Mayor Cezar T. Quiambao led municipal officials on Thursday, December 1, 2016, in welcoming the busload of delegates of Byaheng Tirad Pass who trooped to the Municipal Covered Court for an early morning program followed by a breakfast treat.

Among the LGU officials present as welcoming party were Vice-Mayor Raul Sabangan; Sangguniang Bayan members, namely Councilors Martin Terrado, Cathy de Vera, Philip Dumalanta, and Mylvin Junio; Municipal Administrator Atty. Rodelynn Rajini Sagarino; Tourism Officer-in-Charge Gloria DV. Valenzuela; and other department and unit heads.

The event was part of the annual multi-town commemoration of the heroism displayed by General Gregorio del Pilar and other national heroes during the historic Battle of Tirad Pass (December 2, 1899) by tracing the path the general and his company took while fleeing the invading American Army. It was a landmark episode in the country’s fight for self-rule as a revolutionary government, which officially started in Malolos, Bulacan, and ended in Bayambang, Pangasinan, until which time the Filipino forces decided to resort to militia combat as they fled north to Ilocos and then east to the remote town of Palanan, Isabela.

Most of the approximately 60 Byaheng Tirad Pass delegates traveled all the way from Malolos, but they were joined by some delegates from the province of Bataan.  Among the visitors making a stopover were Roel Pagiligan, curator of the National Historical Commission of the Philippines; Bernadette Mae Aguirre, Tourism OIC of Bulacan; Isagani B. Giron, Bulacan Salinlahi Inc.’s president; and Arlene Torres, who represented Bulacan Governor William Alvarado.

For the first time, the trip from Malolos to Bayambang and further up north to Vigan, which used to be called Tirad Pass Heroes’ Trek, was joined by delegates from Bayambang, led by Bayambang Municipal Council for Culture and the Arts (BMCCA) Executive Director, Prof. Januario Cuchapin, and fellow officers and members, namely professors Dr. Clarita Jimenez and Dr. Annie Manalang, Municipal Librarian Leonarda D. Allado, Mrs. Delia Sagarino, Bayambang National High School (BNHS) Principal Mary Ann Payumo, BNHS teacher Julie Junio, and LGU representative Luz Cayabyab from the Municipal Planning and Development Coordinator’s office.

In his brief message, Mayor Quiambao greeted the visitors by expressing his support to the historical-cultural activity, promising to make the trip regular for Bayambang delegates beginning this year. He closed by wishing this year’s participants a safe and fruitful trip.

Mr. Isagani Giron, on the other hand, responded by recalling how Byaheng Tirad Pass began. He said that it started in 1999 through the help of University of the Philippines Prof. Prospero ‘Popoy’ de Vera, a native of Bayambang, who introduced the idea to the sitting mayor at the time. Giron then thanked Mayor Quiambao for not discontinuing the tradition. He also assured Bayambangueños of the Bulacan government’s continuous support to Byaheng Tirad Pass.

In his relayed message, Bulacan Governor William Alvarado stated, “I can say we are truly bonded by history through Gen. Gregorio del Pilar, who is a Bulakeño.”

Being the BMCCA’s Chairperson on Cultural Heritage, Dr. Jimenez introduced Bayambang to the guests by giving some fast facts about the town: its being a university town, the corn belt of Pangasinan, and the onion capital of Pangasinan, among other things.

This was followed by an audiovisual presentation of Singkapital 2016 to inform the visitors of the recent commemoration event staged by the LGU for the town as the 5^th capital of the country on November 12, 1899, that is, during the Philippine Revolutionary Government, at the time when Juan Quesada was the governor of Pangasinan. The presentation was spontaneously met with a warm round of applause by the audience.

Soon after, the visitors, together the Bayambang delegates, boarded their respective vehicles to continue the long trip northwards.

(Bayambang PIO/Media Affairs)