Buguias was among the District Municipality created
under Act No. 48 dated November 22, 1900. This act comprising the 19
towns of Benguet among which Loo was separated from Buguias. Later.
Loo and Buguias merged into one district municipality bearing the
name “Buguias” in 1090 under an executive order issued by the
Governor General. Buguias became a regular municipality on June 25,
1963 under the issuance of Executive Order No. 42.
The name of the Municipality of “Buguias” was derived from the word
“BUGAS” meaning “rice” in the local vernacular. “Bugas” refers to
the local cereal purposely used for fermenting wine. Local legend
has it that the term “Bugas” emerged when a certain American soldier
got lost while on his way to Kabayan, a nearby municipality. The
foreigner came upon a group of native women somewhere in the
southern part of the town pounding rice and he consequently asked
the natives of his whereabouts. The natives gratefully answered,
“Bugas” thinking that the foreigner was asking the name of what they
are pounding. The word was naturally Americanized to read and be
pronounced later as Buguias (Bug-yas) and consequently adopted as
the official name of the municipality.
Another local legend claims that Buguias got its name from the
word “BOGEY-YAS,” a popular igorot settlement during the pre-Spanish
time. Through the years, the word evolved as “BUGUIAS” until the
dawn of the colonization period.
Creation of the Municipality.
Buguias was among the District Municipality created under Act No. 48
dated November 22, 1900. This act comprising the 19 towns of Benguet
among which Loo was separated from Buguias. Later. Loo and Buguias
merged into one district municipality bearing the name “Buguias” in
1090 under an executive order issued by the Governor General.
Buguias became a regular municipality on June 25, 1963 under the
issuance of Executive Order No. 42.
The Town’s Historical Roles and Events:
At the turn of the 13th century, inhabitants from neighboring places
such as Cervantes traded salt, bandala (lowland blanket), jars, and
cows in exchanged for wooden pipes, chicken and pigs from the
highland natives. The natives in turn brought their bartered goods
to the hinterlands of Ahin, Tinoc, Hapaw and Hungduan which brought
about the improvement of the living conditions especially in terms
of clothing and dressing.
In the 16th century, an epidemic (bulutong) occurred which reduced
the population. As a result, the people moved further to other
places such as Mankayan, Bakun, Kibungan, Itogon, Ifugao and other
In the 17th century, Buguias was reached by the Spanish Colonizers
(under the Galvez Expedition) and recruited natives to work on
forced labor for the construction of a horsetrail now known as the
“Spanish Trail,” for use to collect taxes for the Spanish rulers.
They also established two (2) tribunal halls for meetings and tax
In 1896, after the defeat of the Spaniards by the Americans
colonizers, the latter issued an Act No. 48 creating
District-Municipalities as well as provinces.
In 1941, the second world war broke out paving the way for the
Japanese occupation in the Philippines until August 1945.
In July 16, 1989, typhoon Goring devastated Buguias destroying
vegetation, farmlands and killing lives.
In July 16, 1990, a killer quake occurred, destroying lives and
properties. Several strong typhoons follow onwards, causing loss of
lives and properties, landslides, floodwaters and isolation of the
town for several months affecting heavily the economic condition of
In the early days, Buguias is a thick-forested area and a hunting
ground for “Makawas” (deer), “bango” (wild pig), “sabag” (wild
chicken) and other wild animals.
Later, hunters got tired of roaming the mountain as the number of
wild animals to be hunted dwindled. They tried to stay in one place
and began to tame wild animals such as dogs, pigs, chicken etc. They
planted “togi,” (sweet potato) for their staple food and planted
native rice for “tapey” (wine) on paddies along creeks, rivers using
traditional and crude method of irrigation.
During the S