Bacnotan La Union

The town of Bacnotan was formally founded in 1599 as part of Ilocos Sur. In 1785, during the administration of the Governor-General Jose Basco, Bacnotan became a part of Pangasinan. When La Union was created in 1850, Bacnotan was one of the 12 towns that formed the province.

In the past, Bacnotan was only a vast expanse of wilderness inhabited by a band of natives with a crude form of government. There was a time when it was ruled by a despotic chieftain who had absolute control over all his constituents. Disobedience to his directives meant severe flogging of the culprit. After several years under the tyrannical rule of the chieftain, the people successfully overthrew him and gave him a dose of his own medicine. The flogged their chieftain to death. The English work “flog” is “bakunutan” in the dialect. The word “bakunutan” had become a byword among the inhabitants, hence the name of the town.

During the Spanish period, the name of the town was changed from “Bakunutan” to “Bacnotan” as evidenced by the communications which are still kept in tact at the National Archives, Manila.

The town’s history is linked with the deeds of heroic men who fought, bled, and died for their own native land. At the turn of the century, during the Spanish American War, Dumarang (now Quirino), was a scene of carnage and plunder. Quirino is now the site of the Bacnotan Consolidated Industries, Inc. (BCI).

In December 1941, the first organized resistance against the Japanese invaders that landed in the north in their advance southward to Manila was at Barrios Baroro and Bacsil.

After the war in 1945, Bacnotan became the provisional seat of provincial government. San Fernando was then in ruins. As a consequence of this transfer, the La Union National High School was also moved to Bacnotan. When things went back to normal, the provincial government was again moved to San Fernando and the La Union National High School followed afterwards. The transfer of the provincial high school in Bacnotan resulted in the establishment of the North Provincial High School.

In 1949, the vast mineral deposits for cement production were discovered in Barrio Dumarang, now Quirino. Within a year, a huge cement factory, then called Cebu Portland Cement (CEPOC) was established. On May 11, 1957, the CEPOC, a government-owned corporation, was turned over to the privately-owned Bacnotan Consolidated Industries. The BCI is the manufacturer of the now famous “Union Cement”.

On June 18, 1960, by virtue of RA 2692 which was sponsored by then Congressman Francisco Ortega, the La Union Agricultural School, now the Don Mariano Marcos Memorial State University was established. Nestling cozily at the foot of the mountains in Barangay Sapilang, the agricultural school underwent phenomenal progress and was later named after the president’s father, Don Mariano Marcos, who was executed by the Japanese in an upland region where now stands the 600 hectare agricultural university.