Aringay, La Union

Infobox Philippine municipality
infoboxtitle = Municipality of Aringay
sealfile =
locatormapfile = Ph_locator_la union_aringay.png| caption = Map of La Union showing the location of Aringay.
region = Ilocos Region (Region I)
province = La Union
districts = 2nd district of La Union
barangays = 24
class = 3rd class; partially urban
mayor = Teresita A. Ong
areakm2 =
pop2000 = 41,422
popden2000 = 271
coordinates = 16°23'N 120°20'E
website = [http://www.aringay.gov.ph/ aringay.gov.ph]

Aringay is a 3rd class municipality in the province of La Union, Philippines. Its boundaries are formed by 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.

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 on 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).

Aringay belongs to District 2 in La Union province. According to the 2000 census, it has a population of 41,422 people in 7,786 households.

Barangays

Aringay is politically subdivided into 24 barangays.

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 (later placed in the province of Benguet and then abolished in 1900) 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.

Notable people

*Diego Silang
*Gloria Diaz
*Elpidio Quirino

External links

* [http://www.pasyalan.net/la_union/ Pasyalan La Union]
* [http://www.nscb.gov.ph/activestats/psgc/default.asp Philippine Standard Geographic Code]
* [http://www.t-macs.com/kiso/local/ 2000 Philippine Census Information]