Bontoc, Mountain Province

Bontoc
Municipality
Municipality of Bontoc
Bontoc in 2022
Flag Seal
Map of Mountain Province with Bontoc highlighted
OpenStreetMap
Bontoc Location within the Philippines
Coordinates: 17°05′24″N120°58′38″E / 17.09°N 120.9772°E / 17.09; 120.9772
Country	Philippines
Region	Cordillera Administrative Region
Province	Mountain Province
District	Lone district
Founded	1908
Barangays	16 (see Barangays)
Government   [1]
• Type	Sangguniang Bayan
•  Mayor	Jerome B. Tudlong, Jr.
•  Vice Mayor	Eusebio S. Kabluyen
•  Representative	Maximo Y. Dalog Jr.
•  Municipal Council	Members [2] Jupiter Jule Kalangeg Dan Evert Sokoken Glenn Bacala Peter Kedawen Julian Chumacog Timothy Pongad, Jr. Benedict Odsey II Viola Okko
•  Electorate	17,135 voters (2022)
Area [3]
• Total	396.10 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]
• Total	24,104
• Density	61/km2 (160/sq mi)
•  Households	6,452
Economy
•  Income class	2nd municipal income class
•  Poverty incidence	4.49 % (2021) [5]
•  Revenue	₱ 193.7 million (2020)
•  Assets	₱ 380.3 million (2020)
•  Expenditure	₱ 147.8 million (2020)
•  Liabilities	₱ 159.8 million (2020)
Service provider
•  Electricity	Mountain Province Electric Cooperative (MOPRECO)
Time zone	UTC+8 (PST)
ZIP code	2616
PSGC	144404000
IDD  :  area code	+63 (0)74
Native languages	Balangao Bontoc Ilocano Tagalog
Website	lgubontoc.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, 20 kilometres (12 mi) from Sagada, and 142 kilometres (88 mi) 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. ^[6]

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

History

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]

Geography

Barangays

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

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) [11]

Demographics

Population census of Bontoc

Year Pop. ±% 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%	Year Pop. ±% 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%	Year Pop. ±% 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 [12] [13] [14] [15]

Most inhabitants speak the Bontoc language, with other major languages being Kankana-ey and Ilocano. Minor languages spoken include Tagalog, Pangasinan, Cuyonon and Butuanon. ^[16]

Economy

Maligcong Rice terraces of Bontoc.

Poverty incidence of Bontoc

5 10 15 20 2006 15.10 2009 16.71 2012 10.86 2015 15.43 2018 10.01 2021 4.49 Source: Philippine Statistics Authority [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] [24]

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. ^[25]

Government

Local government

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): ^[26]

• 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

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. ^[27]

The Alab petroglyphs are ancient figures carved on mountain walls by the prehistoric people of Bontoc. ^[28] 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

• 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

Mountain Province State University 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

• Lamberto V. Avellana - National Artist of the Philippines for Film
• Francisco Claver, SJ - Roman Catholic bishop, Jesuit, and human rights activist

References

1.   Municipality of Bontoc | (DILG)
2. "2019 Election Results:Bontoc, Mountain Province". GMA News. Retrieved October 7, 2021.
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. 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 2021 City and Municipal Level Poverty Estimates". Philippine Statistics Authority. April 2, 2024. Retrieved April 28, 2024.
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. 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. "Bontoc: Average Temperatures and Rainfall". Meteoblue. Retrieved March 8, 2020.
12. Census of Population (2015). "Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR)". Total Population by Province, City, Municipality and Barangay. Philippine Statistics Authority . Retrieved June 20, 2016.
13. 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.
14. 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.
15. "Province of Mountain Province". Municipality Population Data. Local Water Utilities Administration Research Division. Retrieved December 17, 2016.
16. "Annual Report; Local Government of Bontoc; CY 2011" (PDF). Local Government of Bontoc. 2011. Retrieved February 22, 2019.
17. "Poverty incidence (PI):". Philippine Statistics Authority. Retrieved December 28, 2020.
18. "Estimation of Local Poverty in the Philippines" (PDF). Philippine Statistics Authority. November 29, 2005.
19. "2003 City and Municipal Level Poverty Estimates" (PDF). Philippine Statistics Authority. March 23, 2009.
20. "City and Municipal Level Poverty Estimates; 2006 and 2009" (PDF). Philippine Statistics Authority. August 3, 2012.
21. "2012 Municipal and City Level Poverty Estimates" (PDF). Philippine Statistics Authority. May 31, 2016.
22. "Municipal and City Level Small Area Poverty Estimates; 2009, 2012 and 2015". Philippine Statistics Authority. July 10, 2019.
23. "PSA Releases the 2018 Municipal and City Level Poverty Estimates". Philippine Statistics Authority. December 15, 2021. Retrieved January 22, 2022.
24. "PSA Releases the 2021 City and Municipal Level Poverty Estimates". Philippine Statistics Authority. April 2, 2024. Retrieved April 28, 2024.
25. "Mt. Province Travel Information". Asia Travel. Archived from the original on May 7, 2001. Retrieved February 22, 2019.
26. "2019 National and Local Elections" (PDF). Commission on Elections. Retrieved March 13, 2022.
27. "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.
28. "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

• Bontoc local government website
• Philippine Standard Geographic Code
• Philippine census information