Bontoc, Mountain Province

Coordinates: 17°05′24″N 120°58′38″E / 17.09°N 120.9772°E / 17.09; 120.9772
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Bontoc
Municipality
Municipality of Bontoc
Bontoc in 2022
Bontoc in 2022
Flag of Bontoc
Flag
Official seal of Bontoc
Seal
Map of Mountain Province with Bontoc highlighted
Map of Mountain Province with Bontoc highlighted
OpenStreetMap
Map
Bontoc is located in Philippines
Bontoc
Bontoc
Location within the Philippines
Coordinates: 17°05′24″N 120°58′38″E / 17.09°N 120.9772°E / 17.09; 120.9772
CountryPhilippines
RegionCordillera Administrative Region
ProvinceMountain Province
District Lone district
Founded1908
Barangays16 (see Barangays)
Government
 [2]
 • TypeSangguniang Bayan
 • MayorJerome B. Tudlong, Jr.
 • Vice MayorEusebio S. Kabluyen
 • RepresentativeMaximo Y. Dalog Jr.
 • Municipal Council
Members
 • Electorate17,135 voters (2022)
Area
[3]
 • Total396.10 km2 (152.94 sq mi)
Elevation
1,173 m (3,848 ft)
Highest elevation
1,833 m (6,014 ft)
Lowest elevation
804 m (2,638 ft)
Population
 (2020 census)[4]
 • Total24,104
 • Density61/km2 (160/sq mi)
 • Households
6,452
Economy
 • Income class2nd municipal income class
 • Poverty incidence
10.01
% (2018)[5]
 • Revenue₱ 193.7 million (2020)
 • Assets₱ 380.3 million (2020)
 • Expenditure₱ 147.8 million (2020)
 • Liabilities₱ 159.8 million (2020)
Service provider
 • ElectricityMountain Province Electric Cooperative (MOPRECO)
Time zoneUTC+8 (PST)
ZIP code
2616
PSGC
144404000
IDD : area code +63 (0)74
Native languagesBalangao
Bontoc
Ilocano
Tagalog
Websitelgubontoc.gov.ph

Bontoc, officially the Municipality of Bontoc (Ilocano: 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.[4]

Bontoc is 392 kilometres (244 mi) from Manila.

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.[6]

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

History[edit]

Aerial view of Bontoc, 1933

Samuel E. Kane, the American supervisor and then Governor, established the capital here after the Philippine Commission passed the Mountain Province Act in 1908,[7] building a provincial building, hospital, doctor's office, nurse's home, a school, and provincial prison.[8]: 281–284  He also built the Tagudin-Bontoc trail, which by 1926, could accommodate a small car.[8]: 329 

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.[9] 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.[10]

Cityhood[edit]

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.[11][12][13]

Geography[edit]

Barangays[edit]

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

  • Alab Oriente
  • Alab Proper
  • Balili
  • Bayyo
  • Bontoc Ili
  • Calutit
  • Caneo
  • Dalican
  • Gonogon
  • Guinaang
  • Mainit
  • Maligcong
  • Poblacion (Bontoc)
  • Samoki
  • Talubin
  • Tocucan

Climate[edit]

Climate data for Bontoc, Mountain Province
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) 23
(73) 		24
(75) 		25
(77) 		27
(81) 		27
(81) 		26
(79) 		25
(77) 		25
(77) 		25
(77) 		25
(77) 		24
(75) 		23
(73) 		25
(77)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) 16
(61) 		16
(61) 		17
(63) 		19
(66) 		20
(68) 		21
(70) 		21
(70) 		21
(70) 		20
(68) 		19
(66) 		18
(64) 		17
(63) 		19
(66)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 35
(1.4) 		46
(1.8) 		63
(2.5) 		117
(4.6) 		402
(15.8) 		400
(15.7) 		441
(17.4) 		471
(18.5) 		440
(17.3) 		258
(10.2) 		94
(3.7) 		68
(2.7) 		2,835
(111.6)
Average rainy days 9.9 9.5 13.9 18.9 26.0 27.3 28.9 28.5 26.1 19.7 14.5 12.8 236
Source: Meteoblue (modeled/calculated data, not measured locally)[14]

Demographics[edit]

Population census of Bontoc
YearPop.±% p.a.
1918 13,948—    
1939 14,284+0.11%
1948 15,005+0.55%
1960 16,301+0.69%
1970 16,901+0.36%
YearPop.±% p.a.
1975 17,476+0.67%
1980 17,091−0.44%
1990 17,716+0.36%
1995 21,192+3.41%
2000 22,308+1.11%
YearPop.±% p.a.
2007 24,798+1.47%
2010 23,980−1.21%
2015 24,643+0.52%
2020 24,104−0.43%
Source: Philippine Statistics Authority[15][16][17][18]

Most inhabitants speak the Bontoc language, with other major languages being Kankana-ey and Ilocano. Minor languages spoken include Tagalog, Pangasinan, Cuyonon and Butuanon.[19]

Economy[edit]

Maligcong Rice terraces of Bontoc.
Poverty Incidence of Bontoc
Source: Philippine Statistics Authority[20][21]
[22][23][24][25][26]


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.[27]

Government[edit]

Local government[edit]

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[edit]

Members of the Municipal Council (2019–2022):[28]

