A Mother’s Stuff

Empanada Festival of Batac

Showcasing and promoting their very popular traditional fastfood that is “empanada”, Batac in Ilocos Norte held sometime in June this what they called Empanada Festival. The festival was created in commemorating their declaration as a city and featured their famous empanada to highlight the event.

There was a dance parade participated in by locals both young and old alike. There was a long line of participants dancing in the uniform music of Empanada. The music was piped in along the streets. It was followed by street dancing where different stages of preparing an empanada were depicted through dances.

Farmer’s Festival of Bacarra

The Farmer’s Festival of Bacarra, Ilocos Norte is being held sometime in November. It is a festival that highlights a street dance parade participated in by dressed up farmers with their products, agro-industrial, trade fair, contest of the biggest farm harvest and livestock, “pinaka” contests agro products.

Damili Festival of San Nicolas

Highlights street dance competition pantomiming pottery making which is an industry of San Nicolas.

In this festival, the Street Dance is regularly participated by the youth as part of their cultural and social development. It is also where they can instill discipline, camaraderie and sportsmanship among themselves. Their organization, San Nicolas (SN) Cultural Troupe, participated already in different Street Dance competitions and received various awards.

Guling-Guling Festival in Paoay, Ilocos Norte

The annual Guling-Guling Festival in Paoay, Ilocos Norte is traditionally held the day before Ash Wednesday. While Catholics officially mark the fasting and penitence as start of the Lenten Season, it is the day of merry-making and street dancing for Paoay folks. The residents dressed in their Ilocano costume adorned with antique jewelries, dance and sing around the town while being given the sign of the cross where pounded rice is used instead of gray ash. Also, it is the town mayor who imprints the sign of the cross among the Paoay villagers instead of a priest.

Pamulinawen Festival of Laoag City

This festival is being held in Laoag City from February 02-11. The celebration is being held on the feast day of the town’s patron saint, Saint William the Hermit, to commemorate the founding of the city and highlighted by floral and dance parade around the city proper.

The fiesta in Laoag City is being held every February 11 to give honor and thanksgiving to their patron saint who as believed by the Laoagueños, with his intercession to the Lord the city has been blessed and spared from calamities and disasters.

Like any other town in the Philippines, the Pamulinawen Festival and the city’s fiesta are among the much awaited celebrations in Laoag City.

Paoay Lake National Park

Near the famous Paoay Church is the beautiful, placid Paoay Lake.

It is a land-locked freshwater lake, shaped like a horse, with an area of 470 hectares.

Legend has it that the whole area used to be an affluent town punished for its obsessive attachment to wealth and power. Torrential rains flooded and drowned the entire town. Some local folks say fishermen caught fish with gold rings, a testament to the extravant lifestyle of the submerged village.

In 1969, the lake was declared as a National Park by the late President Marcos.

The Malacanang of the North, a sprawling golf course and a sports complex (the biggest sports-resort complex in the north Luzon) were built around the National Park.

Pasuquin, Ilocos Norte

The coastal town of Pasuquin, Ilocos Norte is known for salt-making and tasty biscocho products.

It also offers a unique experience for travelers who are searching for a different kind of adventure.

If you wish to go spelunking, hike up to the mountains and explore Imelda Garden Caves.

The caves, located 1,708 above sea level, have underground water streams and offer some of the more spectacular stalagmite and stalactite formations.

Travel time to the caves is 45 minutes from the town proper through a dirt road, and you will need to get a special permit from the major’s office to explore the cave. The trip is definitely worth it!

You might even be fortunate to meet members of the Itneg tribe, the original inhabitants of the town. There are a few of them still living in the thick forests, untouched by modern civilization.

This coastal town is 25-kilometers long. It is bounded on the north by Burgos, on the east by the mountain ranges of Vintar, on the south by Bacarra, and on the west by the South China Sea. It is only seven kilometers north of Laoag City.

La Paz Sand Dunes

La Paz Sand Dunes offers a spectacular vista of the South China Sea. It covers an area of 85 square kilometers and is declared and protected as a geological monument because of its unique land formation. La Paz is a favorite shooting location for local as well as international films.

General Ricarte National Shrine

This shrine was built in honor of a beloved native of Batac, General Artemio Ricarte, who was a revolutionary hero and a controversial World War II figure.He was the first chief of staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines in 1897 and during the American occupation refused to vow any oath of allegiance to the United States.

The shrine consists of a memorial park that features a statue and two field guns on display, as well as a library and museum that has photographs and relics from his life, and also several American and Japanese guns from the World War II era.

Ricarte was born in Batac, Ilocos Norte, Philippines to Faustino Ricarte and Bonifacia Garcia. He finished his early studies in his hometown and enrolled at the Colegio de San Juan de Letran where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts. At the University of Santo Tomas and then at the Escuela Normal, he prepared for the teaching profession. He was sent to the town of San Francisco de Malabon (now General Trias) to supervise a primary school. While there, he met the likes of Mariano Alveraz, another school teacher and surviving revolutionary of the 1872 Cavite Mutiny. Ricarte then joined the ranks of the Katipunan as a Lieutenant-General under the Magdiwang Council and adopted the name “El Vibora” (Viper).

Marcos mansion or “Balay Ti Ili” in Batac

Batac, Ilocos Norte is the hometown of Ferdinand E. Marcos, the post-war president of the Philippines.

