Apayao, officially the Province of Apayao (; ; Isnag: Provinsia nga Apayao; ), is a landlocked province in the Philippines in the Cordillera Administrative Region in Luzon. Kabugao serves as its capital. The provincial capitol and its associated offices are located at the New Government Center in Luna.
The province borders Cagayan to the north and east, Abra and Ilocos Norte to the west, and Kalinga to the south. Prior to 1995, Kalinga and Apayao comprised a single province named Kalinga-Apayao, which was partitioned to better service the needs of individual ethnic groups.
With a population of 124,366 (as of the 2020 census) covering an area of , was among the earliest areas penetrated by the Spaniards in the Cordilleras, the region, inhabited by the Isneg tribe, remained largely outside Spanish control until late in the 19th century. As early as 1610, the Dominican friars established a mission in what is now the town of Pudtol. In 1684, the friars again made attempts to convert the people and established a church in what is now Kabugao.
thumb|left|Ruins of Pudtol Church, built in 1684 by the Dominicans and abandoned in 1815
The Spanish authorities were then able to establish in Cagayan the comandancias of Apayao and Cabugaoan in 1891, which covered the western and eastern portions of what is now Apayao. The comandancias, however, failed to bring total control and the Spanish government only maintained a loose hold over the area.
American colonial era
Apayao was established through Act No. 1642 on May 9, 1907, as a sub-province of Cagayan province.
The Americans established the Mountain Province on August 13, 1908, with the enactment of Act No. 1876. Apayao was incorporated; and along with Amburayan, Benguet, Bontoc, Ifugao, Kalinga, and Lepanto, became sub-provinces of this new province.
In the early years, the sub-province underwent series of territorial changes:
- Through EO 13, approved on January 21, 1936, Tauit was abolished and was annexed as a single barrio to Luna, effective February 1.
In the early years, Apayao as a sub-province was divided into seven municipal districts, all Isneg predominated. Kalinga-Apayao, along with Ifugao, became one of the provinces of the Cagayan Valley region in 1972. During his bid to be the first Philippine president to be re-elected for a second term, Ferdinand Marcos launched an unprecedented number of foreign debt-funded public works projects. This caused the Philippine economy took a sudden downwards turn known as the 1969 Philippine balance of payments crisis, which in turn led to a period of economic difficulty and social unrest.
With only a year left in his last constitutionally allowed term as president Ferdinand Marcos placed the Philippines under Martial Law in September 1972 and thus retained the position for fourteen more years. This period in Philippine history is remembered for the Marcos administration's record of human rights abuses, particularly targeting political opponents, student activists, journalists, religious workers, farmers, and others who fought against the Marcos dictatorship. The Kalinga-Apayao became known as a flashpoint of conflict between the Marcos dictatorship and the various indigenous peoples who lived in the area, because of the Chico River Dam Project, which, even if only the most essential part of it were built, would have submerged numerous townships in Kalinga, Mountain Province, and Apayao; and would have displaced about 100,000 indigenous people. Marcos sent three armed brigades to subdue protests, resulting in heightened tensions in the area. However, anti-left sentiment in Aquino's new cabinet, which included figures who had sided with the Reform the Armed Forces Movement, made the peace process difficult, and negotiations eventually collapsed, and the insurgency in Kalinga-Apayao persisted.
Another event in 1986 marked the beginning of political change in the region, however - the splitting of the Cordillera People's Liberation Army from the New People's Army. Former Catholic priest Conrado Balweg, who had left his calling and joined the NPA in 1979, had been having disagreements with the NPA leadership over tactics and objectives in the Cordillera for four years when he finally decided to split from the NPA in early April 1986, believing that Igorot interests were better served through regional struggles for liberation, rather than the national-scale conflict pursued by the NPA. Either way, this set the stage for negotiations which would eventually lead to the creation of the Cordillera Administrative Region, and Apayao as an independent province within it.
Peace accord and creation of the Cordillera Administrative Region creation
In September 1986, the CPLA signed the Mount Data Peace Accord with the government, which led to the creation of what became called the Cordillera Autonomous Region, although attempts to ratify actual autonomy in the region have failed due to non-ratification during plebiscites.
The Cordillera Administrative Region was established on July 15, 1987, and Kalinga-Apayao was made one of its provinces.
Separation of Kalinga and Apayao provinces
Finally, on February 14, 1995, Kalinga-Apayao was split into two independent provinces with the passage of Republic Act No. 7878.
Geography
thumb|Dibagat River in [[Kabugao]]
Apayao is basically situated within the Cordillera Central mountains, traversed by many rivers. The province covers an area of forming the northern tip of the Cordillera Administrative Region, and is bounded on the north and east by Cagayan, west by Ilocos Norte, southwest by Abra and south by Kalinga.
The province is geographically subdivided into Upper Apayao (composed of the upland municipalities: Calanasan, Conner and Kabugao) and Lower Apayao (the lowland municipalities: Luna, Pudtol, Flora and Sta. Marcela).
Plains and valleys are used for farming. Apayao is basically composed of farmlands.
Climate
The prevailing climate in the province falls under Corona's Type III Classification. It is characterized by relatively dry and wet seasons, from November to April, and wet during the rest of the year. Heaviest rain during December to February while the month of May is the warmest.
