Balaoan La Union

The present name of this municipality, which was originally a part of Ilocos Sur originated from a very interesting circumstance. It was during the Spanish regime that this municipality was named BALAOAN as its former name PURAW.

A group of Spanish soldiers were on patrol and stopped in a sitio for a short period. The sitio people saw them curious about these fair-skinned soldiers flocked around the soldiers and touched the guns they carried. For fear that the guns might explode, one of the on-lookers asked the soldiers in the vernacular, “Aoan bala?”.

One soldier, in his attempt to catch the words, uttered the last word. As he remembered the first word, he seemingly wise, confidently said “Balaoan!”

From that day on, the town was named BALAOAN, a syncopation of “Bala-aoan”.

Balaoan is one of the oldest municipalities in La Union, having been founded in 1704. Its first Capitan is Ignacio Duldulao.