SANTO DOMINGO DE PIAT, 1610
There are quite a few conjectures on how Piat got its name. One has it is that it derives from "piyas," an Ilokano word, in Ibanag "addulu" and in Tagalog, "kamiyas." Another has it that the word comes from "aggapiya," meaning "healer, masseuse," and a more credible version has it that it is derived from the Ibanag and Itawes word "piya" which means "goodness, kindness, health."
The town is located in the southwest part of Cagayan Province in what is known as the Itawes Region, 125 40' East, 17 North, along which the Rio Chico runs west, south, and northwest of the town until it debouches into the Rio Ibanag somewhere near Nassiping.
The original people were the Itawes; at present, there are many Ibanag. Ilokano, Tagalog, Kapampangan and other dialect speakers. There are also families of Spanish and American descent. The head of the family was called "urayan" or "baruwang" and the council of elders "Kammaranan." There were also war leaders and braves called "mengal," and priestesses called "anitera" from the Spanish word called "anito" or "minangilu" in Ibanag, "mangilut" in Itawes and "baybaylan" in Bisayan; there were few priests among the ancient people.
They were a free an warlike people; Fray Diego de Aduarte speaks about "the courage and valor of this tribe: such that the Spaniards feared them. They staged a few uprising mostly because of the exactions of the "encomenderos." However, through the works of the Dominican missionaries, from "blood-thirsty wolves," they became "gentel sheep."
THE ARRIVAL OF THE SPANIARDS IN THE PHILIPPINES
Magellan's expedition, which set out from Spain in 1519, touched down in Homonhon Island on March 16, 1521. He claimed the Islands for the King of Spain and named it the "Archipelago de San Lazaro." Getting embroiled in a quarrel between the chiefs of Cebu and Mactan, he invaded the latter island and was killed on April 27, 1521 by Lapulapu and his men. Of the given ships which set out on the expeditions, only the Victoria, captained by Sebastian del Cano, reached Spained in August 1522, becoming the first ship to circumnavigate the globe and Magellan the first man to accomplish the same feat.
There were three other expeditions sent to the Islands. The Loasia Expedition, commanded by Juan Garcia Joffre de Loasia, set out from La Coruna, Spain on June 24, 1525. One of the ships sank near the Cape of the Thousand Virgins: Loaisa and the vice commander, Juan Sebastian del Cano died during the long Pacific Ocean crossing. Only the flagship, commanded by Martin Iniquez de Carquisano, sailed on to the Philippines and put in at Tidore, an island in the Moluccas, to wait for reinforcements since it was impossible to win against the Portuguese who then controlled the Spice Islands.
With a small fleet, Alvaro de Saavedra set out from Navida, a port in Mexico, on Oct. 31, 1527 to look for survivors of the Magellan and Loaisa expeditions. After touching at the Caroline Islands, the fleet sailed on to the Moluccas Islands where they joined the survivors of the Loaisa expedition. Hermando dela Torre, who had taken over the command, disputed possession of the Spice Islands with the Portugues. The two sides decided to settle the dispute by force of arms; the spaniards defended themselves valiantly, but because of inferior numbers and arms, decided to give up. The Portuguese gave them the means to return to Spain, which they did.
Despite the failure of the two previous expeditions, Charles V sent yet another expedition in 1542 under the command of Ruy Lopez de Villalobos. Not much is known about the achievement o fthis expedition; however, it resulted in the Islands being named after King Philip II, who succeeded Charles V as King of Spain.