Biodiversity
Apayao is biologically diverse. The province is sanctuary to 139 bird species, 61 of which are endemic and 4 threatened. It also has 43 species of wild food plants eaten by the indigenous people and 50 species of medicinal plants. The province is home to critically endangered rufous hornbills, lawaan or dipterocarp trees, Raflesia flowers, and the white-winged flying fox. On March 22, 2013, scientists discovered the stronghold of critically endangered Philippine eagles, the country's national bird, in Luzon island within the vicinity of the Calanasan Lowland Forest. In January 2015, the town of Calanasan initiated a program which protected 3,000 hectares of forests under its jurisdiction. Additionally, the province of Apayao is one of the very few in the country that has an approved forest land use plan (FLUP). The first active Philippine eagle nest in Apayao was discovered in July 2015. On January 16, 2019, the provincial government announced that they were doing "legwork for the inscription."
In July 2024, UNESCO, in the International Coordinating Council of the Man and the Biosphere Programme (ICC MAB) 36th session at Agadir, Morocco, listed Apayao's 3,960 square kilometers lush forest areas, with Apayao River, a Biosphere Reserve, making it the fourth biosphere reserve in the country.
Administrative divisions
Apayao comprises 7 municipalities, all encompassed by a lone legislative district.
thumb|upright=0.9|
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="table-layout:fixed;text-align:right;background-color:white;font-size:95%;border-collapse:collapse;margin:auto;"
|- style="vertical-align:top;"
! scope="col" style="border-width:thin 0 0 thin;" class="unsortable" rowspan="2" |
! scope="col" style="border-width:thin 0 0 0;text-align:left;" class="unsortable" colspan="2" | Municipality
! scope="col" style="border-bottom:0;text-align:center;" class="unsortable" colspan="3" | Population
! scope="col" style="border-bottom:0;text-align:center;" class="unsortable" |
! scope="col" style="border-bottom:0;text-align:center;" class="unsortable" colspan="2" | Area
! scope="col" style="border-bottom:0;text-align:center;" class="unsortable" colspan="2" | Density
! scope="col" style="border-bottom:0;text-align:center;" class="unsortable" |
|-
! style="border-width:0 thin thin 0;" colspan="2" |
! style="border-width:0 0 thin thin;text-align:center;" colspan="2" |
! style="border-width:0 thin thin 0;text-align:center;" |
! style="border-top:0;" |
! style="border-width:0 0 thin thin;text-align:center;" | km<sup>2</sup>
! style="border-width:0 thin thin 0;text-align:center;" class="unsortable" | sqmi
! style="border-width:0 0 thin thin;text-align:center;" | /km<sup>2</sup>
! style="border-width:0 thin thin 0;text-align:center;" class="unsortable" | /sqmi
! style="border-top:0;" |
|-
! scope="row" style="border-right:0;background-color:initial;" |
| style="text-align:left;font-weight:bold;border-left:0;" colspan="2" | Calanasan
|
| 12,604
|
|
|
| style="text-align:center;" | 18
|-
! scope="row" style="border-right:0;background-color:initial;" |
| style="text-align:left;font-weight:bold;border-left:0;" colspan="2" | Conner
|
| 26,051
|
|
|
| style="text-align:center;" | 21
|-
! scope="row" style="border-right:0;background-color:initial;" |
| style="text-align:left;font-weight:bold;border-left:0;" colspan="2" | Flora
|
| 17,391
|
|
|
| style="text-align:center;" | 16
|-
! scope="row" style="border-width:medium 0 medium medium;background-color:initial;" |
| style="text-align:left;font-weight:bold;border-width:medium 0 medium;" | Kabugao
| style="border-width:medium medium medium 0;text-align:center;" | †
|
| 15,537
|
|
|
| style="text-align:center;" | 21
|-
! scope="row" style="border-right:0;background-color:initial;" |
| style="text-align:left;font-weight:bold;border-left:0;" colspan="2" | Luna
|
| 19,063
|
|
|
| style="text-align:center;" | 22
|-
! scope="row" style="border-right:0;background-color:initial;" |
| style="text-align:left;font-weight:bold;border-left:0;" colspan="2" | Pudtol
|
| 14,925
|
|
|
| style="text-align:center;" | 22
|-
! scope="row" style="border-right:0;background-color:initial;" |
| style="text-align:left;font-weight:bold;border-left:0;" colspan="2" | Santa Marcela
|
| 13,613
|
|
|
| style="text-align:center;" | 13
|- class="sortbottom"
! scope="row" style="border-right:0;" |
! colspan="3" style="border-left:0;text-align:left;font-size:medium;font-variant:small-caps;letter-spacing:0.05em;" | Total
! style="text-align:right;" | 124,366
! style="text-align:right;" | 119,184
! style="text-align:right;" |
! style="text-align:right;" | 4,413.35
! style="text-align:right;" |
! style="text-align:right;" |
! style="text-align:right;" |
! style="text-align:center;" | 133
|- class="sortbottom" style="background-color:#F2F2F2;line-height:1.3em;border-top:double grey;"
| colspan="2" style="border-width:thin 0 0 thin;" |
| colspan="5" style="border-width:thin 0 0 0;text-align:center;padding:0.7em 0;" | Provincial capital
| colspan="6" style="border-width:thin 0 0 0;text-align:left;padding:0.7em 0;" | Municipality
|- class="sortbottom" style="background-color:#F2F2F2;line-height:1.3em;font-size:110%;"
| colspan="13" style="border-top:0;padding:0 12em;text-align:left;" |
|}
Barangays
The 7 municipalities of the province comprise a total of 133 barangays, with Barangay Malama in Conner as the most populous in 2015, and Eleazar in Calanasan as the least.
Demographics
The population of Apayao in the 2024 census was 126,587 people, with a density of .