BRYANRREALGO

Photo Courtesy: yahoo.com The kid in me always reminds me how my fascination started to “happy” and “colorful” visitors who often I see during Christmas season.   I described them as “happy” because they always wear a smile while playing an instrument, and “colorful” because of their costumes. I remember asking my mother who are they and answer me once “bisita tayo isuda nga Igorot nga umay maki-paskua”. Since then the term “Igorot” raises curiosity in me. When I was in my grade school I remember a discussion telling that the Igorot are the people of the Cordillera, back then I was not even familiar to Cordillera. The simplest explanation my teacher told me then is Baguio City is Cordillera.  My learning about Igorot became more understandable during my first year in high school. At this time I learned that term Igorot is an old Tagalog which means “people from the mountains” and was later used to generally refer to all mountain tribes from the Cordilleras. Our discu

STA. CATALINA, ILOCOS SUR Brief Historical Background & Profile The town of Sta. Catalina in the province of Ilocos Sur is located along the coastline of the East China Sea, bounded on the north by the Municipality of San Vicente, on the west by the vast China Sea, on the south and east by the City of Vigan which is the capital of Ilocos Sur.  The town’s history has been gleaned from all available sources, written as well as unrecorded information regarding the origin and founding of the town. After the discovery of Ciudad Fernandina, now known as Vigan City, the capital town of Nueva Segovia, the Spanish expeditionary forces sought for further conquest. Going westward, they came upon the sand dunes of Mindoro and Pantay (Vigan City) overlooking the Govantes River that serves as the natural boundary of Vigan and Sta. Catalina, from there they noticed a small island lying across the river. Crossing the river with rafts, they landed at a place called “Cabittaogan