A Mother’s Stuff

Diadi, Nueva Vizcaya

The town of Diadi is a 4th class municipality in the province of Nueva Vizcaya with a population of 15,567 people in 2,847 households according to the 2007 census. It has 19 barangays namely Arwas, Balete, Bugnay, Decabacan, Duruarog, Escoting, Nagsabaran, Namamparan, Pinya, Poblacion, Ampakling, Butao, Langca, Lurad, Rosario, San Luis, San Pablo, Villa Aurora and Villa Florentino.

Bagabag, Nueva Vizcaya municipality

Bagabag, a 3rd class municipality, is one of the towns in the province of Nueva Vizcaya with a population of 32,787 according to the 2007 latest Philippine census. It is bounded in the west by the municipality of Villaverde, in the east by the municipality of Diadi, in the north by the municipality of Lamut, Ifugao, in the southwest by Solano, and in the south by the municipality of Quezon. Bagabag is the gateway to the famous Banaue Rice Terraces.

Bagabag is considered the pineapple region of Nueva Vizcaya. The main crops include rice, corn, rattan, onion, camote, cassava, banana, coconut, mango, and pineapple. Bagabag is also the largest producer of tilapia in the province and is famous for its delicious buko pie in the Cagayan Valley. Located in the northern part of the town is the Bagabag Airport which currently serves the town and is the only airport of Nueva Vizcaya. Adjacent to the airport is the SIL Bagabag.

The natives of Bagabag are the Ga’dangs or Gaddangs whose ancestors originally came from the Cagayan and Isabela provinces. The Gaddangs predominantly live in the town proper and they speak the Gaddang language. Presently, there are lots of Ilocanos and Tagalogs who migrated and line in Bagabag.

Bagabag has 19 barangays namely Bakir, Baretbet, Careb, Dumayop, Lantap, Murong, Nangalisan, Paniki, Pogonsino, San Geronimo (Poblacion), San Pedro (Poblacion), Santa Cruz, Santa Lucia, Tabban, Tuao North, Tuao South, Villa Coloma (Poblacion), Villa Quirino (Poblacion) and Villaros.

Town of Aritao

Aritao is one of the towns in the province of Nueva Vizcaya. It is a 3rd class municipality with a population of 34,206 people in 6,276 households according to the latest census.

The original residents of this town are the ethnic minority called Isinays (the same term for the spoken dialect). The name of the town “Aritao” came from the Isinay phrase “Ari Tau” which stands for “Our King” (ari-king and tau-our) that refers to the legendary Isinai Chieftain Mengal, a fierce and brave king who resisted Spanish conquest of the Isinai territories around Ajanas and Ynordenan.

The 22 barangays of Aritao are Banganan, Beti, Bone North, Bone South, Calitlitan, Comon, Cutar, Darapidap, Kirang, Nagcuartelan, Poblacion, Santa Clara, Tabueng, Tucanon, Anayo, Baan, Balite, Canabuan, Canarem, Latar-Nocnoc-San Francisco, Ocao-Capiniaan and Yaway.

Municipality of Ambaguio, Nueva Vizcaya

One of the municipalities in the province of Nueva Vizcaya is Ambaguio. It is a 5th class municipality with a population of 11,499 people in 1,837 households according to the latest census. The 8 barangays of the municipality are Ammoweg, Camandag, Labang, Napo, Poblacion, Salingsingan, Tiblac and Dulli.

Alfonso Castañeda, Nueva Vizcaya

The municipality of Alfonso Castañeda was created on April 20, 1979 by virtue of Batas Pambansa Blg. 27. This municipality was named after the first elected Governor of the Province of Nueva Vizcaya who belonged to the Cultural Minority group, the late Governor Alfonso Castañeda. It is located in the boundary of three provinces: Nueva Vizcaya, Aurora and Nueva Ecija. It has a land area of 416.06 sq. km. and it is composed of six (6) barangays namely Abuyo, Galintuja, Cauayan, Lipuga, Lublub and Pelaway.

