Bontoc, Mountain Province Explained

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Subdivision Type:Country
Subdivision Name:Philippines
Subdivision Type1:Region
Subdivision Type2:Province
Subdivision Type3:District
Established Title:Founded
Established Date:1908
Parts Type:Barangays
Parts Style:para
P1: (see Barangays)
Leader Name:Jerome B. Tudlong, Jr.
Leader Title1:Vice Mayor
Leader Name1:Eusebio S. Kabluyen
Leader Name2:Maximo Y. Dalog Jr.
Leader Title3:Municipal Council
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Elevation Max M:1833
Elevation Min M:804
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Bontoc, officially the Municipality of Bontoc (Iloko: Ili ti Bontoc; Tagalog: Bayan ng Bontoc), is a 2nd class municipality and capital of the province of Mountain Province, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 24,104 people.

Bontoc is from Manila, from Sagada, and from Baguio.

Bontoc is the historical capital of the entire Cordillera region since the inception of governance in the Cordillera. The municipality celebrates the annual Lang-ay Festival.[1]

Bontoc is home to the Indigenous Bontoc people. The town also hosts the UNESCO tentatively-listed Alab petroglyphs.

History

Samuel E. Kane, the American supervisor and then Governor, established the capital here after the Philippine Commission passed the Mountain Province Act in 1908,[2] building a provincial building, hospital, doctor's office, nurse's home, a school, and provincial prison.[3] He also built the Tagudin-Bontoc trail, which by 1926, could accommodate a small car.[3]

Bontoc was one of several municipalities in Mountain Province which would have been flooded by the Chico River Dam Project during the Marcos dictatorship, alongside Bauko, Sabangan, Sagada, Sadanga, and parts of Barlig.[4] However, the indigenous peoples of Kalinga Province and Mountain Province resisted the project and when hostilities resulted in the murder of Macli-ing Dulag, the project became unpopular and was abandoned before Marcos was ousted by the 1986 People Power Revolution.[5]

Cityhood

See main article: Cities of the Philippines. In the 19th Congress of the Philippines, house bills were filed by various representatives which seeks Bontoc 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

Barangays

Bontoc is politically subdivided into 16 barangays. Each barangay consists of puroks and some have sitios.

Climate

Demographics

Most inhabitants speak the Bontoc language, with other major languages being Kankana-ey and Ilocano. Minor languages spoken include Tagalog, Pangasinan, Cuyonon and Butuanon.[9]

Economy

The local economy depends largely on small trades and agriculture. This capital town's biggest economic potential is tourism with its smaller rice terraces in Barangay Bay-yo, Maligcong and other areas.[10]

Government

Local government

See main article: Sangguniang Bayan. Bontoc, belonging to the lone congressional district of the province of Mountain Province, 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

Members of the Municipal Council (2019–2022):[11]

Culture

The highland town of Bontoc is home to two National Cultural Treasures of the Philippines. These are the Stone Agricultural Calendar of Bontoc and Petroglyphs of Alab.[12]

The Alab petroglyphs are ancient figures carved on mountain walls by the prehistoric people of Bontoc.[13] The petroglyphs are the most important ancient rock art carvings in the Cordilleras and the second oldest in the entire country, second only to the Angono petroglyphs of Rizal. Due to its high significance, it was submitted by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts of the Philippines to the UNESCO Tentative List of Heritage Sites in 2006, pending its inclusion in the World Heritage List along with the Singanapan charcoal-drawn petrographs of southern Palawan, Angono petroglyphs of Rizal province, charcoal-drawn Peñablanca petrographs of Cagayan, and the Anda red hermatite print petrographs of Bohol.

Education

Secondary education

Tertiary education

Mountain Province State Polytechnic College is the first tertiary institution in the municipality that offers various undergraduate and graduate courses.

XiJen College of Mountain Province is the only private tertiary institution that also offers technical-vocational courses.

Notable People

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: Malingan . Jamie Joie . Feature: Lang-Ay Festival: Celebrating a Culture of Sharing . February 22, 2019 . Philippine Information Agency. April 12, 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190222161428/https://pia.gov.ph/news/articles/1006592 . February 22, 2019 . en.
  2. Web site: Act No. 1876. PhilippineLaw.info. October 22, 2014. August 18, 1908. https://web.archive.org/web/20141015173149/http://philippinelaw.info/statutes/act1876.html#. October 15, 2014. dead.
  3. Kane, S.E., 1933, Thirty Years with the Philippine Head-Hunters, New York: Grosset & Dunlap
  4. September 5, 1980 . Valley of Sorrow . Asiaweek.
  5. Book: Doyo, Ma. Ceres P. . Macli-ing Dulag: Kalinga Chief, Defender of the Cordillera . Maria Ceres Doyo . University of the Philippines Press . 2015 . 978971542772-2 . Diliman, Quezon City.
  6. Web site: Yap . Eric . June 30, 2022 . AN ACT AUTOMATICALLY CONVERTING THE CAPITAL TOWN OF PROVINCES WITH NO COMPONENT CITIES, INDEPENDENT COMPONENT CITIES OR HIGHLY URBANIZED CITIES WITHIN ITS TERRITORIAL JURISDICTION, INTO A COMPONENT CITY . April 1, 2023 . House of Representatives of the Philippines.
  7. Web site: Palma . Wilter . August 9, 2022 . AN ACT AUTOMATICALLY CONVERTING THE CAPITAL TOWN OF PROVINCES WITH NO COMPONENT CITIES, INDEPENDENT COMPONENT CITIES, OR HIGHLY URBANIZED CITIES WITHIN ITS TERRITORIAL JURISDICTION, INTO A COMPONENT CITY . April 1, 2023 . House of Representatives of the Philippines.
  8. Web site: Daza . Paul . August 11, 2022 . AN ACT CONVERING INTO COMPONENT CITIES THE CAPITAL TOWNS OF PROVINCES WITHOUT A CITY, AMENDING FOR THE PURPOSE SECTION 450 OF REPUBLIC ACT NO. 7610, AS AMENDED BY REPUBLIC ACT NO. 9009, OTHERWISE KNOWN AS THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT CODE OF 1991, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES. . April 1, 2023 . House of Representatives of the Philippines.
  9. Web site: Annual Report; Local Government of Bontoc; CY 2011 . Local Government of Bontoc . February 22, 2019 . 2011.
  10. Web site: Mt. Province Travel Information . Asia Travel . February 22, 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20010507075933/http://www.asiatravel.com/philippines/mprovince/mprovinceinfo.html . May 7, 2001.
  11. Web site: 2019 National and Local Elections . March 13, 2022 . Commission on Elections.
  12. Web site: Presidential Decree No. 260, s. 1973; . Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines. August 1973 . February 22, 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180619130606/https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/1973/08/01/presidential-decree-no-260-s-1973/ . June 19, 2018.
  13. Web site: Annual Report 2010; National Museum . National Museum of the Philippines . February 22, 2019 . Manila, Philippines . 2010 . June 13, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200613144322/https://www.nationalmuseum.gov.ph/nationalmuseumbeta/NM%20ANNUAL%20REPORT%202010.pdf . dead .