Sigay, Ilocos Sur - Establishment of The Municipality

Establishment of The Municipality

By the time the Spaniards arrived in the northern part of the country, all the interior towns of Ilocos Sur were part of Montanosa or the Mountain Provinces. A sub-province of Montanosa was that of Amburyan, a prominent area of trade and commerce, which among others, included the towns of Sigay, Gregorio del Pilar, Quirino, Cervantes, Lidlidda and San Emilio. Called after the vast Amburayan River that cascaded through it, and nurtured its fields, Amburayan was a vast stronghold of the natives; the river itself, fed by the springs from the mountains in the East, was wide, and foreign vessels used to dock there to trade with the natives. When the Spanish founded Ciudad Fernandina (Vigan), all the interior towns, Sigay included, were cut off Montanosa, and these became part of the Province of Ilocos Sur. The original inhabitants were natives and had the same facial features as the Igorots.

Although already fully recognized by the Spanish Regime as a municipal district town in the 1800s, it was only in 1960 that Sigay emerged as a fully-fledged municipality, that which the residents called the New Era of Sigay. This came after the first elections of its local officials on November 12, 1959.

Today, Sigay is composed of seven barangays: Mabileg, Poblacion, San Ramon, San Elias, Abaccan, Matallucod, and Sto. Rosario. For a long time, the seat of local government resided in Abaccan. Later on, the local executive, Mayor Simeon Wandas (1960–1977) decided to build a Municipal Hall in Maday-aw (now, Poblacion) where, eventually, he transferred all the local government's occupations, including the Municipal Police Statition.