The Balugas and Bugkalots were the original settlers found in this place but due to the rich resources found in this place other groups like the Ilocanos, Tagalogs, Ibalois, Kankanais, Ifugaos, Bicolanos and Isinals were attracted to migrate and settle in this humble place.

Long before the creation of this town, it was named Barangay Lublub which is one of the barangays of the municipality of Dupax del Sur, Nueva Vizcaya. It was headed by its Barangay Captain Hon. Alfredo M. Castilo Sr. who then became its frist appointed Mayor after its separation from Dupax del Sur and proclamation as an independent municipality.

History of Nueva Vizcaya

The name NUEVA VIZCAYA was derived from the Spanish province “Vizcaya” in the Basque Country. It is used to be a territory of the vast Cagayan Valley which was once an integral political unit with one governor. It was in 1839 when then Governor Luis Lardizabal issued an order to transform Nueva Vizcaya into a politico-militar province upon the advice of the alcalde mayor of Cagayan. Said order was approved by a Royal Decree on April 10, 1841. In 1902, the province had its first taste of civil governance when it was organized by the Philippine Commission.

In May of 1865, great portion of Nueva Vizcaya’s northern territory was ceded to the newly-born province of Isabela. Furthermore, the organization of the province of Ifugao in 1908 reduced the area of Nueva Vizcaya when it give up its northwest territory. The area of Nueva Vizcaya was also reduced during the survey executed by the Bureau of Lands in 1914 and the enactment of the Administrative Code of 1917.

In 1942, Japanese troops occupied Nueva Vizcaya but liberated in 1945 by Filipino and American troops. It was in 1971 when Republic Act No. 6394 was passed creating the town of Quirino thus separating it from its mother province and made into a regular province.

Since Nueva Vizcaya’s birth as a province, traces of the culture and customs of its early settlers, the Ilongots (Bugkalot), Igorots, Ifugaos, Isinays, and the Gaddangs, can still be seen. The influx of civilization and the infusion of modern technology to the life stream of the province induced many immigrants from adjacent provinces to migrate to this province.

The history of organized religion in the province of Nueva Vizcaya dates back to the year 1607 when the Dominican Order arrived at the hinterlands of the province to preach their beliefs. It was not until 1609, however, that the first settlement of a religious order was established in the southern half of the province. In 1702, a covenant was erected in Burubur at the foot of the Caraballo mountain in Santa Clara, which is now a barangay of the town of Aritao. It was on this site that the first mass in Nueva Vizcaya was celebrated and the first baptism of a Christian convert was held.

The Province of Nueva Vizcaya

One of the provinces in REGION II or the CAGAYAN VALLEY REGION is Nueva Vizcaya (Bagong Biskaya in Filipino). It is bordered clockwise by Ifugao, Isabela, Quirino, Aurora, Nueva Ecija, Pangasinan and Benguet. There are 15 municipalities in the province with Bayombong as the provincial capital and major educational center, Bambang and Solano as the major commercial centers and Kayapa as the summer capital and “vegetable bowl.”

The 15 municipalities of the province are Alfonso Castañeda, Ambaguio, Aritao, Bagabag, Bambang, Bayombong, Diadi, Dupax del Norte, Dupax del Sur, Kasibu, Kayapa, Quezon, Santa Fe, Solano and Villaverde.

Nueva Vizcaya is an ideal site for extensive agricultural activity given its forest land, agricultural areas and grasslands. Its main crops are rice, corn, vegetables, pineapples, banana, coffee, coconut, oranges and other fruit trees. When it comes to mining, deposits of metallic minerals can be exploited from the province such as copper, gold, molybdenum and pyrite. There are also non-metallic deposits which include red clay, white clay and limestone. The most abundant deposits in the province are sand and gravel.

