HISTORY OF IRIGA
Iriga, came from a phrase in the language “I raga” which means there is land, grew from the settlement by the bank of the Bikol River called Bua (Nabua), who were looking for higher grounds due to the perennial and disastrous flooding of the town during the rainy season.
Bua was a low marshy terrain easily flooded during the rainy season. Because of this some people, upon the advice Father Felix de Huertas, then parish priest of Nubua, the farmers to move to I-raga where they can plant their crops without fears of being flooded.
Taking the advice of the priest, people left Bua and settled to a higher land located at the foot of Sumagang , a mountain east of Bua. The foot of the mountain had large tracts of land available for cultivation suitable for settlement and unlike Bua; it does not suffer from severe flooding during the torrential rainy season. The settlement was then called Iraga, which “there is land” in the local language.
The Franciscan friars, who set foot in the Bikol peninsula, saw in the new land a good ground for evangelization. As evangelization by the Franciscan friars progressed, Iraga developed in size and wealth. Soon therefore, foundation work had been laid down by proclaiming it a visita of Nabua. More and more people from Nabua came to Iraga to settle.
As population spread out and evangelization progressed, the settlement at the foot of Sumagang Mountain developed in size and wealth, slowly pushing the Agtas up to the thickness of the forests. And in 1578 the I-raga settlement was established as “visita” of Nabua and a church made of wood was constructed. Saint Anthony of Padua was the patron saint of the parish with Father Pedro de Jesus and Father Bartolome Ruiz serving as its religious heads. In 1583, five years after church was constructed, Agta warriors razed the church to the ground. A second one was constructed but it too was destroyed by a typhoon and razed to ashes again by fire.
January 4, 1641, Sumagang erupted, forming gully on Buhi side of the mountain leading to a steep ravine which is the crater of the volcano. According to stories, the Nuestra Senora de Angustia appeared at Inorogan and through miracle saved the Irigeños from the terrible eruption.
In 1682, with a population of 8,909, I-raga was converted into Pueblo de la Provincia de Ambos Camarines. Later on, the Spanish authorities changed the name from I-raga to Iriga and In 1710 Don Bonifacio de los Angeles organized the first four barrios of Iriga – San Agustin, San Isidro, San Nicolas and San Antonio Abad.
In 1727 after the second churched was destroyed, a new church was built, unfortunately it too was destroyed in a fire in 1841. Finally, shortly after the last church was destroyed, Fray Tomas de Alfafara finally led the construction of a new parish church, together with its two belfries made of bricks and stones. It was the later on repaired in 1866, and in 1892 the tower was rebuilt with wood and iron.
In 1823, in the Memorias de la Provincia de Ambos Camarines shows that the number of Barangay in “pueblo de Iriga” was composed of San Roque, San Francisco de Asis, San Juan Bautista, Sto. Domingo de Guzman, San Miguel Arcangel, San Nicolas de Tolentino, San Agustin, San Antonio Abad, Sto. Nino and Santiago de Galicia with a population of 13,813. There were only four roads mentioned and they were coming from Nabua going to Bato, to Buhi and to Polangui, Albay and there was only one way going to Nueva Caceres (Naga) via Bicol River by boat.
In 1901, as part of American colonialist strategy to pacify and attract the Filipinos, the first public school in Iriga, Iriga Central School, was established . In 1913 the Manila Railroad Company Station and the public market was established at its present site . With the establishment of the train station and the public market, Iriga rapidly grew and became the center of trade and commerce in the Rinconada area.
The first bus transportation here was ALATCO. Its first route was Iriga-Naga; however, as the venture became more successful, the company expanded its fleet to service the other towns of Camarines Sur, Camarines Norte, Albay and Sorsogon, hence opening remote villages of Bikol, to the mainstream of economic and social development.
Later on, in 1918 Max L. Blouse, one of ALATCO’s drivers would also start his own transportation company, the Batangas, Laguna, Tayabas Bus Company (BLTB).
The American colonial period temporarily ended in 1942 when World War II broke out. The Japanese Imperial Army established a garrisoned at Kalbaryo hill overlooking the city proper. Iriga Central School became a concentration camp; those who could not be accommodated were brought to the Ateneo de Naga.
Like in many other places, Bicolano guerilla units spring up in Iriga after the formal American colonialist resistance has ended. Mt. Iriga became the base of the resistance attracting recruits not only from Iriga but even as far as Albay. With the help of the Agtas who were very familiar with the terrain, the Japanese army could penetrate the interiors of the mountain
With the end of the Japanese occupation in May 15, 1945, the Iriga Central was reopened and rehabilitation began. In 1948, the first college in Iriga City, the Mabini Memorial College was established by Atty. Felix O. Alfelor. A year later, Atty. Ortega would also establish the Saint Anthony College.
The establishment of these centers for higher learning, including the La Consolacion Academy further spurred the growth and development of the municipality as it attracts students from all over the region.
In 1960s, Iriga saw tremendous economic and social progress. On July 8, 1968, the city was converted into a city through Republic act 5261. However, it was only on September 3 of the same year that the City was formally organized and inaugurated as the third city of the Bikol Region by then President Ferdinand Marcos.
