Iriga City Foundation Day in the Philippines Date in the current year: September 3, 2024

Iriga is a landlocked city in the coastal province of Camarines Sur. It was founded in 1578 as a visita, i.e. a small village with a church that had no rectory for a priest and would be occasionally visited by a parish priest. Its parish town was Nabua, established by the Spanish nine years earlier. The first settlers in Iriga were farmers who moved there from Nabua to escaped regular flooding that damaged their crops.

In 1683, the visita was converted into a pueblo with Saint Anthony of Padua as its patron saint. During the years that followed, it became a major center of abaca (Manila hemp) production in the Bicol region, largely due to the fertile volcanic soil surrounding the nearby volcano also named Iriga. Most locals worked on abaca plantations owned by several rich Spaniards.

After the defeat of the Philippines in the Philippine-American War, the American administration started the development of railroad infrastructure in the country. A railway station and a public market were established in Iriga in 1913, making it a major center of trade and commerce in the Rinconada District.

In the next few decades, the town of Irgia continued to grow and develop, eventually becoming the third city in Bicol Region. The Charter of Iriga City was signed on July 8, 1968, and the inauguration ceremony took place on September 3, 1968. Present-day Iriga is a component city with a population of more than 114,000 people in 36 barangays. It has the fourth largest economy in Bicol Region.

The anniversary of Iriga’s inauguration as a city is observed as a special non-working holiday, Iriga City Foundation Day. Special events held on the occasion include a ceremony where the annual Sumagang Awards, the highest civilian award in the city, are presented to its outstanding citizens, a civic and military parade, and a traditional military, majorette, drum and bugle corps competition.