Population & People of Isabela

The most prominent group in Isabela is Ilocanos. The 68.71% of the total household population classified themselves as Ilocanos. The next prominent groups (ethnic) are Ibanag with 14.05% and Tagalog with 10.02% of the population. The remaining 7.22% are either Gaddang, Paranan, Yogad or are from other ethnic groups.

Isabela is the most populated province among the five provinces in Cagayan Valley-Region II, according to the latest Philippine Census. The total population is 1,401,495 people which comprise 45.93% of the 3 million people in the region. It contributed 1.58% to the total population of 88.57 million at the national level and there are 254,928 households in the province.

History of Isabela

It is believed that the history of Isabela province dates back to over 25,999 years ago with the Stone Age race of dark-skinned, kinky-haired pigmies whose descendants, the nomadic Aetas (Negritos), can still be found roaming the mountains and forest of eastern Isabela today. The Indonesians arrived 5,000 years ago, followed by three waves of Malays between 200 BC and 1500 AD. These pagan ancestors of the Ibanags, Gaddangs, Yogads, Kalingas, and other original tribes of the valley built a civilization based on corn agriculture and organized around the fundamental political unit, the barangay.

The Spaniards arrived in the late 16th and 17th centuries and introduced Christianity, the encomienda (forerunner of the municipality) system, and the tobacco monopoly. Spanish rule was extremely oppressive so the natives rose in revolt on several occasions, most notably in the 18th century under the leadership of Dabo and Marayag.

According to Fr. Ambrocio Manaligod, STD, from 1851, the Spanish conquistadors established the “Ciudad de Nueva Segovia” in what is called Lallo today. Up to 1839, the entire Cagayan Valley was one large province which the Spaniards called “La Provincia del Valle de Cagayan.” Out of this vast territory, two new provinces were created in 1839. One retained the old name “Cagayan” which comprised all towns from Aparri to Tumauini. Its capital transferred from Lallo to Tuguegarao. The one bearing the name “Nueva Vizcaya” was composed of all towns from Ilagan to the Caraballo del Sur including Catalangan and Palanan, with Camarag (now Echague) as its capital.

A Royal Decree was created in May 1, 1856 creating “Isabela de Luzon” to distinguish it from other Isabelas in the Philippines. It comprised the town of Carig (now Santiago City), Camarag (now Echague), Angadanan (now Alicia), Cauayan, Calanusian (now Reina Mercedes), Gamu, and Ilagan, all detached from Nueva Vizcaya; while Tumauini and Cabagan were taken from the province of Cagayan. It was placed under the jurisdiction of a governor with the capital seat at Ilagan, where it remains at the present.

A new wave of immigration began in the late 19th and 20th centuries with the arrival of the Ilocanos who came in large numbers. They now constitute the largest group in the province. Other ethnic groups followed and Isabela became the “melting pot of the north.”

Although the province did not play a major role in the revolt against Spain, it was in Palanan where the final pages of the Philippine revolution were written when the American forces led by General Frederick Funston captured General Emilio Aguinaldo on March 23, 1901.

The province of Isabela

Isabela, the biggest province in the Cagayan Valley Region, is now one of the premier provinces of the north. It has been dubbed as the “Rice Granary of the North” having been adjudged as the Most Outstanding Province in Food Security in the Gawad Sapat Ani Awards 2000 conducted by the Department of Agriculture. It is also home to the famous Northern Sierra Madre Natural Park, a protected seascape and landscape of exceptional biodiversity.

Santiago City, the commercial center of Region 2, has been declared an independent-component city through a plebiscite on July 3, 1994 under Republic Act 7720. Cauayan City, the trading center in Isabela, is also a component city ratified in a majority vote on March 30, 2001. The province is divided into three physiographic areas. Eastern area is straddled by the Sierra Madre Mountain Range, is rugged and thickly forested. A substantial portion is uncharted and the unexplored hinterlands are home to a rich variety of flora and fauna while others are government reservations. Western area is a sprawling fertile valley hemmed by the Central Cordillera and is criss-crossed by the mighty Cagayan, Siffu, and Magat Rivers. Its mountains rise to a peak of about 8,000 feet and are home to one of the world’s largest remaining low-altitude rainforests with numerous unknown endemic species of flora and fauna and exceptional biological diversity. The area is popularly known as the Northern Sierra Madre Natural Park.

