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Casiguran [ˌkaːsɪˈguːɾan], officially the Municipality of Casiguran (Tagalog/Kasiguranin: Bayan ng Casiguran; Ilocano: Ili ti Casiguran), is a municipality in the province of Aurora, Philippines. According to the 2024 census, it has a population of 26,855 people.
The municipality is home to the Amro River Protected Landscape.
According to folk legend, the name Casiguran was obtained from the Ilocano term Sigod which means "edge" or "maximum", which is due to the location of the municipality at the northern edge of Aurora Province. (Another translation & definition of sigod is "soon" or "early") Another legend says that if an unmarried stranger comes to the place, he unavoidably falls in love and marries and most of the time stays for good. The affixation of sigod when converting it to a noun is kasigudan, from which the Hispanized pronunciation "Casiguran" is derived.
Casiguran was founded by Spanish missionaries on June 13, 1609. Prior to their arrival, the inhabitants of the area were the Dumagats, Aetas, and Bugkalots, followed by migrants from other parts of the Philippines. These migrants spoke different languages such as Ilocano, Visayan languages, Tagalog, Bikol languages, Kapampangan, Gaddang, Itawis and Ibanag, and from these a Kasiguranin language evolved. In 1818, Nueva Ecija annexed Casiguran, as well as Baler, Infanta (formerly called Binangonan de Lampon) and the Polillo Islands from Tayabas, and Palanan from Isabela. Casiguran then became part of Nueva Vizcaya when it was created in 1839, then became part of El Príncipe District of the province of Nueva Ecija when it was created in 1856.
In 1902, Casiguran became part of the province of Tayabas (now Quezon). In 1905, the area of modern Dilasag was part of Nueva Vizcaya and was transferred to Tayabas through Casiguran. From 1906 to 1907, Casiguran was merged with the town of Baler, also then in Tayabas. Casiguran was transferred to Nueva Vizcaya in 1918, but restored to Tayabas in 1946.
In 1942, invading Japanese forces landed in the town of Casiguran. From February 19 to May 11, 1945, Allied troops as well as Philippine Commonwealth forces and recognized guerrilla units fought in the Battle of Casiguran during the return of American forces on Luzon in World War II. When the Philippines regained sovereignty in 1946, Aurora was still part of Tayabas and Casiguran was a lone northern town. Its political jurisdiction is bounded on the north by the province of Isabela, on the west by Quirino, and on the south west by Barangay Dinadiawan, which was then the boundary between Baler and Casiguran. In 1951, Casiguran became part of Quezon's sub-province of Aurora beginning in 1951.
In 1959 and 1966, the northern and south-western municipal districts (formerly barrios) of Dilasag and Dinalungan, alongside some nearby barrios, were made into separate municipalities.
On August 2, 1968, the 7.6-magnitude 1968 Casiguran earthquake struck near Casiguran.
Casiguran was later separated from Quezon and became part of the new province of Aurora on August 13, 1979.
According to the Philippine Statistics Authority, the municipality has a land area of 715.43 square kilometers (276.23 sq mi) constituting 22.73% of the 3,147.32-square-kilometer- (1,215.19 sq mi) total area of Aurora.
Casiguran is situated 114.86 kilometres (71.37 mi) from the provincial capital Baler, and 367.17 kilometres (228.15 mi) from the country's capital city of Manila. It is bounded on the north-east by Dilasag, south-west by Dinalungan, north-west by Maddela, Quirino, and southeast by the Philippine Sea.
Casiguran is politically subdivided into 24 barangays. Each barangay consists of puroks and some have sitios.
In the 2024 census, Casiguran had a population of 26,855 people. The population density was 38 inhabitants per square kilometer (98/sq mi).
In 1960, the population of Casiguran was 6,900. This was almost doubled by the 1970s when population was 12,128, an increase of about 76% (5.8% annual average growth rate). Between 1970 and 1975, there was a marked decreased in the number of population from 12,128 to 11,670. This reduction was due to deteriorated peace and order, which forced some of the population to move away. The trend reversed by 1980, with an increase of 19% or an annual average growth rate increase of 3.86%. Increasing population continued during the succeeding censal years (1980 to 1995) but with a declining annual average population growth rate. This is attributed to the gradual stoppage of logging operations in the area. Many workers involved in this trade were not original residents, so when the jobs were no longer available, they left. Between 1995 and 1999 there was a significant increase of the annual average population growth rate to 4.36%.
Poverty incidence of Casiguran (%)
10
20
30
40
50
2000 46.09
2003 22.75
2006 29.10
2009 19.73
2012 18.44
2015 12.65
2018 12.62
2021 18.10
2023 14.24
Source: Philippine Statistics Authority
The Casiguran 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.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Casiguran, Aurora”, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.