It offers a number of scenic and historical tourist attractions including the Marcos Museum or “Balay Ti Ili” and General Ricarte Shrine.Here you can also have your fill of the famous Ilocano nack “empanada,” which a deep-fried meat pie, and “bagnet” crispy pork with rice. Both go well with “sukang Iloko” (Ilocano Vinegar).

Batac is situated in the heart of Ilocos Norte, 470 kilometers north of Manila and 18 kilometers south of Laoag City.

Marcos Mansion or “Balay Ti Ili”

The Marcoses ancestral house has been turned into a museum that displays the memorabilia of the late President’s 20-year reign, as well as his service in the Philippine army during World War II.Among the exhibits are dozens of life-size statues of Marcos in various outfits, all the car license plates he used since he joined the public sector a Congressman, and the letters he wrote to the Filipino people while he was in exile in Hawaii.

His body lies in a refrigerated glass case in the adjacent mauseleom. Marcos was born in a nearby barrio, in Sarrat.

Tobacco Monopoly Monument

In Laoag plaza complex beside St. William’s Cathedral, stands the Tobacco Monopoly Monument, the only one of its kind in the Philippines. The people of Ilocos Norte built this monument in 1882 as a symbol of their gratitude to the Spanish King Alfonso XIII for having ended the Tobacco Monopoly.

For an entire century (1782 to 1881), the monopoly caused much miseries to the Ilocanos who were obliged to plant no other crops except tobacco to be delivered solely to the government. Interestingly, tobacco remains a major cash crop of Ilocos Norte to this day.

The Juan Luna Shrine in Ilocos Norte

The Juan Luna Shrine in among the top tourist attractions in Ilocos Norte Philippines. The Shrine is the ancestral home of Juan Luna (1857-1899), a world-renowned painter. Inspired by Rembrandt, Delacroix and Daumier mixed with a style that’s distinctly his own, Luna’s works of art are powerful and dramatic.

Luna’s works not only earned international recognition and awards, but more importantly served as a catalyst for Philippine nationalism during the Spanish era.

The restored house has been converted into a museum that showcases various memorabilia and works of Luna, including a reproduction of ,b>his masterpiece, the Spolarium, which won the gold medal in the 1884 Exposicion General de Bellas Artes in Madrid.

A more recent addition to the museum’s collection is Luna’s original painting “The Parisian Life,” completed in 1892 - a significant period in Philippine history.

The 113-year-old (44-inch by 39-inch) painting depicts Luna, Dr. Jose Rizal and Dr. Ariston Bautista Lin in a huddle in a Paris café at the turn of the century, just before the Philippines revolted against Spain. In the foreground of the painting is a young Parisian woman whose silhouette, according to some curators, seems to match that of a mirror image of the Philippine archipelago.

The Philippine government acquired the painting from Christie’s auction in Hong Kong for about US$1 Million.

Cape Bojeador Lighthouse of Ilocos Norte

Cape Bojeador Lighthouse stands majestically on top of a hill overlooking the South China Sea.

Built in 1892 and now 113 years old, Cape Bojeador is one of the oldest intact Spanish lighthouses and is considered the tallest in the Philippines (and probably in Asia), and definitely the most visited.

After climbing sixty steps of a spiral staircase, you will be rewarded with a breathtaking view of the coastline, the pounding surf and a deep blue ocean beyond.

Cape Bojeador lighthouse stands 160 meters on top of Vigia Nagparitan hill in the small town of Burgos, which is 45 kilometers north of Laoag City.

It is the most accessible lighthouse in Northern Luzon and is still in use to this day, helping vessels navigate through one of the most treacherous bends in the Pacific coastline.

Unlike the usual lighthouses during the Spanish era, Cape Bojeador’s not only guided ships safely to docks, but was also used to ward off Muslim raiders who were slave traders.

At the height of its use during the 19th century, the Cape had several rooms that served as living quarters for the site’s caretakers and guardians.

The pavilion of Cape Bojeador lighthouse has now been transformed into a mini-museum displaying historical artifacts to give visitors a glimpse of how the early people of the Burgos lived. Its modest living quarters provide basic accomodation for the adventurous traveler.

Gameng Museo Ilocos Norte

This impressive lifestyle museum showcases the cultural heritage of the Ilocanos and the different ethnic tribes of Ilocos Norte - including the Yapayaos, Isnegs, Igorots.

This museum is set in the old Tabacalera Warehouse in Laoag City, which was used as the administrative center of the tobacco monopoly during the Spanish era.

Here you will find various archaelogical relics and artifacts from the province’s 22 towns and one city - including traditional clothing, utensils, farm implements and varying woven baskets.

Another one of the museum’s special features is the ancestral Ilocano house that was fitted into the warehouse. Wandering through the different rooms of this house give you a feel of the provincial life.

There is also a museum gift shop where you can get some of the very best Ilocos Norte souvenirs.

Bacarra Bell Tower

Known as “the bowing acrobat tower of Southeast Asia,” the Bacarra Bell Tower is among the famous Ilocos Norte tourist attractions.

This massive bell tower dates back to the 15th century, and lost its third and top floors during a powerful earthquake in 1913. The bell survived the earthquake and now hangs precariously on the tower’s shattered dome.