In 1828 Spain issued a royal decree which mandated that Chinese residents in the Philippines be gathered into villages and have their own local governments. They will have their own cabeza de barangays and their own gobernadorcillos.
There was only one town in Pangasinan where this decree became applicable. It was Lingayen. It had sizable residents of Chinese descent who qualified to form their own local government.
Thus from 1828 up to 1896, a period of 68 years, Lingayen had two municipal governments that stood side by side: one for the naturals (natives) and another one for the sangleys (the Chinese meztizos).
Rosario Mendoza Cortez claimed that in 1887 the sangley residents of Lingayen consisted of 700 families, which were divided into 14 cabecerias (barangays) with a total population of 2,793.
Historians indicate that the nucleus of what became the town of Lingayen started as a Chinese colony. This community occupied the riverbank in what is now the Lingayen poblacion that during the Spanish period came to be known as Barraca. This is the area starting from the site of the Lingayen municipal hall up to the river bed in Pangasinan.
Columnist Bambi L. Harper suggests that Lingayen was named after a Chinese official and geographer who visited the Philippines in 1280, who wrote about Lingayen.
When Yung Lo was emperor of China (1402-1424) he was said to have extended his rule over the entire island of Luzon. To govern this island, he installed Ko Cha Lao as governor here.
Local historian Antonio del Castillo y Tuazon, native of Lingayen and of Chinese descent, in a lengthy article he wrote on Princess Urduja, claimed that the colonial government headed by Ko Cha Lao was located in Lingayen.
After the death of Yung Lo, the Chinese rule over Luzon collapsed. Castillo suggested that the personnel of that Chinese colonial government of 1402-1424 opted to remain in Lingayen.
Thus in 1574, when the Chinese naval commander Lim Ah Hong (Lim the good man) attempted to capture Manila twice from Spanish hands but failed, he established his fort in Domalandan, to avail of the support of the Chinese community in Lingayen.
Creation of the Municipality
Lingayen, the capital town of Pangasinan, is situated along the famous Lingayen Gulf, the Agno River and Limahong Channel. It was founded by Augustinian missionaries in 1614. It got its name from an exceptionally big tree growing at that time in the present town plaza - so big that it attracted passersby who usually look back which in the dialect is lingawen. Later the place became Lingayen.
Today, Lingayen is a second-class municipality with an approximate land area of 6,689.68 has. subdivided into 32 barangays including seven (7) sitios, all classified as urban areas according to recent National Census. The terrain is flat with soil suitable to agriculture. Because of its location, fishponds and nipa palms abound throughout the town. Its climate is cool and chilly during December to February, warm in March and April and wet from May to October. Accessible by land, water, and air transportation, the town is now thickly populated and progressive. It is also becoming an educational center in Western Pangasinan.
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