Banawe Rice Terraces in Ifugao, and the lesser-known Maligkong Rice Terraces in Mt. Province. Although these people belong to different ethnic groups, the Spaniards lump them together as 'igorrotes'(Igorots). To this date, we consider that the first inhabitants of Abra were the Igorots who were believed to have migrated from Indonesia, but some studies theorize that the Igorots came from Southern China, Indochina(now Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia), or Thailand. The Igorots were later replaced by the Itnegs or Tinguians, who were also composed of different ethnic groups, pressuring the former to move further in the hinterlands. Although the Ilokan settlers(Ilocanoes) arrived at around 12th century aboard their 'viray'(other Malay/Indonesian migrants called their boats 'barangay', 'bilog', or 'vinta'), their nature as seafarers and traders confined their settlements along the coastlines. The first Ilocanoes who arrived in Abra came to trade wares with the Igorots and the Itnegs, some of them decided to settle there. The Ilocanoes were already trading wares with the Chinese in the port of Vigan(Ilocos Sur), and with the Japanese at the Port of Agoo,La Union(dubbeb as "puerto de Japon" by the colonizers) when the Spaniards arrived.
Before the Spaniards arrived in the region, the boundaries were ill-defined. Even when they arrived, they only referred to northern Luzon as composed of Pangasinan, Cagayan, Ilocos, and "la montañosa", the mountain province. The Ilocos province was composed of the present-day northern La Union, some towns of Ilocos Sur, Abra, and Ilocos Norte, while the mountain province included the present-day Apayao, Kalinga, Mt. Province, Benguet, some towns of Ilocos Sur, and Ifugao.
When Capt. Juan de Salcedo explored the Ilocos Province(which included Abra) in 1572, he was amazed to find out that most of the locals were literate, reading and writing Iloko in the ancient script. This fact facilitated the conversion of the Ilocanoes into Christianity as pamphlets about the Christian Doctrine(Doctrina Christiana) were published in the Iloko language using the ancient script. He founded Ciudad Fernandina(now Vigan) in honor of King Ferdinand VI of Spain. As a reward, the first Spanish governor general of the Philippines, Miguel de Legazpi, named him the Lieutenant General of the Ilocos Province and the 'encomendero' of Vigan, its capital. He established a garrison in Bangued, encouraging the settlement of the more docile Ilocanoes promising them ownership of lands. Several expeditions were sent by Juan de Salcedo to subdue the Itnegs and the Igorots using 'sepoy' soldiers from India, and Mexico, but all of these were repulsed successfully by the Itneg and Igorot warriors. These highland people were never subjected to the Spanish rule. The invading soldiers were usually mounted in the tall and huge Mexican horses to negotiate the rugged terrains of the highlands but only in few instances that the riders return with the horse. Due to Abra's rich grazing lands in the hillsides and valleys, these horses multiplied rapidly more than the people care to domesticate resulting in free-roaming horses grazing in the wild, reminiscent of the Charles Bronson's movie "Valdez Horses". Abra had the finest horses in the country at that time and it had a lot of them, so the Mexican horse(which actually originated from the Arabian horse brought to Spain by the Moors when they occupied Spain) gained a place in the province's emblem. The Spaniards were so terrified of the fierceness of their opponents especially because all of the killed invading soldiers were decapitated and the heads were paraded as trophies. Later on, the skulls were dried and cleaned and they were used by the local warriors as cup("ungot") in drinking their native wine("basi"), made from fermented sugar cane extract. The Spaniards came to dub these warriors derogatorily as the "igorrotes"("head hunters" from the word "garrote").
Although the highlanders were more jingoistic right from the start of the Spanish occupation while the Ilocanoes were more tolerant in embracing Christianity, the Ilocanoes' sentiments inflamed when the Spaniards started to collect tax. The Malong rebellion in Pangasinan intended to create a kingdom from Pangasinan to Vigan in 1660 but it was foiled by the colonizers. During the British-Spanish War which resulted the occupation of Manila by the British, Diego Silang of Ilocos Sur practically succeeded in establishing an independent government in Ilocos Sur, Pangasinan, and Cagayan in 1762-1763. When Diego Silang was slain, his wife Gabriela Silang and her army retreated to Abra and she continued the struggle from there until she was captured and hanged by the Spanish in 1763. Abra at that time was only accessible by outsiders thru the Abra River gap in Santa, Ilocos Sur, because the province is literally enclosed by mountain ranges. Abrenians normally travel to Ilocos Sur using bamboo rafts locally called "rakit" thru the streaming Abra River, while travelling to Abra is thru hiking or horseback-riding. This also contributed to the proliferation of horses in Abra because the bamboos used in going to Ilocos Sur are sold there and some of the money is used to buy horses in returning. Abrenians are still selling their bamboo produce in Ilocos Sur this way but they don't buy horses anymore as they just commute thru jeepneys on their way home.
