From the Saltbeds by Restituto C. Basa 

DAGUPAN lies along the Lingayen gulf coastline. It occupies the central section of the gulf.

Technically, Dagupan is situated at 120* 20′ longitude and 16* 2.50′ latitude.

At the center of its coastline, from Salapingao in the west up to Bonuan Binloc in the northeast, is the delta of the Agno river.

Dagupan is a river delta community. it grew on the delta of the Agno river. It is for this reason that Dagupan grew to become the primus inter paris among the 45 towns and cities of Pangasinan.

Dagupan is the cradle of the Pangasinan culture. It is the commercial center of the province and something more. The top universities and colleges of the Agno valley are here. The best equipped hospitals and the leading medical practitioners are here.

The mass media facilities television, radio and newspapers are based, edited and printed here.

Dagupan has a land area of 4,404 hectares. It is bounded in the east by Mangaldan; in the south by Calasiao; in the west by Binmaley; in the north by Lingayen gulf and in the northeast by San Fabian.

ENTRY POINT: If we go by the assumption that our ancestors were migrants to the Agno Valley, and that they originated from the south like Indonesia or the Malay peninsula, then their entry point in coming here is the Agno river delta between Pugaro and Bonuan Sabangan.

Sabangan, tby the way, is a Pangasinan term which means river delta.

The first migrants settled around the delta of the Agno river, in what came to be known as Dagupan.

The later migrants spread out in the wide expanse of the Agno valley.

Datu Kasilag: At the time of the Spanish conquest, what came to be known as the modern province of Pangasinan consisted of two sister luyags. One occupied the seacoast; the other occupied the Agno valley proper.

The coastal luyag was known as Pangasinan. Its leader, at the time of the Spanishh conquest, was Datu Kasilag.

The Agno valley luyag was known as Caboloan, with Datu Kaliskis as its leader.

Battle of Nalimpit: When the Spanish conquistador Juan de Salcedo explored the Ilocos, he passed by Pangasinan. Datu Kasilag resented Salcedo’s entry into Pangasinan. Kasilag’s command post was at Nilimpit.

This initial encounter between the Pangasinenses and the Castilas ended in a bloody fight. Armed with bolos and kampilans, the Pangasinenses were massacred by the intruders who were armed with rifles and pistols.

The rest of the native populace resented the white conquerors.

Bacnotan: To crass the memory of this massacre, when Fr. Martin de Rada organized this settlement into a pueblo in 1580, he discarded the original name Nilimipit and instead called the town Bacnotan. The original name of the settlement was Nilimpit, it being nilimpit (sandwiched) between two rivers. (the Agno and the Toboy rivers).

The settlement was organized into a pueblo on December 26, 1580 with St. John Evangelist as its patron saint.

The Spaniards did the same thing to Binalatongan. Twice Binalatongan resisted Spanish rule and arose in rebellion. The first uprising was in 1660 led by Andres Malong; the second in 1772 led by Palaris.

After the second rebellion, the Spaniards killed Binalatongan and created a new town, San Carlos. The townsite of Binalatongan was abandoned onthe bank of the San Juan river. It was damned as accursed by the Spaniards.

The new town of San Carlos was established some distance east of Binalatongan.

Nandaragupan: This town supported the Malong rebellion of 1660. It appears that at one point of the rebellion, Malong gathered his forces here. It was during this phase of the rebellion when they burned the church of Dagupan.

Notice that when the tide of battle turned against the rebels, Malong took refuge at the forest area of Caranglaan and Bacayao. He was captured in Bacayao.

Bacayao, by the way, is a tall forest tree while dangla from which the word Caranglaan was derived, is a medicinal herb. It grows in forest areas.

It was after the collapse of the Malong rebellion that this town came to be known as Nandaragupan. The literal meaning of nandaragupan is a place where people once gathered. Note that nandaragupan is in the past tense.

Masiken Teodoro Manaois I, father of city mayor Cipriano Manaois, explained to me that nandaragupan is reminiscent of regrouping here in Bacnotan of the rebels under the command of Malong.

Others put a commercial meaning to the term. They theorize that Nandaragupan pertains to Dagupan’s character as a commercial center.

Nandaragupan was finally abbreviated into Dagupan in 1720.

Sea port: During its pristine years,  the river in the downtown area was navigable by sea vessels. Chinese junks loaded with goods from China and South East Asia use the river as a port of entry.

This was how Barangay Pantal got its name. It served as a pantalan or landing jetty of the local port.

(to be continued)