THE LEGASPI EXPEDITON: CONQUEST, COLONIZATION & CONVERSION
Philip II ordered a fifth expedition to the Philippines. Unlike the others, this was planned and executed. Commanded by Miguel Lopez de Legazpi with Fr. Andres de Urdaneta, an Augustinian, as navigator, the fleet set sail from Puerto de Navida, Mexico on Nov. 20, 1564 and reached Cebu sometime in April 1565, an event commemorated in the celebration of the 4th Centennial of the Christianization of the Philippines in Cebu in April 1965. The Spaniards established the first permanent Spanish colony in Cebu, 1568, Juan de Salcedo, Legaspi's grandson, came from Mexico to join him in Panay where the natives had accepted Spanish sovereignty. In 1571, Legaspi sent a group of soldiers commanded by Captain Juan de Salcedo. The group accomplished the peaceful conquest of the Islands; the event marked the beginning of a successful but brief career of this young man who, by his efforts, explored and conquered major areas of the Islands for Spain.
The Spaniards, despite the opposition of Rajah Soliman and his warriors from Tondo, occupied Manila in 1571. On June 24, 1572, Manila was formally established as a city.
THE EXPLORATION AND CONQUEST OF LUZON
Most of the then existing communities accepted Spanish sovereignty without a struggle. The Tagalog of Bangkusay in Tondo, led by Rajah Soliman, the towns of Cainta and Taytay along the shores of Laguna de Bay refused to give in. Salcedo after a spirited resistance from the natives forced them to submit. Martin de Goiti defeated the Kapampangans of Betis who fought their freedom.
Salcedo then undertook an expedition to the gold mines of Paracale in what is now Camarines Norte in the Bikol Provinces. Afterwards, he and his men explored the western, northern and eastern coasts of Luzon. He discovered the mouth of Cagayan River and explored the area. On his return to Vigan, the Villa Fernandian, he heard that his grandfather, the first Adelantado or Governor General of the Islands, had died. He, himself was later struck by a malignant fever and died in Vigan in 1576, bequeathing his ecomienda to Ilokano people.
THE SPANIARDS COME TO CAGAYAN
By order of the then Governor General, Gonzalo Ronquillo, Captain Juan Carreon with a group of Soldiers set out for Cagayan in 1581 with the aim of driving away from the mouth of the Cagayan Valley river the Japanese pirate boarded their boats and sailed away. It was easy for Captain Carreon and his men to subdue the people who lived on the plains from along the coast and the banks of the Cagayan River since the natives were divided into warring factions and could thus not offer the Spaniards and worthwhile resistance.
Fathers Francisco de Rodriquez, Augustinian and Cristobal de Salvatierra, Dominican Vicar General of the Diocese of Manila went to Cagayan with the Carreon expedition as Chaplains.
Three leagues from the mouth of Rio Ibanag or the Cagayan River, Carreon founded the city of Nueva Segovia, now Lallo and erected a chapel, which he entrusted to the Augustinians. Because of ther dissappointment with the conduct of the Spanish soldiers and the passiveness of the natives, they preferred to return to Manila.
In 1954, Gov. Luis Perez Dasmarinas requested the Provincial of the Domincan Province of the Most Holy Rosary to take over the spiritual care and protection of the people of Nueva Segovia and the Evangelization of Cagayan. In compliance with the Gov. General's wishes, Frs. Diego de Soria and Tomas Castellar went to Cagayan and met the same difficulties the Augustinians faced. They were disposed to leave for Manila with the permission of their Superiors. Upon arriving at Pata, now in Claveria, they unexpectedly met six members of the Dominican Order who had been sent to Cagayan on mission. From this moment on, there was no turning back; the Domincan had come to stay. By the end of the Sixteenth Century, the faith had been firmly established from the northern coast of Cagayan down to as far south as Maquila (northern Isabela) and Camarag (now Santiago in southern Isabela). However, some of these missions, although confirmed officially by the Provincial Superiors, did not have missionaries assigned for lack of personnel.
The patience and perseverance of the missionaries wrought the conversion initially of northern Cagayan and Nueva Segovia. When asked when they thought of leaving Cagayan, Fr. Aduarte reported that the missionaries invariably replied: "Cuando el rio Ibanag que Bana sus tierras, se seca." "When the Ibanag River, which waters your lands, dries up."
