Aringay, La Union

Aringay (16°N 26', 120°E 21') is a municipality in the province of La Union in the Ilocos Region of the Philippines. The municipalities of Caba and Burgos to the north, Agoo to the south, the foothills of the Cordillera Central mountain range to the east, and the South China Sea to the west form its boundaries. The town experiences the prevailing monsoon climate of Northern Luzon, characterized by a dry season from November to April and a wet season from May to October. Its economy is based primarily in agriculture, producing rice, tobacco and fruit crops as economic staples. A nascent tourism industry is centered on its beach resorts. Its ethnic population is predominantly Ilocano and Christian (Roman Catholic).

History

Aringay was an ancient village known in pre-colonial times as Alingay or Alinguey. When Spanish colonizers arrived in the late 16th century, they found an enclave of ethnic Pangasinenses actively trading with their Ilocano and Ifugao neighbors and traders from China, Japan and Southeast Asia. The presence of Spanish soldiers, administrators and Augustinian missionaries ushered in the town’s colonial era and its conversion to Roman Catholicism.

Aringay remained a part of Pangasinan province until April 18, 1854, when a royal decree fused the northern towns of that province with the southern towns of Ilocos Sur to create the new province of La Union. The municipalities of Caba and Gallano were later carved out of Aringay’s northern borders.

The 18th and 19th century marked the active expansion of Ilocano territory. Scores of migrants from the Ilocos provinces pushed their way south so that by the end of the 19th century, Aringay was home to mostly Ilocano and Ilocanized Pangasinan families.

Outbreaks of rebellion rocked the town during four centuries of Spanish, American and Japanese colonization. Bloody confrontations ignited by revolutionaries such as Diego Silang and Gabriela Silang during Spanish occupation and by insurgents during the Philippine-American War and the Japanese occupation in World War II marred the bucolic villages of Aringay.

A decisive battle on Aringay River against U.S. forces crippled Ilocano guerrillas. By 1901 the province of La Union was under American occupation.

Japanese forces attacked Aringay on December 1941 and occupied the town until their brutal withdrawal in 1945-1946, when many Aringayenos were massacred.

Politics

Aringay belongs to District 2 in La Union province.

It has 24 barangays: Alaska, Basco, Dulao, Gallano, Macabato, Manga, Pangao-aoan East, Pangao-aoan West, Poblacion, Samara, San Antonio, San Benito Norte, San Benito Sur, San Eugenio, San Juan East, San Juan West, San Simon East, San Simon West, Santa Cecilia, Santa Lucia, Santa Rita East, Santa Rita West, Santo Rosario East, and Santo Rosario West.

Personalities

• Diego Silang
• Gloria Diaz