Barangay Wangal 4.15

Historical Background

A. PRE – SPANISH ERA

During this early period in history, only wild animals mostly inhabited Wangal. Only a few Ibaloi settlements were found in the area of Kawa” and the present day Stockfarm. The mode of subsistence was hunting and gathering.
The social and cultural life of the people of Wangal, then, centered on cañao which last for days and weeks. Each nearby settlement was given a specific number of heads of cattle or carabao for the feast. In one festivity, Wangal was allotted only two heads due to the small number of people.
Wangal was originally called VANGAL, an Ibaloi term attributed to the river, which runs down from Longlong and Gayasi.

B. SPANISH ERA

The Spaniards established its government by assigning native Igorots as the “Capitanes de Barangay”. Miguel Dosdos, a rich landowner was made Capitanes de Barangay in Wangal.
By forced labor, the trail leading to Wangal was constructed. Due to forced labor and other Spanish cruelties, many people sought safer places and started to inhabit forested areas such as Talingguroy.
By this time, agriculture was already in practice. Iron tools were introduced in Wangal, As well as coffee, specifically that variety which is known today as Benguet coffee. Remnants of this variety are today in the hands of the heirs of Feliciano Hidalgo.

C. AMERICAN PERIOD

Wangal was spared of the wrath of the war during the revolution between the Americans and the Filipinos right after the Spaniards left. Records tell of American Negroes who came with guns but offering the natives candies.
The Americans also introduced in many changes; they introduced new kinds of vegetables, the concepts of private property and public education.
Feliciano Hidalgo became the only pupil from Wangal to have enrolled at the American School made of cogon at Poblacion in 1905. Many lands in Wangal were declared as school reservations for the La Trinidad School farm in 1920’s. As such, many ancestral lands still remain under the jurisdiction of Benguet State University, which was established by the Americans in 1916.
Residents also became victims of cholera, referred to by the natives as White Man’s Disease. Since medical facilities were very poor, many people died. Stories tell of Salvadora, Miguel Dosdos’ wife who got puss from the dead and put it to the other sick people and children using thorns to vaccinate them to help cure cholera.

D. JAPANESE OCCUPATION

During the Japanese occupation, many families of Wangal, though secluded from the valley, sought safer and farther places for safety. Japanese atrocities resulted in many deaths. Men from Wangal joined the organization of “bolo men” which became the basic support group of the guerilla movement.
After the war, destruction and misery filled the air, while victims awaited unceremonious burial. People started to return to seek out their surviving kin, and begin the task of re – building their lives.




E. CONTEMPORARY PERIOD

On March 28, 1980, the Supervising Surveyor by the name of Rodrigo H. Romea assigned by the Bureau of Lands surveyed the disputed land in Benguet Province – particularly La Trinidad, Loakan, Guisad, Ambuklao and Mt. Data. He submitted a report to the Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources which recommended the amendment of Proclamation 209 in favor of the ancestral land claimants. Years have passed since then and nothing has happened to the case. Up to now, the Mountain National Agricultural School which is now known as Benguet State University still has the jurisdiction over the 1,700 hectares located in different Barangays in La Trinidad, and Wangal is one of those.
While many changes occurred in the valley, Wangal continued to display its rustic character of greenery and forests. To this day, agricultural farms are interspersed with agro – forest and forested areas.