Santo Domingo Ilocos Sur Philippines

Sto. Domingo was discovered because of a fruit. Legend has carried the story of a Spanish soldier, then stationed in Ciudad Fernandina, who was looking for the source of the famous santol fruits that were marketed in Villa Fernandina (now the town of Vigan). This fruit sold on Sundays gain so much popularity in that old town because of its sweetness.

According to legend, one Spanish soldier, Pablo Arquero, went in search of the fruit and found his way through the vast forest seven kilometers north of Ciudad Fernandina and came upon a group of Indians near a spring, known in the vernacular as “Pussuac”, that Arquero discovered the source of the famous santol fruit on May 12, 1742. Shortly after, on August 4, a Dominican priest, Fr. Jose Milan, laid the foundations of the town by holding the first mass and laying the base of the present bell tower of the Catholic Church of Sto. Domingo.

This bell tower had a base foundation of nine meters and after the church was completed, it was made famous by Diego Silang, the most colorful-lived Ilocano hero, who became a bell ringer of Fr. Millan and later the leader of the Ilocano revolt. In his revolt, one of the conditions imposed by Diego Silang for peace was the appointment of Fr. Tomas Millan as the first Gobernadorcillo of the new town, which was the named Sto. Domingo. It is obvious that the name was derived from the santol fruit that was sold on Sundays “Santol ti Domingo” in Vigan. thus, on May 12, 1742, a town by the name SANTOL DOMINGO was born in that section now known as the Barangay of Pussuac. The name later on was shortened to “STO.”, hence the name STO. DOMINGO