Isabela comprises an aggregate land area of 10,665 square kilometers, representing almost 40 percent of the regional territory. It is the largest province in the region and the second largest province in the country in terms of land area.

Based on the year 2000 census of population, the province has a population of 1,287,575 with a population density of approximately 120.73 persons per square kilometer. The major dialect in Isabela is Ilocano followed by Ibanag, Yogad, and Gaddang. People, especially in the capital and commercial centers, speak and understand English and Pilipino. Generally, the province has two types of climate. The eastern and coastal areas experience moderate rainfall more or less distributed throughout the year while western Isabela has more pronounced wet and dry seasons. The average temperature is recorded at 27.1 degrees Celsius.

Agriculture is the major industry of the people of Isabela. Farming is highly mechanized as most of the agricultural lands are irrigated. With the presence of the Isabela State University, joint ventures and other foreign assisted projects are viable while the Magat Dam Tourism Complex contributes to the high productivity in agriculture. Isabela is acknowledged as the hub of trade and commercial activities in the region due to its central location in the region. Furniture making using narra and other indigenous forest materials/products like Gmelina continue to exist. Potential investments are in fisheries and tourism. The reservoir of the Magat Dam is utilized for fishcage operations, particularly tilapia production. Tourism is relatively a new industry being developed in the province especially in the coastal areas. Support services and accommodation facilities are likewise being developed.

Cagayan’s municipalities, barangays & ZIP codes

Province Capital: Tuguegarao City
Area Code: 78
Congressional Districts: 3
Cities: 1
Municipalities: 28
Barangays: 820

Municipality / City      District      ZIP Code       Barangays
Abulug                          2nd            3517              20
Alcala                           1st             3507              25
Allacapan                      2nd            3523             27
Amulung                        3rd             3505             47
Aparri                           1st             3515             42
Baggao                         1st             3506             48
Ballesteros                    2nd            3516             19
Buguey                         1st             3511             30
Calayan                        2nd            3520             12
Camalaniugan                1st             3510             28
Claveria                        2nd            3519             41
Enrile                           3rd              3501             22
Gattaran                      1st              3508            50
Gonzaga                      1st              3513            25
Iguig                           3rd              3504            23
Lal-lo                          1st               3509            35
Lasam                         2nd              3524           30
Pamplona                     2nd               3522           18
Peñablanca                  3rd                3502           24
Piat                            2nd               3527           18
Rizal                           2nd               3526            29
Sanchez-Mira               2nd               3518           18
Santa Ana                   1st                3514           16
Santa Praxedes            2nd               3521            10
Santa Teresita             1st                 3512           13
Santo Niño (Faire)        2nd               3525            31
Solana                       3rd                3503            38
Tuao                         3rd                 3528            32
Tuguegarao City          3rd                 3500            49

History of Cagayan Province

In the year 1581, with the order from Gonzalo Ronquillo de Peñaloza (4th Spanish Governor-General of the Philippines) one hundred fully-equipped soldiers with their families explore Cagayan Valley and enforce conversion of natives to Catholicism and established ecclesiastical missions and towns throughout the valley. The group was the first batch of Spanish settlers in the Cagayan Valley that introduced Spanish culture and Latin civilization.

It was Juan de Salcedo who traced the northern coastline of Luzon and set foot on the Massi (Pamplona), Tular and Aparri areas on June 29, 1583. The Spanish friars established mission posts in Camalaniugan and Lal-lo that became the seat of Nueva Segovia established on August 14, 1595. The spiritual and social welfare of the people as influenced by the Spaniards can still be seen in the massive churches and other buildings built by the Spaniards.

