Our city is becoming even more popular because now it has caught the interest of one of the best news television program in the Philippines “Brigada” and hosted by multi-awarded news journalist Ms. Jessica Soho.
The GMA News TV department visited and covered Vigan on the 28th and 29th of June this year to feature the various tourist attractions, foods, products and to help Vigan in promoting its campaign to be one of the New 7 Wonders Cities of the World.
The Brigada team was elated and surprised that among the cities here in the Philippines, only the small city of Vigan has qualified in the world-wide search even with just a small population and resources. The first part of their visit was to interview Mr. Edgar dela Cruz , City Tourism and Investment Promotion Officer to gather information and history about Vigan. Next was the shooting of the house of our late president Elpidio Quirino— Syquia Mansion, St. Paul Metropolitan Cathedral – church that is erected in 1790 supervised by the two Chinese mestizo brothers , Calle Crisologo , Arzobispado, Baluarte – residence of Gov. Chavit Singson with mini zoo, Vigan Convention Center- designed along the neo-Vigan bahay na bato concept built for huge conferences and the Vigan River Cruise, then the team headed to the city hall to meet and interview our amiable mayor, Hon. Eva Marie S. Medina on how Vigan preserved its rich cultural heritage that dates back from Spanish colonial era. Mayor Medina emphatically mentioned, “any construction must blend with its environ and the city will not allow modern buildings within the historic district because it can affect its authenticity and fabric”.
Then the team got interested with the process of making Vigan longganisa and bagnet. After tasting about 2 slices of bagnet and a piece of longganisa the executive producer, camera man, assistant and even their driver felt that they want to savor for more and took another round to satisfy their cravings. The journey continued to the Camangaan loomweavers where they were surprised with the difficulty in making such kind of fabric and found an aged woman weaving abel iloco despite her age.
Vigan has many things to boast when it comes to preservation of architectural designs, the uniqueness of cultural elements and the determination of its government and people to keep or preserve their products, culture and tradition with or without competition. Truly Vigan City is a total vacation package, a certified tourist destinationand worthy to be visited. // John Noel “Janoh” Andaya (CTIPO)