Tayum, officially the Municipality of Tayum (; ), 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 Abra,

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 14,869 people. Every 25 November, Tayum celebrates its town fiesta. Roman Catholicism is the dominant religion.

Etymology

According to historical records, Tayum was named after the indigo plant, which the Ilocanos referred to as ''tayum-tayum''. Indigo once flourished in Tayum, and it was a source of wealth for the Ilocanos. A big vat (''pagtimbugan'') was used in decaying the plant into a blue-black dye called "ngila" in Barangay Deet, about a half-kilometer away from the town proper. Cotton yams were dyed using the dye. However, at the turn of the century, a powder dye from the Anilino Factories of Germany became popular among Ilocano weavers, effectively killing the indigo industry.

History

Spanish colonial era

Tayum, also known as ''Bukaw'', was founded in 1626 by an enterprising priest named Father Juan Pareja. Father Gabriel Alvarez, another equally daring and adventurous Augustinian Priest, built a temporary chapel in Tayum during his expedition to Lepanto in 1569. Tayum was formally organized as a political unit under the Spanish Regime in 1725. Don Vidal Banganan served as the first

Gobernadorcillo The (, literally "little governor") was a municipal judge or governor in the Captaincy General of the Philippines, Philippines during the History of the Philippines (1565–1898), Spanish colonial period, who carried out in a town the combined ...

. With the construction of the solid bricks walled church under the successive Augustinian missions, Tayum transformed from a mere ''visita'' of Bangued into an independent mission in the year 1807. The church was built in honor of St. ''

Catherine of Alexandria Catherine of Alexandria, also spelled Katherine, was, according to tradition, a Christian saint and Virginity, virgin, who was martyred in the early 4th century at the hands of the emperor Maxentius. According to her hagiography, she was both a ...

'', whose feast day falls on November 25.

American invasion era

In 1904, Tayum reverted to a ''

barrio ''Barrio'' () is a Spanish language, Spanish word that means "Quarter (urban subdivision), quarter" or "neighborhood". In the modern Spanish language, it is generally defined as each area of a city delimited by functional (e.g. residential, comm ...

'' of Bangued, due to the deterioration of peace and order at the time. Tayum's existence as a ''barrio'' came to an end on December 31, 1907, when Don Pio Balmaceda y Belmonte was appointed ''Teniente del barrio''. Balmaceda organized his men to effectively curb lawlessness, restoring peace to the town. It regained its town status, with Don Manuel Brillantes as its first president.

Contemporary

On July 27, 2022, a magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck 3 km from the town. The quake killed at least eleven people and injured 567 others (19 of them in Tayum).

Geography

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 Abra. The town is located at . Tayum is situated from the provincial capital Bangued, 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

Tayum is politically subdivided into 11

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, Tayum had a population of 14,869. The population density was .

Economy

Government

Local government

Tayum, belonging to the lone congressional district of the province of Abra, 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

List of Cultural Properties of Tayum

Transportation

The main mode of public transportation are

tricycle A tricycle, sometimes abbreviated to trike, is a Human-powered transport, human-powered (or gasoline or electric motor powered or assisted, or gravity powered) Three-wheeler, three-wheeled vehicle. Some tricycles, such as cycle rickshaws (for pa ...

s and

jeepney A jeepney (), or simply a jeep (), is a type of Public transport, public utility vehicle (PUV) that serves as the most popular means of Transportation in the Philippines, public transportation in the Philippines. Known for its crowded seating ...

Education

The Tayum Schools District Office governs all educational institutions within the municipality. It oversees the management and operations of all private and public, from primary to secondary schools.

Primary and elementary schools

* Bagalay Elementary School * Basbasa Elementary School * Bumagcat Elementary School * Don Marcos Rosales Elementary School * Tayum Central School * Velasco Elementary School

Secondary schools

* Ananaao Integrated School * Gaddani National High School * Holy Ghost School

Notes

References

External links

* Philippine Standard Geographic Code
Municipality of Tayum
{{Authority control Municipalities of Abra (province) Populated places on the Abra River