Light at the End of the Tunnel
When we were kids we would always scream at the top of our lungs whenever we passed through this tunnel. We were told that evil, naughty spirits lurked and lived inside the tunnel and the only way to drive away these spirits and their often-associated bad luck was through our loud screams.
The place name Tangadan derived its name from the Iloco/Ilocano word tangad meaning to look up. In reaching this tunnel, one keeps looking up for a 9-km long ascending road from Narvacan. It is also believed that there is an old Spanish trail called Camino Real around the area on top of the hill where the tunnel is located. Locally known as usok or usokan, this 40-meter long tunnel is named after Barangay Tangadan in the town of San Quintin.
The tunnel had been through a lot of changes and what we see now is a result of a facelift that was done under the administration of former Governor Maria Zita Claustro-Valera, the first female governor of Abra. Vertical borders of horses in Pinilian style (a type of weaving pattern) were added in the 1990s to commemorate Abra's past as a haven for horses and to promote and revive Abel-Abra, which was then a slowly dying industry. "Abra Welcomes You" was removed over the arch and Gabriela Silang Welcome Park was also added to the left side area of the tunnel. In 2001, this tunnel became a popular icon when it was used as a backdrop in Coca-Cola's "Karl Kalabaw" TV commercial.
According to that IRAA (Ilocos Regional Athletic Association) souvenir book in 1981, based from the memoir of an elderly man living near Tangadan Tunnel named Benito Perlas, "it is more than just a welcome tunnel. It is a symbol of the Abrenians' resistance against oppressors, resilience from invasion and defiance against odds." Quoted in the book are the following:
The construction of the tunnel started in 1934, an imperative need to divert the old road which was very steep and difficult to negotiate... More than fifty workers labored for two years, hammering, drilling and blasting their way through solid rocks...The resulting structure was a crude one. The walls were not reinforced so that loose rocks fell when rains came.
The Allied Forces tried to destroy the tunnel twice to impede the advancing Japanese soldiers. However, it did not totally collapse.
It was only in 1961 that restoration works started, a feat accomplished through the efforts of former congressman Lucas Paredes who worked for the appropriation of over P200,000.00 for the tunnel's reconstruction and improvement.