Traversing the Province of Abra (Part 2)

Bangued’s Town Plaza

On the morning of our third day in Abra, I told Perry we had some free time in the morning to roam around the nearby sites of the poblacion. So we went around the block taking pictures of the most conspicuous structures standing at the town proper.

The provincial capitol building

Similar to the urban planning of many old towns during the Spanish colonial period, the political, economic, religious and cultural hub of the municipality were all physically situated around the town plaza. A one stop-shop so to speak during the colonial times, much of the most important institutions were built closely beside each other.

A peace covenant is displayed at the lobby of the capitol building

This familiar fast-food restaurant is strategically situated at the poblacion’s hub

I’ve always thought that the presence of a Jollibee fast food restaurant in a provincial locality was a positive sign of progress. In the case of Abra, it was their first and still only Jollibee in the whole province. No rival hamburger restaurants in front of it as always the case in Metro Manila. Not just yet.

The great St. James the Elder Cathedral symbolizes

the great influence of the Church in the province

The Cathedral of Bangued carries a long historic past. Originally under the Diocese of Nueva Segovia, construction of the first church by the Augustinian Friars started in 1722 but was only completed in 1807. Like many old churches, it was heavily damaged during the Second World War with the original altar destroyed; only the walls and tower remained intact. Reconstructed after the war, it was later declared a cathedral and its administration handed down to the Diocesan clergy.

Interestingly, Bangued was inaugurated capital of Abra on the feast day of St. James the Elder on July 25, 1861.

It was only much later that I discovered what “Bangued” meant which was “roadblock”. Evidently, the early native Tingguians opposed the Christianization introduced by the Spanish friars that they established roadblocks including large logs in the Abra river and big rocks across roads which the natives called ‘bangen” or obstacles. The American colonizers eventually modified it to “Bangued”.

The nearby parish rectory

The statue of St. Joseph, foster father of Jesus in front of the parish convent was erected in 1959 to commemorate the 50th year anniversary of the S.V. D. (Society of the Divine Word) in the province of Abra. In 1920, the bishop of Nueva Segovia (Bishop Peter Joseph Hurth) entrusted the whole province to the SVD. During that same year, the S.V.D. transferred its regional house from Tayum to the Bangued Parish Convent. However, in 1964 its seat of the region was again moved this time to Ubbog, Bangued.

At the back of the rectory is the Diocesan Pastoral Center

Inspired by the Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi -

a prayer for CHAMP (Clean, Honest, Authentic, Meaningful and Peaceful) elections

CCAGG maybe focused nowadays in project monitoring but it has never forgotten its roots born out of the 1986 snap presidential elections. It continues to be a significant electoral watchdog in Abra especially with the upcoming synchronized national and local elections this May.

CCAGG’s 2nd office room

Now back to work.

With some CCAGG staff and volunteers, we visited an on-going bridge (Sto. Tomas - Manabo Bridge) construction project in Barangay Sto. Tomas in the Municipality of Manabo approximately 33 kilometers away from Bangued. Intended to connect the municipalities of Bucay and Manabo, as well as neighboring towns of Buliney, Luba, Tubo and Sallapadan, the bridge project has lingered in limbo for decades.

The “longest” bridge in the world - the Sto. Tomas - Manabo bridge

Locals called it the “longest” bridge in the whole world, not so much because of the projected bridge span but because the previous contractors only constructed the middle part of the structure, leaving it without a beginning or an end. Thus, the longest bridge in the world.

Boarding the ferry barge

In order to get to the actual bridge construction site, we boarded a wooden ferry barge along with our service vehicle (Isuzu Crosswind) and other vehicles across the river.

Much of the river bed is exposed during the long hot summer months







Crossing the river

Our service vehicle disembarks

The view from the other side of the river




Our point of destination nears

Concrete columns await placement at the bridge’s Phase 1 area







The “longest” bridge from a closer vantage point







A drill-carrying heavy crane goes off to work

From the construction site, we proceeded to Manabo’s town proper for lunch. Quite expectedly, one couldn’t find a big restaurant in a small provincial town composed of 11 barangays and a population of roughly ten and a half thousand people. So we opted to eat in one of their sari-sari (mom and pop) stores cum eatery.

A simple yet satisfying lunch meal in Manabo

It was like ordering a home cooked meal from that local eatery. We waited while they cooked it at their home at the back of the store.

I was really famished by the time the food got served. But the simple meals were at least worth the wait. While the meatlovers enjoyed their pork adobo, I dug into to the fresh vegetables immersed in fish bagoong.

Vegetables with ‘bagoong’ never looked so delicious

Back in Bangued: The bishop’s office and residence

We went back to Bangued that afternoon where Perry interviewed some CCAGG staff and volunteers on the previous projects they have monitored.

I took some time to visit the Couples for Christ (CFC) leaders in Bangued whose names I got from Bro George Asensi who worked full time at the CFC Home office. The current CFC Provincial Area Director of Abra was Bro. Moding Bulda. I was told that his wife, Sis Glo was working for the Diocese as secretary to the Bishop.

The Bishop’s office and residence was nearby so I decided to just walk and look for Sis. Glo. As previous blog readers of mine would know, I often touch base with local CFC and Gawad Kalinga leaders wherever I go across the country.

Fortunately, I was able to meet Sis. Glo at the Bishop’s residence. Unfortunately though, the bishop assigned to the Diocese of Abra, Bishop Leopoldo Jaucian (a priest from the S.V.D.) wasn’t around that day.

With CFC Sister Glo, secretary to the Bishop and
wife of the CFC Provincial Area Director, Brother Moding Bulda







An informative map of the vast province

Back inside the DZPA building, I took a picture of this painted map of Abra. Maps of Abra are apparently not so common even in the province itself so this picture would really be worth more than a thousand words for our continuing journey through this massive expanse.