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Ilagan, officially the City of Ilagan (Ibanag: Siudad nat Ilagan; Ilocano: Siudad ti Ilagan; Filipino: Lungsod ng Ilagan), is a component city and capital of the province of Isabela, Philippines. According to the 2024 census, it has a population of 164,020 people, making it the most populous city in the province and second in the region after Tuguegarao City. As of 2025, it also had the highest number of voters in the province, with 105,526 voters.
It is dubbed as the corn capital of the Philippines, and the home of the country's largest armchair locally known as butaka.
According to Fr. Julian Malumbres, Ilagan derived its name from the word laga, an Ibanag word for "smallpox", of which there was an outbreak during the town's founding in 1686.
Historical affiliations
Spain 1587–1898 United States of America 1898–1942 Japan 1942–1945 Philippines 1946–present
The town was then known by its native Gaddang settlers as Bolo during the pre-Spanish conquest era. It was one of the populous settlements during that period and the site of the vast tobacco plantation in the region making it one of the most important economic areas in northern Luzon.
In 1581, Governor-General Gonzalo Ronquillo de Peñalosa sent Capt. Juan Pablo Carreon to explore Cagayan Valley as well as to establish missions. Among the Spanish missionaries who penetrated deeply into the region was Pedro Jimenez, who founded Ilagan.
The town of Bolo was founded by the Dominicans in 1619 in honor of Saint Ferdinand of Castile. The old Bolo was situated on the western side of Cagayan River in what is known today as Naguilian-Baculod. The cultural shock brought by the dominating social and economic regulations introduced by the Spanish authorities propelled the natives to dissent in the Mallig and the Ilagan-Tumauini territories in what was known as the Gaddang Revolution. The natives abandoned their settlement after burning their church and houses until 1622 when the Spanish government pardoned and exempted them from paying tribute within three years. After the Gaddang revolt, the natives re-established their settlement upon the efforts of Fr. Pedro Jimenez in 1678 on the east side of the river thereby giving the legendary name for Ilagan which is the reverse of the word nagali meaning move or transfer. The Dominicans accepted the settlement as an ecclesiastical mission given the name San Fernando de Ilagan in honor of its patron, Saint Ferdinand of Castile.
On May 4, 1686, Ilagan was founded and missionaries converted the natives to Catholicism. Ilagan was made the capital town of Cagayan Valley when Brig. Manuel Sanchez Mira was then the governor of the whole territory.
In 1763, Ilagan was the scene of the revolt led by Dabo and Juan Marayag against the collection of tribute, the enforcement of tobacco monopoly committed by the friars during the Spanish colonization.
On May 1, 1856, Ilagan became the capital town when Isabela de Luzon was founded.
Present-day Ilagan is an area that was detached from the old province of Nueva Vizcaya. The first municipal president of the town, Rafael Maramag, added luster to the history of his hometown by becoming the first governor of the province of Isabela after its reorganization by the Americans in 1901.
On August 4, 1901, the American occupation under the United States-Philippine Commission enacted the Provincial Government Act 210 that re-established Isabela and other provinces in the Philippines. Rafael Maramag, a former municipal president (mayor) of Ilagan was appointed as the first governor. The act then re-established Ilagan as the provincial capital.
On November 13, 1925, Gaffud approved a resolution filed by all Municipal Presidents of the Isabela (the counterpart of the present-day Mayor's League) following a four-day convention. The resolution called for the erection of a monument in honor of the country's National Hero José Rizal in the public plaza.
The fortunes of Isabela as a province and Ilagan as a town followed a similar path to the rest of the country's history as a commonwealth nation and as a free republic in 1942, the Japanese occupation, liberation, political and military independence to this day.
On June 19, 1945, Ilagan was liberated from the Japanese Army as part of the liberation campaign with the combined forces of 14th Infantry, United States Army Forces in the Philippines – Northern Luzon (USAFIP-NL), under the command of Lt Col. Romulo A. Manriquez, and the 37th Division of the U.S. Sixth Army against the Japanese.
During this era, a man-made tunnel was constructed from the sweat and blood of detained Ilagueños and it is now a tourist destination in the city. The tunnels are believed to have served as headquarters of the Japanese soldiers.
By the turn of the 1950s, the new Poblacion was located uphill from the old Saint Ferdinand Parish Church, formerly known as Saint Ferdinand Cathedral in Bagumbayan to San Vicente, which is the site of the current City Hall.
When Ferdinand Marcos' September 1972 declaration of Martial law began 14 years of authoritarian rule, the province of Isabela, including the municipality of Ilagan became a center of both conflict and protest when Marcos cronies Danding Cojuangco and Antonio Carag managed to block a Spanish-era grant which was supposed to see the return of Hacienda San Antonio and Hacienda Santa Isabel in Ilagan to local farmers. Cojuangco and Carag purchased the two haciendas themselves, displacing tens of thousands of farmers who were supposed to get those lands back a hundred years after the Spanish acquired them.
In its desire to serve its parishioners, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Ilagan hosted a Social Action Center which would help the farmers. In the Social Action Center's newsletter, the "Courier," researcher Sabino Padilla Jr. documented and exposed the ways by which Cojuangco, Carag, the provincial government, and the military harassed the farmers who were supposed to get the land. This all led to a protest march in joined by 12,000 protesters from all over Isabela, and eventually, for 4,000 farmers to finally get the titles to their land. But it also earned the ire of the administration.
