By Restituto C. Basa

Source: People’s Digest Newsweekly

October 16-22, 2001

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VILLASIS is a town of honey bees. Located on the northern bank of the great Agno River, it is in the heartland of the vast Agno valley. It has a land area of 8,047.48 hectares which is a fertile agricultural area.

Villasis and its surrounding towns raise a huge volume of corn, after rice. This is the reason why Purina, the leading manufacturer of animal feeds, selected Villasis as the site of its manufacturing plant. Corn is the raw material in the manufacture of animal feeds.

Origin: The town started as a barrio of Malasiqui, the town to its west. Its ancient name was Pandoyocan, a Pangasinan word which means a colony of oyocan, a variety of honey bees.

Its separation from its mother town was initiated by Fr. Fernando Sta. Maria, parish priest of Malasiqui. The decree which created it into a town was issued by the Rt. Mons. Miguel Espeleta, the bishop of Cebu who was designated acting governor general. The decree was dated October 18, 1759. This date is recognized as the foundation of Pandoyocan as a town.

Villasis: During the years 1760 up to 1850, community life in the town was tumultuous. It would appear that there was a comparatively big number of Spanish residents in the town. The natives resented the domineering ways of the Spaniards. There was constant friction between the two groups.

It should be noted that in 1762 Juan dela Cruz Palaris of Binalatongan (San Carlos) led what is called in history the Palaris revolt. The unrest of the natives of Pandoyocan undoubtedly was inspired by the Palaris uprising in Central Pangasinan.

In 1850, the Spanish governor general was Antonio Urbiztondo y Villasis. He came to Pandoyocan to reconcile the warring factions to restore peace and order. He succeded. Eventually, the name of the town was changed from Pandoyocan to Villasis, in his honor.

Trade route: One factor that accelerates the development of the town’s economy is its favorable location. It lies along the Manila-Ilocos roadline. This is the most important trade route in Midwestern Luzon. This same roadline branches westward to Dagupan and Lingayen at Urdaneta.

Through this highway, farm crops harvested from the town, particularly vegetables such as eggplants, tomatoes, mongo beans and others, could reach the Metro Manila markets within three hours by trucks and buses, or within two hours to Baguio, and within 45 minutes to Dagupan.

Villasis is a major vegetable basket.

Because of the excellent existing means of transportation and communications in Villasis and throughout Pangasinan, students from the town have easy access to the good colleges and universities in Manila, Dagupan, Baguio and Urdaneta.

The town has produced an associate justice of the Court of Appeals in the person of Justice Teodoro Primicias Regino.

Transportation between Villasis and Metro Manila is available 24 hours a day.

Villasis is bounded in the north by Urdaneta, in the northeast by Asingan, in the southeast across the Agno river by Rosales, in the southwest by Sto. Tomas and Alcala, in the west by Malasiqui.

Laoac is Pangasinan’s youngest town

By Restituto C. Basa

I was born in what is now barangay Primicias, Sta. Barbara. This barrio is along the Toboy-Sinocalan river.

When I was young, I used to hear my elders refer to the town of Mapandan as "balon baley" (new town).

Mapandan was created as town on May 11, 1902. During my youth, Mapandan was indeed the new town. Obviously, the town was named after the palm plant we call ‘pandan’. It was originally a barrio of Mangaldan.

But what amazes me about this town is the answer to the question: "By what decrees or laws was the town created into a municipality?

The answer: "None" (See History of Mapandan, Pangasinan Folio 1970, p. 96).

By the way, Sta. Barbara and Mapandan are neighboring towns. My barrio, Barangay Primicias, is probably only six kilometers away from Mapandan.

When I was a young boy, my cousins and I used to hike from our barrio to Mapandan to attend the town’s fiesta.

Good grief, General Jose Calimlim has virtually annexed our Barangay Bansal to Mapandan. He has purchased a sizeable portion of the barangay and converted it into his farm.

At this point in time, our youngest town is Laoac. It was originally the easternmost barangay of Manaoag, bordering Binalonan.

This town was created as a municipality by virtue of Batas Pambansa Bilang 18, dated March 1979.

When we speak of Batas Pambansa, we speak of laws enacted under the Batasang Pambansa during the Marcos era.

Batas Pambansa Bilang 18 was authored by then Assemblyman Antonio Pena Villar, Sr. When this legislative enactment was integrated in the roll of laws enacted since the birth of the Republic of the Philippines on June 12, 1987, the law was denominated as Republic Act No. 6485.

The political leader who lobbied for the creation of Laoac into a town, separate and independent from its mother town, was the late Mayor Westrimundo Tabayoyong. He was mayor of Manaoag when he requested Assemblyman Villar to author the law which created the barrio into a town. Tabayoyong was native of Laoac. He became Laoac’s first mayor.

Laoac is a Pangasinan word which means an area of wide expanse. The Ilocano settlers of the town are creating a new legend which distorts the town’s history.

They say it was derived from the Ilocano phrase "Naglaoa daytoy tayaken."

Remember: Laoac was originally a barrio of Manaoag. And Manaoag is one of the early Pangasinan pueblos whose residents spoke the Pangasinan tongue.

Laoac is original Pangasinan word. It stands by itself. Among the most prominent natives of Laoac was the late Don Teofilo P. Guadiz. He rose to become city mayor of Dagupan and retired from the government service as a judge of the Court of First Instance.

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nen Santiago Villafania

O pinablin tambayo na ermen

O katupag na bilay kon aya

pilalek ka ed labin mareen

sindag ka’y lakseb iran biteoen

laut la’y maomameng mon mata

O pinablin tambayo na ermen

dia’d ilalam ka amamayoen

O marikit a musia na uma

pilalek ka ed labin mareen

sempen ka ed natan tan arapen

biskeg ka ed ikapoy na oalna

O pinablin tambayo na ermen

anggapo’y ey-ey ya ag anlongen

lapu ed inpangaro ed sika

pilalek ka ed labin mareen

say patey man sarag kon sugbaen

ed ngara’y aron yalay ed sika

O pinablin tambayo na ermen

pilalek ka ed labin mareen