The municipality of Pugo lies in the southeastern part of La Union. It is bounded on the North by the municipality of Aringay; East by the municipality of Tuba, Benguet; South by the Municipality of Sison, Pangasinan and West by the municipalities of Rosario and Tubao. Pugo has an areaof more or less 5,585 hectares. It has a projected population of 15,560 for the current year. Pugo has fourteen barangays, classified as fifth class municipality with an average income of P 10,029,419.40 as of Fiscal Year 1998.
Pugo was organized as a townshipo on January 1, 1912 from the sub-province of Benguet, Mountain Province in accordance with Executive Order No.77 dated December 11, 1911, approved by Governor General S. Cameron Forbes. It is originally consisted of the territories comprising of eight barrios (Pugo, Ambangonan, Dagupan, Maoasoas, Enmistampa, San Luis, Cuenca and Saytan) with barrio Pugo as the seat of government. In 1919, Pugo became a municipal district in the sub-province of Benguet. On July 30, 1947, Pugo, together with Sudipen and San Gabriel, became regular municipalities of the Province of La Union, in accordance with Executive Order No. 72 issued by President Manuel A. Roxas.
About fifty years before the end of the Spanish regime, the eight original barrios were then settled, cleared up and improved by emigrants mostly from the eastern part of Ilocos Sur. Pugo used to be part of Tubao while the southern barrios were then part of Rosario. Barangay Cares, Poblacion East, Poblacion West and Tavora East were then a wilderness called Rancheria Tulosa. It was the hunting ground for hunters and bird trappers from the town of Agoo. According to folktales, when a high-ranking Spanish official saw swarms of quails when he visited the place and asked his guide the name of the birds. His guide replied, POGO (Iloko word for quail). Since then, Rancheria Tulosa was named POGO and subsequently PUGO.
In the year 1999, barrio Pugo together with the seven original barrios were annexed to Mountain Province as per Executive Order No. 11. When Baguio became a city in the year 1910, barrio Pugo and the other barrios became part of the township of Twin Peaks, Benguet. Twin Peaks was later abolished as a township, instead barrio Pugo and barrio Tuba were created as a township in the sub-province of Benguet. On February 4, 1920, Pugo which was then a municipal district of Benguet, was restored to La Union together with other barrios and sitios previously annexed to Mountain Province. This is in accordance with Section 2 of Act No. 2877 series 1920, enacted by the Philippine Senate and House of Representatives. |
