Vigan City is a 5th class city in the province of Ilocos Sur, Philippines. It is the capital city of Ilocos Sur. The city, located on the western coast of the large island of Luzon, facing the South China Sea.
Vigan is a World Heritage Site.It is a World Heritage Site in that it is the most intact example of a Spanish colonial town in Asia, and is well-known for its cobblestone streets and a unique architecture that fuses Asian building design and construction with European colonial architecture and planning.
According to the 2000 census, it has a population of 45,143 people in 9,193 households.
Elpidio Quirino, the 6th president of the Philippines, was born in Vigan.
City Profile
West of the city is the China Sea, where the people of the coastal barangays of Mindoro and San Pedro are engaged in fishing. Different species of salt-water fish such as "tuna", "mackerel", "siganid", "snappers", "buslogan", "lapu-lapu", "sungayan", "pusit", "laki", "baraniti" and others abound in the sea.
Fishponds producing milkfish or "bangus", "malaga", "tilapia", and shellfish such as "padaw" and "arimbukeng" consist of 24.4 hectares.
Geographic Location
City of Vigan, the capital of the province Ilocos Sur, is situated along the western coast of Northern Luzon. It is bounded on the north by the Municipality of Bantay, on the east by the Municipality of Santa and on the South by the Municipality of Caoayan, on the West by he Municipality of Sta. Catalina and on the Southwest by China Sea. It is 408 kilometers to the City of Manila; 80 kilometers from Laoag City and 139 kilometers from San Fernando, La Union. It has a total land area of 2,511 hectares or 25. 11 square kilometers. The poblacion barangays which consist of nine barangays have a total land area of 144. 75 has. The adjoining 30 barangays make up 23. 6625 has.
The heart of Vigan is located approximately between the meridian 120 23' 15" east longitude and the parallel 17 34' 30" north latitude. Vigan has 39 barangays including the nine barangays created under PD No. 86.
Geologic base and Mineral resources
The sedimentary and metamorphic rocks that are present in the city are Alluvium, fluviatille, lacuatine, pludal and beach deposits namely: coral reefs, stools, and beach rock. These are predominantly found along the coastal areas of Vigan. An important non-metallic mineral resource found in Vigan is the kind of clay that is used in making earthen jars locally called "burnay". Earthenware of different uses and sizes are made of this kind of clay. Known as Bantog clay, the mineral is the basic material in making bricks. These bricks are the original materials in building the cold Hispanic houses of Vigan.
Unique Environment
Vigan is a unique environment in both its natural and man-made features. It is traversed by two river systems namely; Govantes River and Mestizo River. Its tributaries flow into the Pangada River in Sta. Catalina, Caoayan River in Caoayan, Boquing River in Bantay and the Bantaoay River in San Vicente.
Unlike other municipalities with towering mountains, Vigan is mostly plains with gently rising hills on the southern portion. Most of its lands are devoted to agriculture which are located outside of the urban center or poblacion. The coastal plains found along the western side of the city bounded by the South China Sea are predominantly settled with Mindoro Beach as its location.
Physiography
Vigan is situated in a Quarterly Age sedimentary plain called the Vigan - Bantay Plain which is part of the Ilocos coastal plain. The Vigan-Bantay is bounded on the east by a moderately rugged Miocene sediments consisting of interbedded sandstones and shale to very rugged Meta-volcanics and Meta sediment topography; on the south is the Municipality of Santa where the north -south trending fault terminates; to the west is China sea; while the northern boundary opens to the northern extension of the Ilocos coastal plain.
The central part of the plain is characterized by a dissected ridge of Plio-Pleistocene Age that trends in a northeast-southwest direction. The ridge divides the Vigan-Bantay Plain into northern and southern plains.
The northern part of the plain is drained by minor rivers namely: Bantaoay, Sto. Tomas, and Nauman rivers, while the Abra River is the main drainage network of the southern portion of the plain. Abra River meanders within the hinterland but exhibits a braided pattern across the plain.
