Itogon, officially the Municipality of Itogon, (; ), is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

in the

province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

Benguet Benguet (), officially the Province of Benguet ('';'' ; ; ; ), is a landlocked Provinces of the Philippines, province of the Philippines located in the southern tip of the Cordillera Administrative Region in the island of Luzon. Its capital cit ...

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 61,498 people. Itogon is a

mining town A mining community, also known as a mining town or a mining camp, is a community that houses miners. Mining communities are usually created around a mine or a quarry. Historical mining communities Australia * Ballarat, Victoria * Bendig ...

, being the site of the first large-scale

mining Mining is the Resource extraction, extraction of valuable geological materials and minerals from the surface of the Earth. Mining is required to obtain most materials that cannot be grown through agriculture, agricultural processes, or feasib ...

operations in the country. Itogon is also the site of Binga Dam, managed and operated by the SN Aboitiz Power - Benguet, Inc.

History

Spanish period

During the Spanish Regime, a native of the historic

pueblo Pueblo refers to the settlements of the Pueblo peoples, Native American tribes in the Southwestern United States, currently in New Mexico, Arizona, and Texas. The permanent communities, including some of the oldest continually occupied settlement ...

of ''Itogon'' (or ''Itokhon''), named ''Codeng'', was appointed by the Spanish authorities as ''capitan'' of another nearby village, ''Balingway'' (currently ''Itogon Central/Proper''). Balingway was later established as a town site and renamed after ''Codengs native place.

American period

During the American rule, Itogon was established as one of the 19 townships of the province of Benguet, upon the issuance of ''Act No. 48'' by the

Philippine Commission The Philippine Commission was the name of two bodies, both appointed by the president of the United States, to assist with governing the Philippines. The First Philippine Commission, also known as the Schurman Commission, was appointed by Pre ...

on November 22, 1900.

Mining Mining is the Resource extraction, extraction of valuable geological materials and minerals from the surface of the Earth. Mining is required to obtain most materials that cannot be grown through agriculture, agricultural processes, or feasib ...

operations started in Itogon in 1903, after Benguet Corporation, the Philippines' first mining firm, was established in the town under the name, Benguet Consolidated Mining Company (BCMC), by Americans ''Nelson Peterson'' and ''Harry Clyde''. On August 13, 1908, Benguet was established as a sub-province of the newly created

Mountain Province Mountain Province (; ; ; ; ; ) is a landlocked province of the Philippines in the Cordillera Administrative Region in Luzon. Its capital is Bontoc while Bauko is the largest municipality. Mountain Province was formerly referred to as Mountain ...

with the enactment of ''Act No. 1876''. As a result, six townships of Benguet were abolished, but Itogon remained a constituent town of Benguet sub-province.

World War II

Guerrilla forces in Northern Luzon launch a successful attack on the Itogon Mining District on October 15, 1942, drawing Japanese attention. This results in the Japanese pouring more troops in Luzon Island.

Post-war era

In 1948, plans by the National Power Corporation (NAPOCOR) for a second

dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use, aqua ...

construction along the

Agno River The Agno River, also known as the Pangasinan River, is a river on the island of Luzon in the Philippines. Traversing the provinces of Benguet, Pangasinan, and Tarlac, it is one of the largest river systems in the country, with a drainage ar ...

in the province of Benguet started, after the

Ambuklao Dam Ambuklao Dam is part of a hydroelectric facility in Baragay Ambuclao, Bokod, Benguet province in the Philippines. With a maximum water storage capacity of , the facility, which is located from Baguio, can produce up to 105 megawatts of elect ...

construction commenced in Bokod. Bulldozers started clearing the forested area of the Guissit Mountains in 1954 for the Binga Dam. Construction of the dam took 3 years and 9 months, from August 1956 until its formal operations opening in May 1960. On May 15, 1951, the town was converted into a regular municipality from the former municipal district of the same name, with the enactment of ''

Republic Act This article contains a partial list of Philippine laws. Sources of Philippine laws ;Notes : *Customs may be considered as supplementary source of law, however, customs which are contrary to law, public order or public policy shall not ...

No. 616''. On June 18, 1966, the sub-province of Benguet was separated from the old

and was converted into a regular province. Itogon remained to be a component municipality of the newly established province.

Geography

The Municipality of Itogon is located at , at the southeast end of the Benguet, forming a border with the provinces of

Nueva Vizcaya Nueva Vizcaya, officially the Province of Nueva Vizcaya (; ; Pangasinan: ''Luyag/Probinsia na Nueva Vizcaya''; ), is a landlocked province in the Philippines located in the Cagayan Valley region in Luzon. Its capital and largest town is Bayo ...

(on the east) and

Pangasinan Pangasinan, officially the Province of Pangasinan (, ; ; ), is a coastal Provinces of the Philippines, province in the Philippines located in the Ilocos Region of Luzon. Its capital is Lingayen, Pangasinan, Lingayen while San Carlos, Pangasi ...