In February 2, 1818, a royal decree divided the Ilocos Province into Ilocos Norte and Ilocos Sur, with Abra as its sub-province. Ilocos Sur then included the northern part of La Union, Abra, and Lepanto(Mt. Province). In 1846, Abra became a separate province with Lepanto as its sub-province. In 1850 La Union was created out of towns belonging then to Ilocos Sur and Pangasinan. In 1908 the Philippine Commission again annexed Abra to Ilocos Sur in an attempt to resolve Abra's financial difficulties. But on March 9, 1917, the Philippine Assembly re-established Abra as a province. In 1966, Republic Act no. 4695 divided the Mt. Province into Benguet, Ifugao, Kalinga-Apayao, and Mt. Province. In 1995, Kalinga and Apayao became two separate provinces.
At present times when the colonizers are already long gone, the highlanders(Itnegs and Igorots) are still oppressed due to the greed of the lowlanders in exploiting the natural resources of the mountains, like timber and minerals. Due to this, an Itneg Catholic priest, Fr. Conrado Balweg led an uprising against the government wishing for a self-administered region for the several ethnic minorities in the highlands of the Cordillera. After a dialogue with the government, this resulted to the creation of the Cordillera Autonomous Region(CAR) in 1987 which is comprised of the provinces of Abra, Apayao, Benguet, Ifugao, Kalinga, and the Mt. Province.
3. Bucay - 2805 - Mayor Luisito F. Bernardez - 14,499
4. Bucloc - 2817 - Mayor Egan B. Sangoy - 1,919
5. Daguioman - 2816 - Mayor Manuel Y. Co Kue - 1,475
6. Danglas - 2825 - Mayor Jojo L. Borbon - 4,285
9. Lagangilang - 2902 - (still unresolved) - 12,023
10. Lagayan - 2824 - Mayor Cecilia Luna - 3,412
13. Licuan(Baay) - 2819 - Mayor Annie Lyne A. Castillo - 3,866
14. Luba - 2813- Mayor Gregorio W. Sayen - 5,559
15. Malibcong - 2820 - Mayor Mario R. Ba-awa - 3,870
16. Manabo - 2810 - Mayor Marlon O. Domasing - 8,633
17. Peñarrubia - 2804 - Mayor Lovelyn P. Dumes-ag - 5,048
18. Pidigan - 2806 - Mayor Disraeli P. Pacuno - 9,098
19. Pilar - 2818 - Mayor Demtrio J. Berona - 9,183
20. Sallapadan - 2818 - Mayor Victoria B. Banez - 5,303
21. San Isidro - 2809 - Mayor Elizalde M. Pacsa - 3,842
26. Tubo - 2814 - Mayor Jose L. Segundo - 4,344
27. Villaviciosa - 2811 - Mayor Jose W. Lagon, Jr. - 4,634
V. You
This website will evolve with your help. I'm currently away from Abra, so I rely on informations provided by others. To make this a meeting place of Abrenians, you may leave your messages in the guest book.
If you have any information about Abra that you may want to share, like history of a place, heroes or prominent people, nice places to visit(including details of transportation, board and lodging, and cost), events, pictures, etc. feel free to e-mail me.
If you have a website and wish to link it from here, just give me your URL and I'll be glad to comply. And if you wish to link this site from your web page, feel free to do so.
Sapay koma ta mapapintas ken makumpleto tayo a nalaing daytoy a dap-ayan tayo tapno napia laeng a panglakaan dagiti sinnuman a makaayat nga mangammo ti maipanggep ti nanumo a probinsiya tayo. No adda istoryayo iti Inglis, Tagalog, Ilocano, wenno Itneg, a kayatyo nga maibinglay kadagiti kakailiantayo, ipatulodyo kaniak tapno mainayonkonto ditoy dap-ayan tayo.
April 24, 1999 19:32
