Ambaguio, officially the Municipality of Ambaguio (; ), 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 ...

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 ...

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 15,472 people.

Etymology

The name "ambaguio" is derived from the word "bagiw," meaning "moss" which covered every inch of trees and stones in the area. The inhabitants were called "e-am-bagiw" meaning "conqueror of moss." The name underwent a series of changes due to its difficult pronunciation by the lowland people who later settled in the area and to differentiate the town from the more famous City which also had the same etymology, resulting in the present "Ambaguio."

History

A handful of settlers headed by Fausto Tagangtang who came from the neighboring

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 ...

first settled in the area, establishing farmed hills and rice terraces. Due to its terrain, distance and road problems, the inhabitants were composed only of three major tribes:

Igorot The indigenous peoples of the Cordillera in northern Luzon, Philippines, often referred to by the exonym Igorot people, or more recently, as the Cordilleran peoples, are an ethnic group composed of nine main ethnolinguistic groups whose domains ...

Ifugao Ifugao, officially the Province of Ifugao (; ), is a landlocked province of the Philippines in the Cordillera Administrative Region in Luzon. Its capital is Lagawe and it borders Benguet to the west, Mountain Province to the north, Isabela t ...

, and

Ibaloi The Ibaloi (also spelled Ibaloy; Ibaloi: ''ivadoy'', ) are an indigenous ethnic group found in Benguet province of the northern Philippines. ''Ibaloi'' is derived from ''i-'', a prefix signifying "pertaining to" and ''badoy'' or house, togethe ...

, who unanimously called the place “Ambaguio”, which means “the land of mosses”, and “its climate is similar to that of

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", ...

”. Before its creation as a municipality, Ambaguio was then a barrio of the Municipality of

Bayombong Bayombong, officially the Municipality of Bayombong (; ; ), is a municipality of the Philippines, municipality and capital of the Philippine Province, province of Nueva Vizcaya, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population ...

. Leonardo B. Perez, then Congressman of Nueva Vizcaya, authored the bill seeking for the creation of Ambaguio as an independent municipality. The bill was approved on 18 June 1966 by virtue of Republic Act. No. 4735. In the same year, Mariano L. Agnahe, the then Barrio Lieutenant, was appointed as the first mayor of the town.

Geography

Ambaguio is situated from the provincial capital

, 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

Ambaguio is politically subdivided into 8

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 ...

. * Ammoweg * Camandag * Labang * Napo * Poblacion * Salingsingan * Tiblac * Dulli

Climate

Demographics

Economy

Government

Local government

Ambaguio is part of the lone congressional district of the province of

. It 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 municipal councilors are elected directly in polls held every three years.

Elected officials

Tourism

The Municipality of Ambaguio is famous for being a gateway to Luzon’s tallest peak,

Mount Pulag Mount Pulag (; ) is Luzon's highest peak at above sea level, List of mountains in the Philippines, third-highest mountain in the Philippines, and the List of islands by highest point, 26th-highest peak of an island on Earth. It is List of Ul ...

. In 2019, Violet Lucasi, a former employee of

Etihad Airways Etihad Airways is one of the two flag carriers of the United Arab Emirates (the other being Emirates). Its head office is in Khalifa City, Abu Dhabi, near Zayed International Airport. The airline commenced operations in November 2003, and ...

opened Nueva Vizcaya (NV)

Paragliding Paragliding is the recreational and competitive adventure sport of flying paragliders: lightweight, free-flying, foot-launched glider aircraft with no rigid primary structure. The pilot sits in a harness or in a cocoon-like 'pod' suspended be ...

, which later became the Ambaguio Skyport, in Barangay Tiblac, attracting both local and foreign tourists. As the Philippines' first domestic

paragliding Paragliding is the recreational and competitive adventure sport of flying paragliders: lightweight, free-flying, foot-launched glider aircraft with no rigid primary structure. The pilot sits in a harness or in a cocoon-like 'pod' suspended be ...

Airport terminal An airport terminal is a main building at an airport where passengers transfer between ground transportation and the facilities that allow them to board and disembark from an Fixed-wing aircraft, aircraft. The buildings that provide access t ...

", this led to Ambaguio being awarded P25 million by the Department of Tourism's Tourism Champions Challenge on April 15, 2024. On April 30 however, the venue closed due to safety issues raised by authorities.

Education

The Schools Division of Nueva Vizcaya governs the town's public education system. The division office is a field office of the DepEd in

Cagayan Valley Cagayan Valley (; ), designated as Region II, is an Regions of the Philippines, administrative region in the Philippines. Located in the northeastern section of Luzon, it is composed of five Provinces of the Philippines, Philippine provinces: ...

region. The Ambaguio Schools District Office governs all the public and private elementary and high schools throughout the municipality.

Primary and elementary schools

* Ambaguio Central School * Ammoweg Elementary School * Bagingey Elementary School * Balong Elementary School * Cablahan Elementary School * Daclig Elementary School * Dulli Integrated School (Elementary) * Hamhamaan Elementary School * Hiket Elementary School * Hukhukyung Primary School * Labang Elementary School * Laylaya Primary School * Lihlit Primary School * Napo Elementary School * Pacdal Elementary School * Pihipi Elementary School * Salingsingan Elementary School * Tiblac Elementary School

Secondary schools

* Ambaguio High School * Dulli Integrated School * Tiblac National High School

References

External links

Philippine Standard Geographic Code The Philippine Standard Geographic Code (PSGC) is a systematic classification and coding for geographic areas in the Philippines. It classifies areas based on the country's four levels of administrative divisions: regions, provinces, municipalities ...

br>Philippine Census InformationLocal Governance Performance Management System
{{Authority control Municipalities of Nueva Vizcaya