| San Fernando | |||
| Image Alt: | Skyline of San Fernando City, La Union | ||
| Flag Size: | 120x80px | ||
| Seal Size: | 100x80px | ||
| Image Map1: |
| ||
| Pushpin Map: | Philippines | ||
| Pushpin Label Position: | left | ||
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location within the | ||
| Subdivision Type: | Country | ||
| Subdivision Name: | Philippines | ||
| Subdivision Type1: | Region | ||
| Subdivision Type2: | Province | ||
| Nickname: | Prime Capital of Ilocandia Botanical Garden City | ||
| Subdivision Type3: | District | ||
| Established Title: | Founded | ||
| Established Date: | May 6, 1786 | ||
| Established Title1: | Cityhood | ||
| Established Date1: | March 20, 1998 | ||
| Named For: | Ferdinand III of Castile | ||
| Parts Type: | Barangays | ||
| Parts Style: | para | ||
| P1: | (see Barangays) | ||
| Leader Name: | Hermenegildo A. Gualberto | ||
| Leader Title1: | Vice Mayor | ||
| Leader Name1: | Alfredo Pablo R. Ortega | ||
| Leader Name2: | Francisco Paolo P. Ortega V | ||
| Leader Title3: | City Council | ||
| Leader Title4: | Electorate | ||
| Leader Name4: | voters (electorate_point_in_time}}|) | ||
| Elevation Max M: | 1124 | ||
| Elevation Min M: | 0 | ||
| Population Density Km2: | auto | ||
| Population Blank1 Title: | Households | ||
| Timezone: | PST | ||
| Utc Offset: | +8 | ||
| Postal Code Type: | ZIP code | ||
| Demographics Type1: | Economy | ||
| Demographics1 Title2: | Poverty incidence | ||
| Demographics1 Info2: | % | ||
| Demographics1 Title3: | Revenue | ||
| Demographics1 Info3: | (2022) | ||
| Demographics1 Title4: | Revenue rank | ||
| Demographics1 Title5: | Assets | ||
| Demographics1 Info5: | (2022) | ||
| Demographics1 Title6: | Assets rank | ||
| Demographics1 Title7: | IRA | ||
| Demographics1 Title8: | Equity | ||
| Demographics1 Info8: | (2022) | ||
| Demographics1 Title9: | Expenditure | ||
| Demographics1 Info9: | (2022) | ||
| Demographics1 Title10: | Liabilities | ||
| Demographics1 Info10: | (2022) | ||
| Demographics Type2: | Service provider | ||
| Demographics2 Title1: | Electricity | ||
| Demographics2 Title2: | Water | ||
| Demographics2 Title3: | Telecommunications | ||
| Demographics2 Title4: | Cable TV | ||
| Blank1 Name Sec1: | Native languages | ||
| Blank2 Name Sec1: | Crime index | ||
| Blank1 Name Sec2: | Major religions | ||
| Blank2 Name Sec2: | Feast date | ||
| Blank3 Name Sec2: | Catholic diocese | ||
| Blank4 Name Sec2: | Patron saint | ||
San Fernando, officially the City of San Fernando (Iloko: Siudad ti San Fernando; Filipino; Pilipino: Lungsod ng San Fernando), is a 3rd class component city and capital of the province of La Union, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 125,642 people.
San Fernando serves as a gateway to trade, commerce, culture and heritage of Ilocandia. The city is the financial, industrial, and political center of the province and the regional capital of Region 1 (Ilocos Region), hosting regional offices of national government agencies and some of the region's educational and medical institutions. The city is geographically located at the center of La Union.
San Fernando, along with all the southern coastal towns of La Union, was once called Agoo in pre-colonial times. Agoo was the northern part of Caboloan (Pangasinan), covering a large area that encompassed the towns of “Atuley” (San Juan), San Fernando, Bauang, Caba, “Alingay or Alinguey” (Aringay), Santo Tomas and Rosario.