(on the south). The town is bounded by

Baguio Baguio ( , , ), officially the City of Baguio (; ; ), is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Cordillera Administrative Region, Philippines. It is known as the "Summer Capital of the Philippines", ...

and the municipality of

Tuba The tuba (; ) is the largest and lowest-pitched musical instrument in the brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, the sound is produced by lip vibrationa buzzinto a mouthpiece (brass), mouthpiece. It first appeared in th ...

on the west, La Trinidad and Tublay on the north-west, Bokod on the north-east, Kayapa and Santa Fe on the southeast, San Manuel and San Nicolas on the south, and Sison on the south-west. According to the

Philippine Statistics Authority The Philippine Statistics Authority (; PSA) is the central statistical authority of the Philippine government that collects, compiles, analyzes, and publishes statistical information on economic, social, demographic, political affairs, and gene ...

, the municipality has a land area of constituting of the total area of Benguet. It is the largest municipality in Benguet by land area. Around 80 percent of the municipality's land area is protected as part of the Lower Agno Watershed Forest Reserve and Upper Agno River Basin Resource Reserve. The

traverses the municipality and is impounded at Binga ( from the

in Bokod) forming the Binga Dam. Itogon is situated from the provincial capital La Trinidad, and from the country's capital city of

Manila Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the Capital of the Philippines, capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on ...

Barangays

Itogon is politically subdivided into 9

barangay The barangay (; abbreviated as Brgy. or Bgy.), historically referred to as ''barrio'', is the smallest Administrative divisions of the Philippines, administrative division in the Philippines. Named after the Precolonial barangay, precolonial po ...

s. Each barangay consists of

purok A ''purok'' () is an informal division within a barangay in the Philippines. While not officially considered a local government unit (LGU), a ''purok'' often serves as a unit for delivering services and administration within a barangay. ''Pur ...

s and some have

sitios A ''sitio'' (Spanish language, Spanish for "site") in the Philippines is a territorial enclave that forms part of a barangay. Typically rural, a ''sitios location is usually far from the center of the barangay itself and could be its own bar ...

Climate

Demographics

In the 2020 census, Itogon had a population of 61,498. The population density was . Generally inhabited by 60 percent Ibalois, 40 percent Kankanaey, and other ethnicities such as the Ilocano, Itogon was the most populous municipality in the province, with a population of 61,773 in the 1990 census. Its population abruptly declined five years after as illustrated in the census of 1995.

Economy

Itogon's main source of livelihood is

. Secondary to mining is

agriculture Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

. Major mining companies which operate in the town include Benguet Corporation, Philex Mining Corporation, Atok Big Wedge Mining Company (now called Atok Gold Mining Company) and Itogon Suyoc Mines.

Government

Itogon, belonging to the lone congressional district of the province of

, is governed by a mayor designated as its local chief executive and by a municipal council as its legislative body in accordance with the Local Government Code. The mayor, vice mayor, and the councilors are elected directly by the people through an election which is being held every three years.

Elected officials

Tourism

Known tourist destination areas in Itogon include the Binga Dam in Tinongdan and Balatoc Mines Tours in Balatoc, Virac. Other tourist spots include the

open pit mine Open-pit mining, also known as open-cast or open-cut mining and in larger contexts mega-mining, is a surface mining technique that extracts rock or minerals from the earth. Open-pit mines are used when deposits of commercially useful ore or r ...

s in Loacan,

hot spring A hot spring, hydrothermal spring, or geothermal spring is a Spring (hydrology), spring produced by the emergence of Geothermal activity, geothermally heated groundwater onto the surface of the Earth. The groundwater is heated either by shallow ...

in Dalupirip, Mount Ugo in Tinongdan, Level 1300 swimming pools in Poblacion with hot steams and bath and the

mummies A mummy is a dead human or an animal whose soft tissues and Organ (biology), organs have been preserved by either intentional or accidental exposure to Chemical substance, chemicals, extreme cold, very low humidity, or lack of air, so that the ...

in Domolpos also in Tinongdan.

Transportation

Highways through Itogon: * Baguio–Bua–Itogon National Road * Ambuklao Road * Benguet–Nueva Vizcaya Road

Education

There are two schools districe offices which govern all educational institutions within the municipality. They oversee the management and operations of all private and public, from primary to secondary schools. These are Itogon I Schools District Office, and Itogon II Schools District Office.

Public schools

As of 2014, Itogon has 39

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociology, sociological concept of the ''Öf ...

elementary school A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...

s and 7 public

secondary school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...

Private schools

* Sacred Heart High School of Itogon * Saint Louis High School of Antamok * Saint Louis High School of Balatoc * Saint Louis High School of Philex

Notes

References

External links

* * Philippine Standard Geographic Code {{Authority control Municipalities of Benguet Mining communities in the Philippines Populated places on the Agno River