In 1982, Padilla and 12 others were arrested by the regime and jailed under poor conditions at the Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya Stockade of the Philippine Constabulary until almost the end of the Marcos regime.
In 1983, soldiers went as far as to raid the residence of the Bishop of Ilagan, Miguel Purugganan, in search of alleged rebels and firearms. They found none but continued to keep Bishop Puruggananan and the church workers under him under military surveillance.
On February 2, 1998, congress passed Republic Act 8474 which sought to convert Ilagan into a city. But the plebiscite held on March 14, 1999, turned down its bid for cityhood. The majority of the people voted no in that event under the mayoralty of Mercedes P. Uy.
On March 2, 2005, House bill no. 3847 was filed and approved by the house and transmitted for the cityhood of Ilagan but remained pending concurrence in the senate. The bill did not go through when mayor Delfinito C. Albano was gunned down by three unidentified men in the night of June 27, 2006, in Quezon City. The campaign used the term C-U-DAD Ilagan for the cityhood status of Ilagan.
On February 27, 2012, Ilagan renewed its bid for cityhood as sponsored by House bill no. 5917. Local officials of the town expressed support for the town's conversion into a city. On May 22, 2012, the congress approved the cityhood bill of Ilagan on its House resolution no. 144 and was signed by then President Benigno Aquino III on June 21, 2012. Plebiscite was held on August 11, 2012, with a majority of votes voting yes under the leadership of Josemarie L. Diaz. By virtue of Republic Act 10169, Ilagan was then proclaimed as a new component city, the third in the province of Isabela and the fourth in Cagayan Valley on the same day by COMELEC Commissioner Armando Velasco.
On August 28, 2019, the city government created the Ilagan Development Authority (ILAGANDA) which is aimed to transform Ilagan into a liveable city in the year 2030.
On November 25–26, 2023, the City of Ilagan hosted the biggest and largest serbisyo caravan in the country, the Bagong Pilipinas Serbisyo Fair held at the City of Ilagan Sports Complex and Isabela National High School. The event saw the first time that the BPSF program went to Cagayan Valley, marking its eighth installment nationwide. With the aim of the national government delivering quality services closer to clients. Among the lined-up activities are Rise Up Financing, Online Business Name Registration, Barangay Micro Business Name Registration, One Town, One Product (OTOP) Mini Fair, Diskwento Caravan, Product Standard Showcase, and Negosyo Center Business Counseling Services. Under the initiative, Isabela residents received P152 million worth of cash, while a total of P500 million went to programs and services. The program benefited at least 100,000 recipients, with a total of 26 government agencies participating in the event, providing over 195 services.
Among the services included is the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s (DSWD) Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situations (AICS) program, which provided a provincial wide payout in the three cities and 34 municipalities of the province of Isabela. AICS assisted more than 42,000 individuals amounting to a total of P140 million in payout which included assistance for Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries (ARBs), Persons with Disabilities (PWDs), Indigenous Peoples (IPs), teachers, the transport sector, and fishermen; and collaborate with partner agencies.
The BPSF also included other province-wide activities such as scholarship programs from the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) and the Commission on Higher Education (CHED). Other activities included livelihood assistance for various sectors in pre-identified eligible recipients across Isabela. The Department of Health (DOH) shared their Lab for All program, or the giving of free medical services closer to the people. While the Department of Agriculture (DA), spearheaded the distribution of financial assistance for farmers, seeds and fertilizers, and farm equipments and machineries.
Products of farmers and fishermen were also on sale through the KADIWA ng Pangulo as a way to promote locally produced products. All of the products displayed were made affordable, fresh, and pesticide-safe for the consumers. The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) also turned over fish cages, fish feeds, and fingerlings for the distribution and sale of seafood. Agencies like the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR), Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), Department of Science and Technology (DOST), Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA), National Food Authority (NFA), and the Public Attorney's Office (PAO) also provided livelihood, legal, and other relevant social services to the recipients. Other regulatory functions of the Philippine National Police (PNP), Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), Land Transportation Office (LTO), National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), Professional Regulation Commission (PRC), Social Security System (SSS), PhilHealth, Government Service Insurance System (GSIS), and the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) also extended their programs and services during the two-day caravan.
The city is located in the central portion of the province of Isabela. It is bounded by nine municipalities: on the north by the municipalities of Divilacan, Tumauini, and Delfin Albano; on the west by the municipality of Quirino; on the east by the municipalities of Divilacan and Palanan, and the Pacific Ocean; and on the south by the municipalities of Gamu, Naguilian, Benito Soliven and San Mariano.
With a total land area of 116,626 hectares (288,190 acres), it is the largest city on the island of Luzon and the fourth largest city in land area in the Philippines, after Davao City, Puerto Princesa, and Zamboanga City.
Ilagan is situated 437.52 kilometers (271.86 mi) north of capital Manila (linked by a national highway via Santa Fe, Nueva Vizcaya).
Text from the Wikipedia article “Ilagan”, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.