BADOC FESTIVITY

Badoc is known to be one of the oldest towns in the province of Ilocos Norte and the birthplace of Juan Luna, the most famous Filipino Painter. The Bado-Badoc festival celebrates the rich history of this town named after a humble grass called bado-badoc which was growing abundantly along its river banks. Not long after the the first mass in the town celebrated on June 24, 1572, the Spaniards settled and established a well structured town center. Badoc developed into an opulent and peaceful Spanish town manifested by the stone and brick structures scattered around the poblacion.All of the town’s blessings are attributed to the La Virgen Milagrosa de Badoc, the patroness of Ilocos Norte. Estimated to be 400 years old, the revered image of La Virgen Milagrosa is enshrined and venerated in the more than 200 year old imposing brick-and-stone baroque church. Now referred to as a God-sent miracle, the image was found, together with a life-size crucifix (enshrined in neighboring town of Sinait, Ilocos Sur), inside a wooden box floating along the shores of Lugo Village in 1620. Countless miracles have been ascribed to the beloved image of La Virgin Milagrosa which have kindled and heightened the veneration and devotion of the people from the Ilocos region for which the image was really meant. Realizing the intense and widespread devotion, the Diocese of Laoag proclaimed the wooden image of La Virgen Milagrosa de Badoc as the Patrones of Ilocos Norte on May 2, 1980. Indeed, Badoc has gone a long way from the humble river grass to a progressive municipality producing onion, rice, and tobacco, all under he blessings of La Virgen Milagrosa.

LA VIRGEN MILAGROSA de BADOC