Episode S8 · Ep 27 October 3, 2026 17 min 32s

S8E12 Borderline Bureaucrats: An Early History of La Union

As La Union historian Adriel Obar Meimban writes, La Union fits neatly into its geography: bound by rivers on the north and south, by the Cordillera mountain range on the east, and then, on its west side, the pounding surf that has made San Juan one of the country’s most popular tourist spots. But even in its earliest days, the borders of La Union were drawn and redrawn in bureaucratic squabbles. The newly minted province and its neighbors could not decide where one ends and another begins—and caught in the middle of these disputes were ordinary townsfolk whose lives and rhythms would not be dictated by any map.

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References:

Meimban, Adriel Obar (1997). La Union: The Making of a Province, 1850-1921. Rex Printing Company.

Newson, Linda A. (2009). Conquest & Pestilence in the Early Spanish Philippines. Ateneo de Manila University Press.

See, Dexter A. (6 November 2015). “La Union, Ilocos Sur end century-old boundary dispute.” Baguio Herald Express. https://baguioheraldexpressonline.com/la-union-ilocos-sur-end-century-old-boundary-dispute/

Fernando, Jeferson B. (17 March 2026). “Privilege Speech — 38th Regular Session of 24th Sangguniang Panlalawigan of La Union.” Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/reel/1605457753991907