  • Congressman: Maximo Y. Dalog Jr.
  • Mayor: Jerome “Chagsen” Tudlong, Jr.
  • Vice-Mayor: Eusebio S. Kabluyen
  • Councilors:
    • Jupiter Kalangeg
    • Dan Evert Sokoken
    • Timothy Pongad
    • Glenn Bacala
    • Peter C. Kedawen
    • Julian Chumacog
    • Benedict Odsey II
    • Viola Okko

Culture[edit]

Bontoc woman with a snake skeleton in hair (a charm against lightning) and Bontoc man, c. 1903, (right)
Bontoc Museum

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.[29]

The Alab petroglyphs are ancient figures carved on mountain walls by the prehistoric people of Bontoc.[30] 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[edit]

Secondary education[edit]

  • ALBAGO National High School, Balili
  • Dalican National High School, Dalican
  • Guina-ang National High School, Guina-ang
  • Mountain Province General Comprehensive High School, Poblacion
  • Saint Vincent School, Poblacion
  • Talubin National High School, Talubin
  • Tocucan National High School, Tocucan

Tertiary education[edit]

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[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "2019 Election Results:Bontoc, Mountain Province". GMA News. Retrieved October 7, 2021.
  2. ^  Municipality of Bontoc | (DILG)
  3. ^ "2015 Census of Population, Report No. 3 – Population, Land Area, and Population Density" (PDF). Philippine Statistics Authority. Quezon City, Philippines. August 2016. ISSN 0117-1453. Archived (PDF) from the original on May 25, 2021. Retrieved July 16, 2021.
  4. ^ a b Census of Population (2020). "Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR)". Total Population by Province, City, Municipality and Barangay. Philippine Statistics Authority. Retrieved July 8, 2021.
  5. ^ "PSA Releases the 2018 Municipal and City Level Poverty Estimates". Philippine Statistics Authority. December 15, 2021. Retrieved January 22, 2022.
  6. ^ Malingan, Jamie Joie (April 12, 2018). "Feature: Lang-Ay Festival: Celebrating a Culture of Sharing". Philippine Information Agency. Archived from the original on February 22, 2019. Retrieved February 22, 2019.
  7. ^ "Act No. 1876". PhilippineLaw.info. August 18, 1908. Archived from the original on October 15, 2014. Retrieved October 22, 2014.
  8. ^ a b Kane, S.E., 1933, Thirty Years with the Philippine Head-Hunters, New York: Grosset & Dunlap
  9. ^ "Valley of Sorrow". Asiaweek. September 5, 1980.
  10. ^ Doyo, Ma. Ceres P. (2015). Macli-ing Dulag: Kalinga Chief, Defender of the Cordillera. Diliman, Quezon City: University of the Philippines Press. ISBN 978971542772-2.
  11. ^ 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" (PDF). House of Representatives of the Philippines. Retrieved April 1, 2023.
  12. ^ 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" (PDF). House of Representatives of the Philippines. Retrieved April 1, 2023.
  13. ^ 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" (PDF). House of Representatives of the Philippines. Retrieved April 1, 2023.
  14. ^ "Bontoc: Average Temperatures and Rainfall". Meteoblue. Retrieved March 8, 2020.
  15. ^ Census of Population (2015). "Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR)". Total Population by Province, City, Municipality and Barangay. Philippine Statistics Authority. Retrieved June 20, 2016.
  16. ^ Census of Population and Housing (2010). "Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR)" (PDF). Total Population by Province, City, Municipality and Barangay. National Statistics Office. Retrieved June 29, 2016.
  17. ^ Censuses of Population (1903–2007). "Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR)". Table 1. Population Enumerated in Various Censuses by Province/Highly Urbanized City: 1903 to 2007. National Statistics Office.{{cite encyclopedia}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  18. ^ "Province of Mountain Province". Municipality Population Data. Local Water Utilities Administration Research Division. Retrieved December 17, 2016.
  19. ^ "Annual Report; Local Government of Bontoc; CY 2011" (PDF). Local Government of Bontoc. 2011. Retrieved February 22, 2019.
  20. ^ "Poverty incidence (PI):". Philippine Statistics Authority. Retrieved December 28, 2020.
  21. ^ "Estimation of Local Poverty in the Philippines" (PDF). Philippine Statistics Authority. November 29, 2005.
  22. ^ "2003 City and Municipal Level Poverty Estimates" (PDF). Philippine Statistics Authority. March 23, 2009.
  23. ^ "City and Municipal Level Poverty Estimates; 2006 and 2009" (PDF). Philippine Statistics Authority. August 3, 2012.
  24. ^ "2012 Municipal and City Level Poverty Estimates" (PDF). Philippine Statistics Authority. May 31, 2016.
  25. ^ "Municipal and City Level Small Area Poverty Estimates; 2009, 2012 and 2015". Philippine Statistics Authority. July 10, 2019.
  26. ^ "PSA Releases the 2018 Municipal and City Level Poverty Estimates". Philippine Statistics Authority. December 15, 2021. Retrieved January 22, 2022.
  27. ^ "Mt. Province Travel Information". Asia Travel. Archived from the original on May 7, 2001. Retrieved February 22, 2019.
  28. ^ "2019 National and Local Elections" (PDF). Commission on Elections. Retrieved March 13, 2022.
  29. ^ "Presidential Decree No. 260, s. 1973;". Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines. August 1973. Archived from the original on June 19, 2018. Retrieved February 22, 2019.
  30. ^ "Annual Report 2010; National Museum" (PDF). Manila, Philippines: National Museum of the Philippines. 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 13, 2020. Retrieved February 22, 2019.

External links[edit]

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