THE FOLLOWING are some important facts, incidents or events that took place in Dupax which could be recorded:
1726 – Fathers Nicolas Norbante and Agustin San Juan, Agustinian
misssionariesarrrived in Dupax. They found the natives hostile.
1729 – Arrival of the first Spanish soldiers who placed the people
under control.
1731 – April 22 Founding of Dupax
1735 – Opening of the sitio of U-yu and converting the place into
ricefields with irrigation canals under Capitan Ajamus. [NOTE: The U-yu mentioned here is most probably sitio I-iyo that is now
called barangay Palobotan. Ajamus, an Igorot, was head – then called “Capitan” –
of Dupax in 1735. He was succeeded by Tiun Pising, an Isinay, in 1736. Preceding
them were Mandalito, an Ilongot, in 1732; Ibarrat, an Igorot, in 1733; and Inyu,
an Ilongot, in 1734. The ricefields must have included the ones in Dalijan
where until recently stone walls called “tuping” lined up one inner ricepaddy.
The “sitio” (the equivalent of the present “purok”) was smaller than a “barrio”
(now called barangay).]
1737 – Opening of the sitio of Allawan as ricefield under Capitan
Laccay. [NOTE: Allawan is still a
rice-growing area between Santa Maria and Barangay Mangayang. Capitan Laccay,
probably an Isinay who was later given the first name Diego, was the fifth
recorded head of Dupax. He again served as Capitan in 1760.]
1745 – The sitio of Uanguen was opened into ricefields under Capitan
Agustin Aboloj. [NOTE: Uanguen is now
called and spelled Wangeon. It is located between Malasin and Lamo and is now
part of Dupax del Norte.]
1749 – The Patron Saint of the town was changed to San Vicente Ferrer.
San Vicente Ferrer is still the Patron Saint of Dupax today.
1775 – Father Manuel Corripio, a missionary of the Dominican Order,
came from Pangasinan and began construction of the town’s Catholic church. The
work lasted for four years with free labor. [NOTE:
It is probable that Father Corripio brought with him trusted assistants from
Pangasinan. As a Dominican Spanish friar, he must have also imported brick-makers
and church construction workers from Cagayan which was then the seat of the
Nueva Segovia and had older churches than those in Nueva Vizcaya. The bellfry
or campanario took much longer to construct – the first tier in 1772, the
second tier in 1776, and the third tier and cuppola in 1886. As implied, the “free labor” was unpaid and was
thus actually “forced labor” (called “polo”) as was the norm during the Spanish
colonial period of the Philippines.]
1778 – Capitan Dionicio Telmo caused the construction of a permanent
bridge over the Abanatan creek. This creek divides the poblacion into two
districts. [NOTE: The bridge later became
known as Dampol and is reportedly one of the oldest existing
Spanish-era and brick bridges in the Philippines. Formerly called Districts 1 and 2, the
districts are now officially named Barangay Dopaj and Barangay Domang, respectively.]
