BRYANRREALGO

ILOCOS SUR - The town of Suyo is one of the upland municipalities in this province. It is a a 4th class municipality with eight barangays and a population of over 11,000.   The following photos shows the hidden beauty of this municipality. The town of Suyo can be reached via land travel following a provincial road in the town of Tagudin.

ILOCOS SUR - A number of century-old bridges built during the Spanish period can still be found in this province.  In the town of Santa, a portion of the Manila - North road is connected by century-old bridges.     In 2015 one  of the last two remaining brick stone bridges in Vigan City was saved from demolition due to strong opposition. Instead, DPWH just constructed a new bridge in the northern portion of the old one. The City government plans to close the century-old bridge and convert it to a tourist site. A century-old bridge can also be found in the town of Sta. Maria.  These bridges are commonly categorized as arch bridge as it shaped as curved arch. The bridges found in Ilocos Sur are made off bricks.  There are plans to check the structural integrity of these century-old bridges to see  if it still safe to use at present times. In other parts of the Philippines such as in Tayabas, Quezon - surviving ce...

                                             Photographers joins the 1 st Vigan Photo Walk VIGAN CITY – Tagged as “Capture the Vigan Experience”, the local government in this city organized their first ever photo walk. The participants were photographers from different places in Luzon. The activity aims to capture the beauty of different tourist spots in Vigan such as Plaza Salcedo, St. Paul Metropolitan Cathedral, Syquia Mansion, Pagburnayan and the picturesque Calle Crisologo.  The photographs will be used to promote Vigan on different social networking sites and websites. “Magandang advertisement ito ng Vigan dahil sa mga makukuhang larawan mas lalong mapapamahal o maeenganyo ang mga turista sa lungsod. All participant...

ILOCOS SUR – The San Nicolas De Tolentino Parish in the town of Sinait in this province is a favorite pilgrim site among locals and devotees. It enshrines the miraculous 400-year-old image of Sto. Cristo Milagroso or Apo Lakay.     The miraculous image traces its origin to an event in 1620, when some fishermen in boundary of Sinait, Ilocos Sur and Badoc, Ilocos Norte found a large wooden crate floating. They hauled it ashore and when they opened the crate, they saw the life-sized image of the crucified Christ with dark features made of hard wood. The cross stands 254 centimeters high. Along with this image is a smaller image of Our Lady holding the infant Jesus. The said image is now in Badoc, Ilocos Norte as according to the story this is the one the people of Badoc were able to carry, while the image of Sto Cristo was carried easily by the people of Sinait. It is believed that the crate containing the precious items are from Japan, at that time 161...

ILOCOS SUR – The few remaining “pasyon” readers in this province are alarmed that the tradition they inherit from older generations would no longer be heard during Lenten season.  Vicky Lucero, 59 and Agapita Llanes, 80 are two of the few remaining “pasyon” readers in the province. They are tandem in performing the leccio (term use by locals instead of pasyon), Vicky is the first voice and Agapita is the second voice.  They both learned performing the “pasyon” during their younger years. Now, they fear that they will not be able to pass on to the younger generation the tradition that became part of their devotion as well as too many Ilokano listeners.  “Sana may matuto na din talaga at seryosohin dahil matatanda na kame, ako ay 80 years old na, mahirap lalo’t hindi naman natin alam kung ano ang mangyayari sa buhay. Gusto ko din sana na bago man lang ako mawala may papalit na din sa akin para sa mga susunod na taon na kahit maging moderno naroro...

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 “Cabitta...