Echague, officially the Municipality of Echague, 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 ...

of Isabela,

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 88,410 people. The town is known for the indigenous and endangered

Yogad language Yogad is an Austronesian language spoken primarily in Echague and other nearby towns in Isabela province in northern Philippines. The 1990 census claimed there were around 16,000 speakers. Classification Anthropologist H. Otley Beyer describes ...

, which is spoken and conserved by its locals. Echague is from Ilagan and from

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 ...

Etymology

Fr. Pedro Salgado, the Dominican writer, in Volume I of his "Cagayan Valley and Eastern Cordillera (1581-1898)," wrote that Echague formerly used to be called Camarag - the name of a big tree then common in the place. Before it separated from Nueva Vizcaya, Camarag was Nueva Vizcaya's first capital, transferring the seat of the provincial government to Bayombong in 1865.

History

The town was founded in 1752 and ecclesiastically placed under the patronage of St. Joseph on May 12, 1753. Prior to 1856, there were only two provinces in the Cagayan Valley Region: Cagayan and Nueva Vizcaya. The province of Cagayan at that time consisted of all towns from Tumauini to the north in

Aparri Aparri (ibanag language, Ibanag: ''Ili nat Aparri''; ; ), officially the Municipality of Aparri, is a municipality of the Philippines, municipality in the Philippine Province, province of , Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a ...

and all other towns from Ilagan southward to Aritao comprised the Province 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 ...

. In order to facilitate the work of the missionaries in the evangelization of the Cagayan Valley, a royal decree was issued on May 1, 1856, that created the Province of Isabela consisting of the towns of Gamu, Angadanan, Bindang (now Roxas) and Camarag (now Echague), Carig (now Santiago City) and Palanan. The new province was named in honor of Queen Isabela II of Spain. Missionaries wanted to transfer the town from the banks of the Cagayan River to the Ganano River 10 kilometers away. The people rebelled because the soil was more fertile along the Cagayan River. But in 1776, they were forcibly transferred. Some 72 years later, the people returned to Camarag. On 1863, Camarag was renamed after Rafael de Echagüe y Bermingham, a former Spanish governor-general.

Geography

Echague is situated from the provincial capital Ilagan, and from the country's capital city of

Barangays

Echague is politically subdivided into 64

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 while 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 ...

. * Angoluan * Annafunan * Arabiat * Aromin * Babaran * Bacradal * Benguet * Buneg * Busilelao * Cabugao (

Poblacion ''Poblacion'' (from Spanish '' población'', meaning "population"), sometimes abbreviated as Pob., is a term used in the Philippines to refer to the administrative center, downtown, old town, or commercial area of a city or municipality. It ...

) * Caniguing * Carulay * Castillo * Dammang East * Dammang West * Diasan * Dicaraoyan * Dugayong * Fugu * Garit Norte * Garit Sur * Gucab * Gumbauan * Ipil * Libertad * Mabbayad * Mabuhay * Madadamian * Magleticia * Malibago * Maligaya * Malitao * Narra * Nilumisu * Pag-asa * Pangal Norte * Pangal Sur * Rumang-ay * Salay * Salvacion * San Antonio Ugad * San Antonio Minit * San Carlos * San Fabian * San Felipe * San Juan * San Manuel (formerly Atelan) * San Miguel * San Salvador * Santa Ana * Santa Cruz * Santa Maria * Santa Monica * Santo Domingo * Silauan Sur (

) * Silauan Norte (

) * Sinabbaran * Soyung (

) * Taggappan (

) * Tuguegarao * Villa Campo * Villa Fermin * Villa Rey * Villa Victoria

Climate

Demographics

In the 2020 census, the population of Echague, Isabela, was 88,410 people, with a density of .

Economy

Government

Local government

As a municipality in the Province of Isabela, government officials at the provincial and municipal levels are voted by the town. The provincial government has political jurisdiction over most local transactions of the municipal government. The municipality of Echague 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 by the people through an election held every three years. Barangays are also headed by elected officials: Barangay Captain,

Barangay Council The Sangguniang Barangay, known in English as the Barangay Council is the local government of a barangay, the smallest administrative division in the Philippines. Each of the 42,004 barangays in the country has its respective Sangguniang Baran ...

, whose members are called Barangay Councilors. The barangays have SK federation which represents the barangay, headed by SK chairperson and whose members are called SK councilors. All officials are also elected every three years.

Elected officials

Congress representation

Echague, belonging to the sixth legislative district of the province of Isabela, currently represented by Hon. Faustino A. Dy V.

Education

Isabela State University surroundings - Flickr

The Schools Division of Isabela 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. There are currently three school district offices, namely: Echague East, Echague South, and Echague West. These offices govern the public and private elementary and public and private high schools throughout the municipality.

Primary and elementary schools

Secondary schools

Higher educational institution

Isabela State University Isabela State University is a public university in the province of Isabela, Philippines. It is mandated to provide advanced instruction in the arts, agricultural and natural sciences as well as technological and professional fields. The main cam ...

References

External links

Municipal Profile at the National Competitiveness Council of the Philippines

Echague at the Isabela Government Website

Local Governance Performance Management System
* Philippine Standard Geographic Codebr>Philippine Census InformationMunicipality of Echague
{{Authority control Municipalities of Isabela (province) Populated places on the Rio Grande de Cagayan