America took over the Philippines when the Treaty of Paris was signed in 1898 ending the Spanish-American War. The Americans influenced the culture, most notably in agriculture and education as well as in public works and communications. There were 29 municipalities remained in the province of Cagayan at the close of the 18th century from the 35 municipalities when Philippines came under American sovereignty in 1902. It was lessen due to centralization and shifting of population as a result of the opening of roads and public agricultural lands.

The Japanese Imperial forces founded and entered Cagayan in 1942. It was in 1945 when the combined United States and Philippine Commonwealth ground troops together with recognized guerillas took in Cagayan from the Japanese in the Battle of Cagayan Valley during the Second World War.

Region II: Cagayan Province

CAGAYAN PROVINCE is one of the provinces in Region II or the Cagayan Valley Region in Luzon. Tuguegarao City is the capital of Cagayan province and it is located at the northeastern corner of the island of Luzon. The province borders Ilocos Norte and Apayao to the WEST and Kalinga and Isabela to the SOUTH.

In the present day chroniclers, the province believed to derive its name from the word “tagay.” It is a kind of plant that grows abundantly in the northern part of the province. It is in “Catagayan” where the tagay grows abundantly. From the word “Catagayan” it was shortened to “Cagayan” which is now the present name of the province.

The island-municipality of Anda

An island-municipality, Anda is in the province of Pangasinan, Philippines. The people of Anda generally speak Bolinao. The island is near the Hundred Islands, a popular tourist destination for its caves and beaches. It is the so-called “Mother of the Hundred Islands.” According to the 2000 census, it has a population of 32,833 people in 6,546 households.

Anda is politically subdivided into 18 barangays as follows:

• Awile
• Awag
• Batiarao
• Cabungan
• Carot
• Dolaoan
• Imbo
• Macaleeng
• Macando-candong
• Mal-ong
• Namagbagan
• Poblacion
• Roxas
• Sablig
• San Jose
• Siapar
• Tondol
• Tori-tori

The municipality of Alcala, Pangasinan

Alcala is a 4th class municipality in the province of Pangasinan, Philippines. According to the 2000 census, it has a population of 35,734 people in 7,181 households. It was also the municipality that recently broke the world record for longest grill measuring about 3 km.

Alcala is politically subdivided into 21 barangays namely:

• Anulid
• Atainan
• Bersamin
• Canarvacanan
• Caranglaan
• Curareng
• Gualsic
• Kisikis
• Laoac
• Macayo
• Pindangan Centro
• Pindangan East
• Pindangan West
• Poblacion East
• Poblacion West
• San Juan
• San Nicolas
• San Pedro Apartado
• San Pedro Ili
• San Vicente
• Vacante

The municipality of Alcala was then just the flourishing of Bayambang that formerly called “Dangla” which is a vernacular term referring to a medicinal shrub that grows abundantly in the place. It is a barrio that subdivided into several smaller units called sitios namely Bugyao, Bacud, Cupi, Bitulao, Guinawedan, Anulid, Cabicalan, Pindangan, Camanggaan and Sinabaan.

It was then April 1, 1873 that the settlers established a community. They submitted a petition calling for the cessation of Dangla into a separate township, but it took more than two years for the Spanish Authorities to take notice of settlers’ demands. Finally, on September 20, 1875, a Royal Decree No. 682 was issued making the place an official municipality to be named ALCALA, the name of a town in Spain where then the Governor of Pangasinan hailed from

During World War II, Alcala served as the American Field Headquarters under the commandership of General Johnathan Wainwright. It is where that the first Guerilla Combat Training School was established. The same school produced an Infantry Battalion composed mostly of Alcaleneans who played an important role in defending the whole of Northern Luzon from the more superior Japanese Forces.

For more details visit ALCALA.