When Juan de Salcedo a Spanish, explored the area in June 1572, he and his men were involved in a skirmish with 3 Japanese ships. He discovered that there was a settlement in the area, occupied by Japanese and Chinese merchants. The incident earned Agoo the name “El Puerto de Japon,” the Japanese Port. Agoo was heavily involved in trade with other neighboring Southeast Asian countries. Agoo's role as an ancient port eventually deteriorated when the Spanish closed the Philippines to foreign trade.[1] [2]
The origins of the capital city of the province of La Union date back to the formal creation of the municipality or Ministerio de San Fernando which coincided with the founding of the Parish of San Fernando, Augustinian friar Jose Torres on May 6, 1786, in honor of King Ferdinand of Spain. San Fernando was formerly called “Pindangan” from the word “pindang” which was a traditional method of drying fish. Pindangan was formed in 1759 from the union of two sitios - “San Vicente de Balanac” and “San Guilermo de Dalangdang” - for mutual protection against marauding pirates from the sea and headhunters from the mountains. Augustinian friar Jose Torres also had the Pindangan church built but a massive earthquake in the 1760s left the church in total ruin - except for the massive buttresses that still stand today, known as the Pindangan Ruins.
Named after Saint Ferdinand III of Castile, San Fernando was founded in 1786. That same year, instead of rebuilding the Pindangan church, the Franciscans decided to build a new one in honor of San Guillermo. This is now the Cathedral of St. William the Hermit situated at the center of San Fernando City.
On October 29, 1849, Governor General Narciso Zaldua Claveria issued a “promovido” combining the eight northern towns of Pangasinan, three southern towns of Ilocos Sur due south of the Amburayan River, and 8 western settlements of Benguet or Eastern Pais del Igorotes in the Cordilleras into the province La Union. On March 2, 1850, Governor General Antonio Maria Blanco signed the “Superior Decreto” of La Union, with San Fernando as the “cabecera,” the capital, and with Captain Toribio Ruiz de la Escalera as the first Gobernador Militar y Politico. Its creation as a province was formally approved by a Royal Decree issued by Queen Isabela II of Spain on April 18, 1854. Scores of settlers from the Ilocos provinces pushed their way south so that by the end of the 19th century, San Fernando was home to mostly Ilocano and Ilocanized Pangasinenses.
From 1896 until 1898, during the Philippine Revolution, the Spanish garrison of San Fernando was attacked by Filipino revolutionaries under Manuel Tinio y Bundoc and Mauro Ortiz. Spanish administration ceased; a short while later, The Spanish ceded the country to the Americans in the 1890s. The United States acquired control over the country by the Treaty of Paris following the events of the Spanish–American War.
From its inception as the capital of La Union up to the Second World War, San Fernando experienced monumental transformations in the socio-cultural and politico-economic aspects. After World War II, rehabilitation and reconstruction were done, eventually propelling the city as the center of commerce and trade and the administrative center of Region I.
In the Second World War, the last battle of San Fernando was fought during the Japanese occupation at Barangay Bacsil. The Bacsil Ridge Monument was built on the site in the city, the north-eastern portion of the town plaza. The victory enabled the establishment of the United States Army Base, Base M at Poro Point (a buildup area for the Japan invasion) and a US Navy Base.[3] The town was liberated in 1945.[4]
The Battle of Bacsil Ridge
The Battle of Bacsil Ridge which was fought in March 1945 was one of the main battles of the Philippines Campaign of the Second World War between the Filipino soldiers under the 121st Infantry Regiment, Philippine Commonwealth Army, USAFIP-NL, under the command of Russell W. Volckmann, and the Japanese Imperial forces under General Tomoyuki Yamashita.[5]
The Battle of Bacsil Ridge ended the month-long battle for control of San Fernando. The Japanese defenders called the Hayashi Detachment, composed of 3,000 armed troops and 2,000 unarmed support forces, took hold of San Fernando and its surrounding areas and denied entry to the port of the city and a road leading to Baguio. As part of the San Fernando-Bacsil Operations, the 1st Battalion of 121st Infantry were sent to loosen the enemy positions starting late February with the assistance of the Allied Air Force.
