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An Old Spanish Church In Santiago Stands Next To A Road (1910) |
On May 4, 1743, Santiago Apostol de Carig (the forerunner of Santiago City) was established by the Dominican Fray Antonio del Campo, the acknowledged founder of towns from Cauayan to Bayombong. Carig was originally located inside the mountainous area between the present Isabela and Nueva Vizcaya specifically at the foothill of Mount Dalayag near the Carig Creek, a tributary of the Diadi River.
The townsite of Carig was later transferred about fifteen kilometers to the plains of Diffun in Patul (the present location) at the confluence of the Carig, Ilut and Malapat Rivers. The joining together of the rivers became known as Calao River. “Calao” or “union of water” referred to the waters from Diadi, Ilug, Malapat, Dubinan and Baligatan while Patul was derived from the name of a brave Gaddang chief by the name of Patul.
Carig was the home of the Gaddangs with Fulatao as one of the first leaders who in turn was a vassal to Danao. The name “Carig” means “a straight high tree” which referred to a tree species which abounded the locality. On May 4, 1746, Carig was formally accepted as an ecclesiastical mission under the patronage of Saint James the Apostle. In 1765, Carig was elevated into a vicarate with Fray Gregorio Marinas as the first vicar. In 1772, the Fort of Afanas (now Aritao town in Nueva Vizcaya) was moved to Carig. The Spanish military fort, under the patronage of the Infant Jesus of Prague (Santo Niño), served to blunt the counter-attacks of the Igorots from Diffun, Namamparan and Mayoyao.
Fray Manuel Mora described in February 8, 1805 the fort consisting of a sergeant, two cabos and thirty-nine soldiers. In 1804, in Carig, an irrigation system for the planting of rice was introduced. Carig planted an abundance of rice. On May 1858, a royal decree was promulgated officially creating the pueblo of Santiago de Carig. In 1860, the stone and mortar convent of the Church of Carig was constructed. It was 35x10 meters wide and was finished during the watch of Fray Bonifacio Corujedo. In 1870, Fray Santiago Jutgla added a building of wood 12x8 meters wide.
In 1890, the Church of Santiago, which was made of light materials since 1743, was constructed with mortar and stones by Fray Manuel Candela. The Church was almost finished when Fray Candela was imprisoned during the Philippine Revolution of 1898. The Church size was 67x17 meters in the exterior and 62x14 meters in the interior with a transept and two sacristies on each side.
REFERENCE:
- HISTORY OF THE PROVINCE OF ISABELA by Troy Alexander G. Miano, DPA, LPT
- https://anghistorya.blogspot.com/2018/08/political-historical-of-province-of.html
- http://provinceofisabela.ph/index.php/general-info/history-culture
- http://provinceofisabela.ph/images/2018/History_of_Isabela/1-History%20of%20Isabela.pdf
- PHOTOGRAPHER Bruner, E. Murray
- https://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/KVHTE3CVJ34KX8A