NUEVA SEGOVIA CREATED AS A DIOCESE
On August 14, 1595 in a Papal Brief, Pope Clement VIII raised Manila to the status of Archdiocese and created three new Dioceses of suffragans of Manila: Cebu or Name of Jesus, compromising all the islands of Visayas and Mindanao; Nueva Caceres, compromising all the provinces of Southern Luzon and the Bicol Peninsula: and the Nueva Segovia compromising all of the northern Luzon down to the Caraballo mountains in Pangasinan, Tarlac and Zambales. The seat of the new Diocese was originally in Nueva Segovia, now, Lallo; the first Bishop was Fr. Miguel de Benavides, O.P. who took possession in 1599. Succeeding him was Bishop Diego de Soria, O.P. who took over in 1603. He made a Pastoral Visit to the Cagayan Valley, the Ilocos region and the Tarlac-Pangasinan towns. Later, he decided to stay in Vigan, probably for easier accessibility to the regions in his care. Finally, on Feb. 19, 1790, the seat of the Diocese was formally transfered to Vigan; Lallo remained the capital of Cagayan until 1893 when the seat of government was transfered to Tuguegarao.
THE TOWN OF PIAT
In 1596, the Dominican Provincial, Fr. Miguel de San Jacinto named Piat as a mission in the Itawes region comprising the towns of Tabang, Malaueg, Tuao and Piat. The encomenderos then were Pedro Barreda, Juan de Arranda and Isabel de Cardona. In 1604, the Bishop, Diego de Soria, negotiated for more missionaries for the Itawes region. To help in the pacification and evangelization of the region, the Dominicans introduced the devotion to Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary: in 1604, they brought the images of Our Lady from Macau and first enshrined it in Lallo, later bringing it to Piat 1622.
The first Holy Mass said in Piat was on August 24, 1604; on May 1, 1610, Piat was made a parish with Fr. Dominic de Guzman as titular. Fr. Melchor Manzano was named Vicar of the Itawes with Frs. Francisco Jurado and Juan Bautista Cano as assistants. In 1612, Fr. Juan de la Leiva was name Vicar of Piat and Tabang with Frs. Garcia, Diego Collado and Pedro Gascon of the Itawes with Fr. Melchor Manzano as Vicar assisted by Fr. Tomas Villar, Juan Bautista Cano, Gaspar de Casablanca. The Provincial Vicar sent three more priests to help in the Vicariate.
From Lallo, the image of Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary was brough to Piat in 1622 and enshrined in one of the two altars of the Church of Sto. Domingo. In 1623, Fr. Juan de Sta. Ana sent the image to Tuguegarao and sent back a replica but the people protested so the image was returned in 1624 and housed in a sanctuary separate from the Sto. Domingo Church due to a quarrel between the people of Piat and Tuao. Fr. Diego started the construction of the church, which burned down in 1740; Fr. Jose Gurumeta reconstructed the church and Fr. Isidore Rodriguez put the galvanized iron roofing. The present Shrine has been constructed to meet the needs of Our Lady's devotees. The old Sanctuary, begun by Fr. Diego Pinero and restored by Father Jose Gurumeta has become too small to accomodate the many pilgrims who visit our Lady's Shrine.
Originally know as Nuestra Senora del Santissimo Rosario, Our Lady is now venerated as Our Lady of the Visitation and her feast is celebrated on July 2.
In the Itawes area, the Dominicans founded the towns of Lubo, in 1604; Malaweg, 1608; Piat, 1610; Tuao, 1612 and Tabang, 1613,. In 1725. Fr. Juan de Sto. Tomas founded Mawanan, which was accepted as a Parish in the Provincial Chapter of 1735 and raised to that status by Bishop Jose Campomanes, the last Dominican Bishop of Nueva Segovia.
Because of oppression and abuses particularly connected with tax collections, the Itawes staged several uprisings in 1603 and 1617 and also in 1718; Fr. Miguel de la Viall became the "pacificador" of the later uprising. Many people also complained about the unjust exactions of the encomenderos and many missionaries took their sides.