The 1st Battalion made a general attack to the ridge on March 16, 1945 and fought the Japanese defenders until the capture of Bacsil on March 19. On the same day, the 3rd battalion captured Reservoir Hill. The Battle of Bacsil Ridge between the Filipino guerrillas and the Japanese Forces resulted in the recapture of the city of San Fernando, La Union. which resulted in the capture of San Fernando, La Union on March 23, 1945, and Bacnotan, La Union and the military offensive throughout the province ended on March 24 after two months of fighting.[6]
See main article: Martial law under Ferdinand Marcos and Human rights abuses of the Marcos dictatorship. Although Ilocanos are perceived to have been largely silent about the authoritarian practices of Ferdinand Marcos' administration,[7] [8] there were still San Fernando residents willing to express their objections its various abuses. This included San Fernando-raised student activists Romulo and Armando Palabay, UP Students and La Union National High School alumni who were imprisoned for their protest activities in San Fernando, tortured at Camp Olivas in Pampanga, and later separately killed before the end of Martial Law.[9] [10] The respective martyrdoms of Romulo (age 22) and Armando (age 21) were later honored when their names were etched on the Wall of Remembrance at the Philippines’ Bantayog ng mga Bayani, which honors the heroes and martyrs who fought the authoritarian regime.[11]
See main article: Cities of the Philippines. San Fernando became a city by virtue of Republic Act No. 8509 signed into law on February 13, 1998, and ratified on March 20, 1998, by a plebiscite.[12]
The city is bounded by San Juan to the north, Bauang to the south, Bagulin and Naguilian to the east, and the South China Sea to the west. It has a land area of .
San Fernando is from Metro Manila.
San Fernando is politically subdivided into 59 barangays. These barangays are headed by elected officials: Barangay Captain, Barangay Council, whose members are called Barangay Councilors. All are elected every three years.
In the 2020 census, the population of San Fernando, La Union, was 125,640 people, with a density of NaNPD/km2NaNPD/km2.
San Fernando is mainly agricultural (rice, legumes, leafy vegetables, root crops, fruit trees, corn, and tobacco). But residents treat fishing in coastline and seashore areas as secondary means of livelihood. The natives also have inabel hand-woven cloth, baskets, shell crafts, including foods, such as kilawen and papaitan, basi, sukang Iloko and paslubong such as guapples, longganiza, honey and native rice cakes, puto, suman, and bibingka.
Patupat is an Ilocano delicacy native to San Fernando, made from "agdapil" (sugarcane, a tall tropical Southeast Asian grass (Saccharum officinarum)).[13]
See main article: Sangguniang Panglungsod. San Fernando, belonging to the first congressional district of the province of La Union, is governed by a mayor designated as its local chief executive and by a city council as its legislative body in accordance with the Local Government Code. The mayor, vice mayor, and the councilors are elected directly by the people through an election which is being held every three years.
The mayor and other elected officers hold office at the city hall of San Fernando. The city council, the Sangguniang Panlungsod, is housed in the Don Mariano Marcos Building beside the city hall.
| District Representative (1st Legislative District of the Province of La Union) | Francisco Paolo P. Ortega V |
| Chief Executive of the City of San Fernando | Mayor Hermenegildo A. Gualberto |
| Presiding Officer of the City Council of San Fernando | Vice Mayor Alfred Pablo R. Ortega |
| Members of the City Council | Kyle Marie Eufrosito Y. Nisce |
| Pablo C. Ortega | |
| Lucia Esperanza O. Valero | |
| Jonathan Justo A. Orros | |
| Edwin H. Yumul | |
| Janwell E. Pacio | |
| Rodolfo M. Abat | |
| Arnel A. Almazan | |
| Aldrine R. Jucar | |
| John H. Orros | |
| Mark Anthony A. Ducusin | |
| Quintin L. Balcita Jr. |
The city has a yearly fiesta, celebrated from January 28 to February 15, where a trade fair is opened near the city hall.
Celebrations are also done around March, in celebration of Cityhood.
The following events happen annually: Annual City Fiesta, February 10; Bacsil Ridge Celebration, March 19; Pindangan Festival, March 20; Ma-tzu Festival, September 16.[15] [16]
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