About Tuguegarao City

Etymology, there are several versions of legends looming about the origin of the name of the city of Tuguegarao. One is the abundance of "tarrao" trees in the area. Another is from the word "tuggi" meaning fire. Another recorded version is, the town was formerly called Tuerao by the people of the northern towns. Still another is that the name Tuguegarao comes from two Ibanag words "tuggi" (fire) and "aggao" (day), possibly referring to a daytime fire that happened in the town. The most accepted version of the legend is the Ibanags' reply to the Spaniards when the latter asked for the name of the place - "Tuggi gari yaw", meaning "This used to be fire", or the town was carved out of the wilderness by clearing and burning. On the other hand, a historical evidence that might provide clues to the origin of the city's name comes from the fact that in 1591, the place was listed as a Spanish encomienda (land grant), which was originally a pre-colonial settlement called Tubigarao.[6]

The community was governed as a barangay established by the Dominicans as a mission until the Spaniards gave it the status of pueblo (municipality) on May 9, 1604, making it one of the political units of the province of Cagayan. The settlement was a small in terms of population but was big in territory, which then included what would later become the provinces of Isabela, Nueva Vizcaya and Quirino till the 1850s. As a mission pueblo and with assigned encomendero (landlord) to Tuguegarao, the inhabitants (as tenants) were made to pay taxes in the form of poultry products and other food products. Resentments later flared and the people of Tuguegarao revolted in 1605, killing the encomendero. Again, the people of Tuguegarao revolted in 1718 and then 1761 under a leader named Rivera.

The first parochial building of Tugugarao was constructed in 1604, a chapel that became the foundation of what is now the Ermita de Piedra de San Jacinto (Stone Chapel of Saint Hyacinth) dedicated to Saint Hyacinth, the patron saint of Tuguegarao. The present chapel is the latest in a process of rebuilding that started in 1724 when it was rebuilt by Fr. Bernabe de la Magdalena, O.P..

Tuguegarao became the capital of Cagayan province in 1839 when the provincial seat of power was relocated from Lal-lo. The decline of Lal-lo became the transformation of Tuguegarao as the most important town in Cagayan.

Tuguegarao City Tourism Video.

Shot by Pogstography

Uploaded by Robert Soriano

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