Gonzaga, officially the Municipality of Gonzaga (Ilocano: Ili ti Gonzaga; Tagalog: Bayan ng Gonzaga) , is a 1st class municipality in the province of Cagayan, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it had a population of 41,680.[3]
The original inhabitants of Gonzaga were Negritos, especially members of Aeta tribes. The first recorded name of the area was Gampao, an Aeta word meaning 'mountainous,' later changed to Wangag ('river').
Spanish Era
In the eighteenth century, groups of Ilocano-speaking immigrants arrived in several waves by sea and land, gradually displacing the Aeta in the lowland areas.
Wangag was given ecclesiastical recognition on February 23, 1869, as a barrio of the Municipality of Buguey. In 1917, it was renamed Rumang-ay (Ilocano for 'to be progressive'). The following year, it was renamed after the first Filipino Governor of Cagayan, Gracio P. Gonzaga. The town was officially partitioned from Buguey on January 1, 1918, via the Executive Order of Governor-GeneralFrancis Burton Harrison.[5]
World War II
Japanese troops of the Tanaka Detachment from Formosa, as a main invasion force, landed on several locations in Northern Luzon, one of which is the town of Gonzaga, on December 10, 1941.
Geography
Gonzaga is located at the north-eastern tip of the province of Cagayan, bordered by the municipality of Santa Ana to the north-east, the municipality of Santa Teresita to the west, and the municipality of Lal-lo to the south. Gonzaga is 123 kilometres (76 mi) from Tuguegarao and 604 kilometres (375 mi) from Manila.
It has a total land area of 56,743 hectares (140,220 acres), the majority of which remains undeveloped. It has large stretches of virgin forests, especially throughout the mountainous areas of the Sierra Madre mountain range. The highest elevation in the municipality is 1,130 metres (3,710 ft) above sea level, located at the Mount Cagua in Barangay Magrafil.
The majority of the municipality's 40 kilometres (25 mi) coastline is mostly along the Babuyan Channel to the north, although it is also bounded by the Pacific Ocean to the southeast. The eleven coastal barangays contain a total of 139 hectares (340 acres) of beaches, 69 hectares (170 acres) of mangrove forests and 348 hectares (860 acres) of coral reefs.[6]
Barangays
Gonzaga is politically subdivided into 25 Barangays, including four urban barangays which constitute the Poblacion area. Each barangay consists of puroks while some have sitios.
In the 2020 census, the population of Gonzaga, Cagayan, was 41,680 people,[3] with a density of 73 inhabitants per square kilometre or 190 inhabitants per square mile.
Gonzaga is primarily an agricultural municipality, with more than half of the workforce employed primarily as either farmers or fishers. Approximately 5,500 hectares (14,000 acres) of agricultural land are currently under production, the majority of which are dedicated to rice farming.[20]
Gonzaga, belonging to the first legislative district of the province of Cagayan, 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 councillors are elected directly by people through an election which is held every three years.
Elected officials
Members of the Municipal Council (2022–2025)
Position
Name
Congressman
Ramon C. Nolasco Jr.
Mayor
Marilyn S. Pentecostes
Vice-Mayor
Jessie G. Gaspar
Councillors
Sherryl Anne C. Gaspar
Eliseo C.Alibania Jr.
Rafael E.Sumajit Jr.
Ferdinand L.Baclig
Oscar G.Idmilao
Cecilia G.Morales
Orlando B.Rasos
Quirino S.Jara
Local chief executives
Name
Years
Francis Torres
1918-1921
Leandro Zuniega
1922-1924
Teodoro Castro
1925-1927
Francisco Torres
1928-1931
Cesario Peralta
1932–1940, 1945–1946
Frederico Navarro
1941
Cayatano de la Cruz
1942–1945, 1948–1951, 1960–1967
Delfin Baltazar
1952-1955
Claro P. Nuñez
1956-1959
Romarico Salvanera
1967-1968
Francisco T. Baclig
1968-1986
Hermogenes T. Baclig
1986-1987
Juan B. Naval
1987
Ricardo M. Paddayuman
1988-1990
Atty. Arsenio P. Gonzales
1990-1998
Epifanio G. Gaspar
1998-2007
Rosendo P. Abad
2007-2010
Engr. Carlito F. Pentecostes, Jr.
2010–2014
Rene Salvanera
2014-2016
Marilyn S. Pentecostes
2016–present
Education
The Schools Division of Cagayan, a division office and field office of DepEd in the Cagayan Valley region, is responsible for the implementation of the town's education system, ensuring adherence to educational standards set by the government in order to provide quality education for all students. In both public and private elementary schools, including high schools within the municipality.
The Cagayan State University Gonzaga Campus is also an educational institution in the municipality of Gonzaga.
Lilia Cuntapay, a Filipino actress, was dubbed the "Queen of Philippine Horror Movies" was born in the Cabiraoan village of Gonzaga, Cagayan, on September 16, 1935.