History of Pagudpud

merely answered, “Ako’y pagud na pagod at ang sapatos ko’y pudpod,” in his usual Batangas accent. This reply became the byword of the residents of Barangay Tongotong even if they didn’t know the meaning of what the peddler had said.

Months later, a native of the Bicol Region came to seek employment in one of the logging companies which was operating in the locality. The place at that time had a lot of virgin forests and mountains, and logging business was still legal. The stranger did not know where the office of the company was located, so he just alighted in Tongotong even if it was not still the place where he was supposed to go. He asked one of the bystanders the name of the place and he immediately replied, “Ako’y pagud na pagod at ang sapatos ko’y pudpod,” because the bystander knew that he was Tagalog and that was the only Tagalog words that he knew. The amazed Bicolano just interpreted that the place might be Pagud-pudpod.

There and then Tongotong was changed to Pagud-pudpod and later shortened to Pagudpud.

According to the elders Pagudpud is a deep Ilocano word which means soft sandy soil “kuppuoy” a kadaratan.

Pagudpud was made a municipality on July 5, 1954. Unlike Laoag City, the province's only autonomous city, Pagudpud derives its authority from the provincial government. It had previously been a part of the neighboring town of Bangui