"Bacarra Municipal Hall"

Laoag City

 

    The original inhabitants of the area that was become the present day municipality of Bacarra was a sturdy and industrious race and predominantly Malays. They immigrated to the Philippines in two waves. The second wave being from the first century AD and continuing throughout the 13th century AD. It is from these immigrates of this wave that the present day residents of Bacarra are descended.

    The Spaniards found that the inhabitants of the area had a distinctive character and culture such different from their fellow countrymen in the south – with different dialects although belonging to the mother tongue Tagalog, it had a different idiosyncrasies making the Ilocano dialect quite different from the Tagalog.

    The name Bacarra has two legendary origins. One legend tells of a native fisherman who was out fishing in what is now known as the Bacarra River . Two Spanish soldiers promenading the place had asked the fisherman about the name of the place. Not understanding what the soldier meant, jubilantly answered “Bacbacarra, Señor”. The Spanish went away with the thought that Bacarra was the name of the place.

    Another related story was the coining of a by-word of a farmer and his wife who were making big basket called “Bakar” which was used as rice basket. From these two legends, the Spaniards associated it with the town into its present name which is “BACARRA”, the same place where most of the Bacarreños now live.

    Historical files state that an Igorot Baksalandok first settled the place, which is now Bacarra. Baksalandok was hunting in the areas near the Bacarra-Laoag boundary when he took notice of the beauty and vegetation of the place. He made his hut at the site where the Roman Catholic Church and Convent now stand. Other Igorot settlers followed him, and soon afterwards, other tribes followed. The settlement was called Baraniw and this name is retained until now by the barrio just west of the Poblacion. The Eastern settlement was called Vira and the Middle one was called Parparia. The settlement started in about 1600AD and it was this kind of settlement, which greeted the Spaniards when they came to the place a little later.

    It was more than one and one-half centuries later, in 1778, when the Spanish Government officially recognized Bacarra as a municipality. It was place on the map as a town and was christened Bacarra with Manuel Paras who laid the foundation of the municipality to its present state. From 1778 to the present that span more than two centuries, Bacarra has greatly changed metamorphosed and evolved to its present state. During this period, 127 executives have occupied the highest office of the town. These executives were been the alcaldes, gobernadorcillos, capitan municipals, municipal presidents and eventually mayors.