Bangued

Bangued
Bangued
	Flag Official seal of Bangued Seal
	OpenStreetMap
Country	Philippines
Region	Negros Island Region
Barangays	(see Barangays)
Government
• Mayor	Mila A. Valera (Asenso)
• Vice Mayor	Joaquin Enrico V. Bernos (Asenso)
• Representative	Menchie B. Bernos
• Municipal Council	Members
• Electorate	voters (?)
Highest elevation	401 m (1,316 ft)
Lowest elevation	23 m (75 ft)
Economy
• Poverty incidence	<div style="background-color: Expression error: Unexpected > operator.; width: %; height: 100%;">% (?)
• Revenue	₱
• Assets	₱
• Expenditure	₱
• Liabilities	₱
Service provider
• Electricity	—
Time zone	UTC+8 (PST)
PSGC	PSGC unknown

Bangued, officially the Municipality of Bangued (Ilocano: Ili ti Bangued; Tagalog: Bayan ng Bangued), is a 1st class municipality and capital of the province of Abra, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 50,382 people making it the most populous in the province.^[3]

Etymology

The name Bangued evolved from the Ilocano word "Bangan," which means roadblock or blockade.^[4]

The Tinguians prevented the Spanish forces from penetrating their area and they placed roadblocks on all roads leading to the place. They also cut large logs and threw them to the Abra River to prevent the incoming Spanish colonist and Ilocano settlers from entering the area with the use of their boats and bamboo rafts. When the logs reached Nagtalabungan the strength of the currents allowed many of these trees to be left behind for the strong current gets narrower as it bends westwards on its course to the South China Sea across a gap in the Ilocos range, better known as "Banaoang." These logs were also made as obstacles and big rocks were placed along the roads which the natives called "bangan".

History

File:Bangued Cathedral.jpg

Bangued Cathedral

Early history

The early settlers were the Tinguians belonging to the Bago, Masadiit, lbanao, and Indayas tribes who later intermarried with the immigrants from Ilocos. The Tingguians opposed the Christianization introduced by the Spanish friars who penetrated the eastern settlements.

Spanish colonial era

In 1598, Augustinian fathers Martin and Minon were able to penetrate the valley and found a "mission" in Bangued. A Spanish military garrison was also established to protect the inhabitants from the attacks of the headhunters.

In November 1601, Fray Esteban Marín in the company of an expedition under Captain Mateo de Aranda arrived in Abra but was killed, with his body tied up to a tree, shot by arrows, before being dismembered.

In 1614, Fr. Juan de Pareja, "Conquistador Espiritual" of Abra, arrived with the protection of the Spanish garrison and advanced further to the interior. In 1615, Fr. Juan Pareja organized Bangued as a mission center and baptized 3,000 Tingguians with the help of their chief, Manuel Dumawal.

On April 5, 1617, Bangued was created into a ministry by the Augustinians and Fr. Pedro Columbo was the first minister. Bangued was made an independent mission territory in 1692.

The construction of the big church in Bangued began in 1722 and was completed in 1807. It was about 73 meters long. A spacious convento was built adjoining it. It later became the Sacred Heart of Jesus Academy, which is now the Holy Spirit Academy, a convent for sisters and a school for girls and boys.

At July 25, 1861, the Feast of St. James the Great (Apo Senor Santiago), the town was formally inaugurated.

In August 1898, Fr. Inocencio Vega was the last Spanish missionary to work in Bangued.

American invasion era

When the Americans colonized the country and established the civil government.

Japanese occupation era

On March 10, 1945, at 3:00 P.M., some American planes guided by Filipinos dropped incendiary bombs on the capitol, the catholic church and adjoining buildings. On subsequent days the whole town was bombed. Whoever the bombers saw, they machine-gunned and the whole town as in flames and ruins. Many were burned and whoever could escape fled to the barrios.

Cityhood

Cityhood for Bangued is being given a push in the 16th Congress. Abra Representative Ma. Jocelyn Bernos filed a resolution seeking a congressional nod for the capital town's cityhood.^[5]

In the 19th Congress of the Philippines, house bills were filed by various representatives which sought Bangued including other capital towns of provinces with no current component cities, independent component cities or highly urbanized cities to automatically convert into cities.^[6]^[7]^[8]

Geography

Bangued is a landlocked municipality, located at Coordinates: Missing latitude
Invalid arguments have been passed to the {{#coordinates:}} function. It is elongated in shape towards the north and south, and bisected through the center by the large Abra River. It is situated in the western portion of the province with boundaries defined by the Province of Ilocos Norte and the Municipality of Danglas in the north; La Paz, Tayum and Peñarrubia in the east; San Isidro in the south, and Langiden and Pidigan in the west.

According to the Philippine Statistics Authority, the municipality has a land area of 105.70 square kilometres (40.81 sq mi)PSGC unknown constituting 2.54% of the 4,165.25-square-kilometre- (1,608.21 sq mi) total area of Abra. The town is generally mountainous from north to south; however, it is flat and rolling at the midsection. From here it has an elevation of 30 metres (98 ft) above mean sea level. In the north, which consists mostly of mountains, elevation ranges from 60 to 1,036 metres (197 to 3,399 ft). In the south, which is interspersed with mountain and hills, elevation ranges from 45 to 300 metres (148 to 984 ft). One such hill is Cassamata Hill which was declared a national park.

Bangued is accessible through the Abra-Ilocos Sur National Road from the west, Abra-Kalinga Road from the north-east, and Abra-Ilocos Norte Road from the North. It is 408 kilometres (254 mi) from Manila, 33 kilometres (21 mi) from Narvacan, and 65 kilometres (40 mi) from Vigan.

Climate

Climate data for Bangued, Abra
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Mean daily maximum °C (°F)	29 (84)	31 (88)	32 (90)	34 (93)	32 (90)	31 (88)	30 (86)	30 (86)	30 (86)	30 (86)	30 (86)	29 (84)	31 (87)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F)	18 (64)	19 (66)	20 (68)	23 (73)	24 (75)	24 (75)	24 (75)	24 (75)	24 (75)	22 (72)	21 (70)	19 (66)	22 (71)
Average precipitation mm (inches)	9 (0.4)	11 (0.4)	13 (0.5)	23 (0.9)	92 (3.6)	122 (4.8)	153 (6.0)	137 (5.4)	139 (5.5)	141 (5.6)	42 (1.7)	14 (0.6)	896 (35.4)
Average rainy days	4.6	4.0	6.2	9.1	19.5	23.2	24.0	22.5	21.5	15.2	10.5	6.0	166.3
Source: Meteoblue ^[9]

The climate falls under the first type of tropical climate, which is characterized by two pronounced seasons, dry from November to April and wet during the remaining months of the year. Prevailing wind blowing in the area is mostly in the direction from north-west to southeast. However, during summer in the absence of weather disturbance, wind blows from north to south or east to west.

Barangays

Bangued is politically subdivided into 31 barangaysPSGC unknown with 77 sitios. Each barangay consists of puroks and some have sitios.

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