The Local Government of San Juan, Ilocos Sur is headed by a mayor. The Sangguniang Bayan makes up the legislative department.  Under the local government are the barangay units with their own Sangguniang Barangay.  San Juan, Ilocos Sur is a fourth class municipality.  Government income averaged P9,021,583.36 (Source: DOF records)  from 1992-1995.  With the population at 21,222 in 1995, this translates to a per capita government income of approximately P425.00. 

Government agencies in the municipality include a Rural Health Unit, Department of Social Welfare and Development, Department of Agriculture, Department of Agrarian Reform, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Department of the Interior and Local Government, Bureau of Internal Revenue, Philippine National Police, Post Office, and the Local Government Unit's departments: Treasury, Civil Registry, Engineering, Accounting, Registry of Deeds, Development Planning and Coordination, and the town council. 

More info:
Local Chief Executives, 1772 up to the present

Economic Activities

Farming and fishing along the coast of Lapog Bay are still the main sources of livelihood of the people.  But the ambitious and hardworking Lapogueños do their best to send their children to colleges and universities to acquire higher education.  Thus, there are now many Lapogueño lawyers, physicians, bank executives, government executives,  entrepreneurs and whitecollar workers. 

The fruits of economic development that trickled down from the major cities have expanded the range of economic activities in the province of Ilocos Sur.  Professional services provided by doctors, lawyers, accountants, bankers and other professions have created demand for support services like administrative and secretarial work. And so, Lapogueños are now found in different offices not only in San Juan (Lapog) and in the nearby towns and the capital town of Vigan but also in the neighboring provinces of Ilocos Norte and La Union. 

Major Economic Sectors

AGRICULTURE 

The agricultural sector in Lapog is still dominated by the tobacco industry which remains the biggest earner.  It is a source of income not only of tobacco farmers but of 
laborers who get employed to work in the post-harvest activities like stringing the green leaves on a bamboo stick ("agtudok"), and classifying the cured tobacco leaves. 

Other major crops include: onions, palay, corn, garlic, pepper, cabbage and other vegetables.  Residents of western barangays along the Lapog Bay are blessed with a fertile fishing ground. Lapu-lapu and talakitok are just among the many varieties of fish that abound in the Bay. This source of livelihood, however, is threatened by dynamite fishing. 

INDUSTRY 

Blacksmithing - Though only a few blacksmiths remain, this industry still thrives. The main products are scissors, razors and bolos.  The blacksmiths are found in the barangay of Pandayan located in the poblacion area. 

Handicrafts - Anyone who takes a stroll along the poblacion's streets is likely to find women and children weaving dried buri leaves. They make these into hats, bags, mats, and other novelty items. The finished products used to be sold only in neighboring towns. In recent years however, with the help of the government through the Department of Trade and Industry, the handicrafts sector has flourished. The products now find their way to as far as Manila and other provinces. And continuing product development through seminars and demos contribute to improvement in product quality and design.

The LGU (under Mayor Benjamin Sarmiento) has identified the buricraft industry as its featured product in the One Town One Product (OTOP) program of the Arroyo Administration. On December 2006, the town held its first Buri Festival, with an attempt to weave the longest mat. 

Other Indigenous Industries.  Lapogueños make good "CASCARON."  A dough made from rice flour cooked in cane sugar, it is sold at the public market of San Juan and other neighboring towns.  Aside from cascaron, Lapog is well known for "OPIA".  Only in Lapog can one find this product. It is a crisp delicacy with a texture like that of a biscuit. Made of rice flour and sugar and shaped in a half-moon with a sprinkling of sesame seeds on the inside, it used to be cooked in an earthen oven. People from other places, especially those in Manila, often come here searching for this particular product. Recently, the trade received a boost from the Department of Science and Technology and is now cooked in an oven and mass produced. Even then, because there are only a few producers, production still cannot cope with demand.

FINANCE

The Sadiri Rural Bank, Inc. is the only banking institution in Lapog.  However, there are several cooperatives serving farmers in the different barrios as well as multi-purpose cooperatives of employees in the Local Government Unit.