The drainage network of the eastern margin of Vigan-Bantay plain consist of deeply cut valleys whose pattern is strongly controlled by main faulting trends, particularly those in the northerly and easterly directions.
Vigan is being drained by the Vigan River and Bantay River, respectively, on the north and on the south by Mestizo River whose water discharge comes from Bantaoay head water.
The relief of Vigan Bantay plain is actively level to undulating with a slope ranging from 0% to 8%. Vigan in particular is generally level with several hills in Barangays Tamag, Bulala, and Salindeg, sometimes reaching about 50 meters in elevation and has a slope ranging from 3% to 8%.
The eastern margin of the plain characterized by a steep to very steep slope, about 40% to 60%, the relief often reaches an elevation of more that 600 meters especially the northerly and easterly portion.
The dominant topographic feature in the eastern margin of the town is the Vigan Gap Hill where the continuously shifting Vigan River cut its way. The Gap Hill is located approximately 10 kilometers east of Vigan.
Structure
Folding and faulting apparently are absent in Vigan-Bantay Plain except in the eastern and southern margin of the plain. In the eastern margin, a north-south trending fault occurs transecting the Pre-Quarternary rocks. The fault line runs from Sinait down to Bantay and Santa, while the southern extension of the plain is bounded by another structural line that trends northwest and southeast occurring from Santa down to Narvacan and Santa Maria.
Topography & Soil type
The land area of Vigan is generally flat. Slopes of 20 are found at Brgy. V, Tamag, and Paoa. There are no forest reserves in the city in terms of potential and raw materials. Bamboo is the only minor forest product in Vigan.
The soil type of the city is classified into five (5). First is the Bantay Loam, which is located at the southern portion of Raois and is good as pastureland has a land area of 36.67 hectares. The second is Umingan sandy which is good for upland rice and vegetables and has a land area of 1191.57 hectares. The third is San Manuel clay loam, which is best for bananas, cotton and vegetables has an area of 1244.57 hectares. The fourth is Bantog clay - considered as the most significant type for soil, which is best clay material for making pots, jars and all earthenwares has a land area of 31.65 hectares. The fifth is the beach sand, which has a land area of 7.28 hectares, is generally found in the shoreline of all the beaches of Vigan and is best for coconut plantation.
Transportation
Air Transportation
A secondary airport called Mindoro Airport is located at Brgy. Mindoro. It has one asphalted runway, 900 meters long and 30 meters wide. At present, only chartered and private planes use it. The airport is a sleeping asset of the municipality for it does not, in any way, generate revenue. Plans have been made for the expansion and commercialization of said airport to attract tourist and to enlighten the boredom of coming to Vigan from Manila and some other parts of the Philippines.
Land Transportation
Vigan City has sufficient transport system. There are four Bus Companies operating within the its vicinity such as: Philippine Rabbit Bus Line, Dominion Bus Corp., Partas Trans. Co. and Aniceto Transportation. They operate direct bus services from Vigan City to Manila, Baguio, Laoag and other parts of Luzon.
Mode of Transport
Mode of transport within the city is purely land base. Vehicles for public use include jeepneys, tricycles and calesas. Buses, Mini-buses and jeepneys provide transportation to places outside Metro Vigan. The Metro Vigan transport system is serviced by tricycles, which were color-coded for purposes of identifying the municipality to which they belong. The tricycle number is permanently attached on top of the side car specified by different colors; green for Vigan, red for Bantay, yellow for Caoayan, orange for San Vicente and blue for Sta. Catalina.
A horse drawn vehicle, locally called "calesa" is also servicing the locality. It is an ideal transportation for sightseers particularly tourist.
Weather and Climate
The City of Vigan falls under the first climate type in the Philippines which is characterized by two pronounced seasons: the dry season which starts from the month of November and ends in April and the wet season which spans the months of May to October. The average annual rainfall is 190. 683 mm. and the heaviest registered rainfall is 693. 3 mm.
The average temperature is 26oC. The average warmest temperature is 30.9oC and the average coldest temperature is 21.1oC. An average of 7-10 typhoons visits Vigan annually. The average relative humidity is 81%.
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