For the farmers, the government continues to provide them with farm equipment, farmers' field schools, farms, farm animals and subsidies for seeds fertilizers; the city agriculture and fishery has been adjudged as the most outstanding in region one for 2006. a coaster was acquired to serve the travel requirements of various sectors of the city; and a farm to market roads, bridges and other barangay facilities were constructed.
For the administrative enhancement, they renovated and expanded the city hall to improve the workplace of their employees, whose hard work, were compensated with increases in salaries and benefits; they have installed glass panes and removed divider walls in offices to promote transparency; the employees have uniforms that signify authority at the same time make it difficult for them to gallivant; they have also installed the fingerprint identification system where their employees log in and out of the office.
With their relentless efforts in pushing for more opportunities and access to resources for Vigan's people especially the less privileged. With the "Vigan copes" velihood program, the city is able to extend soft loans to cooperatives and individual traditional industry workers as well as small and medium scale entrepreneurs channeled to their fund handlers the Nueva Segovia Consortium of Cooperatives and the Fatima Multi Purpose Cooperative. that the poor must never be This program shows undermined and reduced to beggars awaiting dole outs but rather as worthy citizens capable of borrowing, earning a decent living and dignified enough to repaying their loans. While the city government has long adopted the multi-sectoral strategic planning process, they have also developed and paved the way for a more comprehensive and participatory planning process for the 39 barangays Through the sparc or strategic planning approach for rural and urban communities, each barangay development council undertakes a strategic planning workshop that yield their annual budget, investment & development plans. Gone are the days when only the barangay captain and his treasurer prepare their budget. Another significant output is that all barangays have crafted their own vision, mission and core values in consonance with that of the city's.
In 2006 they acquired a 4500 sq. meter property with a 2-storey building i the city of Taguig by Laguna de bay which serves as our satellite office. It also opens another economic enterprise for the LGU as they are offering budget t is a home for biguenos accommodation facilities displaying Vigan products and transacting business in Metro Manila and most especially those attending to their sick relatives in hospitals in the capital region This acquisition is also a good investment considering that it is part of a comprehensive development program by the national government. They have embarked on the computerization and networking of their financial transactions to safeguard revenue generation and disbursements. A one-stop shop is set-up during the first two months of the year to facilitate the payment of taxes and issuances of permits. As an added service to their valued taxpayers they provide free drinks and massage. A one-stop shop at the Vigan public market s also set up for one week. They have accomplished the programming and installation of the city's geographic information system.
They are aware that the metamorphosis of Vigan into a more livable city is faced with unending challenges but with the necessary elements of development such as: community participation institutionalized protective measures and development plans; infrastructure and resources to provide business and employment opportunities; linkages with national and international institutions; restored investors confidence; and the renewed pride of the biguenos in themselves and in their city in place, they are confident that the city government of Vigan's myriad of programs and services anchored on the rich cultural heritage will sustain Vigan's growth and development.
These days Vigan has been referred to as a multi awarded city. They beam with pride of having garnered citations such as the best public market in Region I and the best of the best cream of the crop consumer welfare desk in the entire country the best women and children's protection desk in the region; out of 182 entries in the search for Galing Pook awards, Vigan's heritage conservation program was adjudged as one of the top 10 best practices in local governance they take pride in Vigan's being the cleanest and greenest city in Ilocandia from 2004 to the present; Vigan is also currently the most child friendly city in the Ilocos; it also has the most outstanding city agriculture and fishery council of the region; and to top it all Vigan is also the region's best performing local government unit with the least number of constituents living below the poverty threshold. As they pour efforts on their programs they always consult history for we believe that by doing so, they get a clearer vista of where they want to go and how to get there.
Today, powerful images and sounds of modern sophisticated living have established their marked presence business and residential infrastructure, cars, tricycles, traffic and they are unable to drown the stillness and of the is exactly the of coping with the needs of the present amidst the bounds set by a centuries-old legacy that makes Vigan a living city has opened itself to change But has not sacrificed. The bountiful wealth of its heritage.
WHY THE HISTORIC TowN oF VIGAN wAS INScRIBED IN THE UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE LIST?
Towards the end of November 1999, the UNESCO World Heritage Convention met in Marrakeeh, Morocco to decide which of the sites and monuments proposed by countries that have adhered to the World Heritage Convention should be included in the World Heritage List. The selection process is quite difficult for the World Heritage Committee, composed of specialists from 21 countries elected from among the nations that have signed the Convention, which determined how each site or monument, as opposed to another, be judged to form part of the World Heritage and what constitutes the exceptional and universal value of a cultural treasure.
In this respect, the World Heritage Convention defines what kinds of monuments and sites may be considered as part of cultural heritage and what kinds of physical and geological formations may be considered as part of our natural heritage. The Convention provides detailed criteria for the selection of sites and monuments, which the Committee applies rigorously to prevent the World Heritage List from becoming too long and to preserve its integrity as the checklist of the best among the world's treasures.
On 2 December 1999, our Historic Town of Vigan was inscribed in the World Heritage List which now includes 630 cultural and natural properties of exceptional universal value in 158 States Parties or countries that have adhered to the Convention.
The Historic Town of Vigan was inscribed on the basis of the following:
Criterion (ii): exhibit an important interchange of human values, over a span of time or within a cultural area of the world, on developments in architecture or technology monumental arts or town planning and landscape design.
Under this criterion, the World Heritage Center officially cites: "Vigan represents a unique fusion of Asian building design and construction with European colonial architecture and planning.
Criterion (iv): "be an outstanding example of a type of building or architectural or technological ensemble or landscape which illustrates a significant change in human history.
Under this criterion, the citation reads: "Vigan is an exceptionally intact and well preserved example of a European trading town in East and East Asia.
To understand better these citations, let us explore together the town planning, the evolution and typical layout of the Vigan House.
TOWN PLANNING
Strategically located at the mouth of the Abra River along the northwestern coast of Luzon which is nearest to mainland China, Vigan was an important coastal trading port from the pre-colonial era to the 19th century. The town plan is representative of the style the Spanish colonizers had designed and established in the 18th century, conforming to the Ley de las Indias (the Law of the Indies) that regulated the lay-out, street patterns and open spaces of all new settlements during the Spanish era: a regular urban design of grid street pattern radiating from a central plaza (park).