Uyugan, Batanes

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Uyugan
Municipality

Seal

Location within Batanes province

Uyugan
Location within the Philippines

Coordinates:

2021N 12156ECoordinates:

2021N 12156E

Country

Philippines

Region

Cagayan Valley (Region II)

Province

Batanes

District

Lone District

Founded

May 20, 1909

Barangays

4 (see Barangays)

Government[1]
Type

Sangguniang Bayan

Mayor

Rogelio B. Caballero

Area[2]
Total

16.28 km2 (6.29 sq mi)

Population (2015 census)[3]

1,297

Density

80/km2 (210/sq mi)

Voter(2016)[4]

970

Time zone

PST (UTC+8)

ZIP code

3903

IDD:area code

+63(0)78

Income class

6th class

PSGC

020906000

Website

uyuganbatanes.gov.ph

Uyugan, officially the Municipality of Uyugan (Filipino: Bayan ng Uyugan), is a municipality in

1History

2Geography
o

2.1Climate

2.2Barangays

3Demographics

4Economy

5References

6External links

History[edit]
Thousands of years before Spanish colonization, about a thousand people lived on fortified cliffs and
hilltops scattered across today's Uyugan. The fortified settlements were called "Idiang" and derived
from the Ivatan word "Idi" or "Idian" which means home or hometown. They belonged to
the Ivatan tribes and spoke the same Ivatan language, but with a southern accent.
The Ivatan tribes who called the place home farmed, where soil permitted, and they fished. They
were also a boat-making and seafaring people, and they traded with neighbouring Taiwan to the
North and Cagayan to the South.
The Ivatan tribal settlements had a de facto tribal government, not very much different from that of
tribal governments in the earlier stages of human evolution. The tribal settlement was headed by a
chieftain with a deputy.
Inter-tribal hostilities (Arap du Tukon) or War on the Hill were common in those days but for men
only. Common law prohibited the harming of womenfolk who were the main providers of food in
wartime.
In the late 1600s, Dominican missionaries landed in Batanes. The native people were in the
beginning not all that welcoming to the early Spanish colonizers, but slowly they were able to adopt
themselves to the Spanish ways. The Spaniards had very different lifestyles, beliefs, and traditions
than the Ivatan tribes. They didn't understand the native peoples' social customs, generous nature,
religious beliefs, or love of the land.
According to church records, the first mass and baptism in the islands was celebrated in what is now
Imnajbu in Uyugan.

The Spanish missionaries, finding the conditions harsh in Batanes, there were attempts to resettle
the Ivatans in Cagayan, but they always found their way home - they sailed back to Batanes.
In 1782, Spanish Governor-General Jose Basco y Vargas sent an expedition to formally get the
consent of the Ivatans to become subjects of the King of Spain.
On June 26, 1783, de facto Ivatan independence was lost - a sad day to many Ivatans, but equally, a
new beginning and a day of celebration to many other Ivatans. On that day (it's called Batanes
Day today) the Spanish representatives of the King of Spain met the representatives of the chiefs
and nobles of Batanes on the Plains of Vasay (in what is now Basco town) for the ceremonial formal
annexation of Batanes to the Spanish Empire.
The new province was named Provincia de la Conception. Governor-General Jose Basco y Vargas
was named "Conde de la Conquista de Batanes" and the capital town of Basco was named after
him. The Dominican Order established missions, among them the San Jose de Ivana mission which
included all of present-day Uyugan and Sabtang.
The Americans followed the Spaniards to Batanes after the Spanish naval defeat at Manila Bay.
The USS Princeton dropped anchor at Basco Bay in February 1900. In 1901, the province was
reclassified to a township, but provincial status was restored in 1909, and with it the creation of
Uyugan as a separate township (municipality).
American public school system was introduced and general health and sanitation campaign was
launched. In the 1930s, the Americans built a better road system that replaced the road system (El
Camino Real) built during the Spanish period.

Geography[edit]
Uyugan is located at 2021N 12156E in the south-eastern part of Batan Island, bounded on the
north by Mahatao, south by the Balintang Channel, east by the Philippine Sea, and west by Ivana.
Uyugan is located at 2021N 12156E
According to the Philippine Statistics Authority, the municipality has a land area of 16.28 square
kilometres (6.29 sq mi)[2]constituting 7.43% of the 219.01-square-kilometre- (84.56 sq mi) total area
of Batanes.
The Uyugan town proper (Centro or Idi to the Isantoninos[clarification needed]) is 19 kilometres (12 mi)
from Basco, the provincial capital. It is located along the banks of what was once a brook, a
kilometer east of the Ivana-Uyugan border.
There are two other major settlements in the municipality situated along the Pacific seaboard: Itbud
and Imnajbu. Itbud is 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) from the town proper or Centro while Imnajbu is 2
kilometres (1.2 mi) farther north-east.
The land is varied. It changes from rocky hills along the coasts to grassy and forest hills in the
interior. Most of the land has been cleared for farming.
In the language of the Ivatans, Uyugan means place of flowing waterwhich is never far away
except in the town proper itself: Today's brook bed that cuts the town proper in half dried up during
the severe earth movements of 1918.

Climate[edit]
Uyugan's climate ranges from humid oceanic to sub-tropic. The Philippine Sea/Pacific Ocean to the
east moderate the climatecooling summers. It's coldest in January and warmest in May.
January temperatures average 20 C (68 F). Mays average temperatures range from 30 to 35 C
(86 to 95 F).

The average (mean) annual air temperature is less than 10 C (50 F) in January, but it's much more
changeable in north-eastern Uyugan (Imnajbu).
Precipitation is heaviest during the non-summer months brought in by the typhoons that frequent the
area. Uyugan's annual rainful varies, but is highest in the north and lowest in the south. The heaviest
rainfuls happen in a belt lying inland from Mount Chakarangan in north-western Uyugan (Songet)
to Mount Vatohayao in north-eastern Uyugan (Imnajbu).
The weather is foggy at the onset of the colder months, caused by the cold polar air from the north
(Continental Asia/Siberia) meeting warm moist air from the south.

Barangays[edit]
Uyugan is politically subdivided into 4 barangays.[5]

PSGC

Barangay

Population
2015[3]

% p.a.
2010[6]

020906002

Imnajbu

12.6%

164

159

+0.59%

020906003

Itbud

37.2%

482

463

+0.77%

020906004

Kayuganan (Poblacion)

24.1%

312

294

+1.14%

020906001

Kayvaluganan (Poblacion)

26.1%

339

324

+0.87%

1,297

1,240

+0.86%

TOTAL

Demographics[edit]
Population census of Uyugan

Source: PSA[3][6][7]

In the 2015 census, Uyugan had a population of 1,297.[3] The population density was 80 inhabitants
per square kilometre (210/sq mi).
Uyugan's population has not changed much since its founding as a separate township (municipality)
on May 20, 1909. Its population is around a tenth of the population of Batanes.

Half of Uyugan's population lives in the town proper or Uyugan Centro that comprises the barangays
of Kayuganan and Kayvaluganan. The other half live in Itbud and Imnajbu.
The four Uyugan barangays or municipal districts along the coasts and brooks. They grew up there
because of the sea and fresh waters necessary for their livelihood. All of the barangays have a main
street as the core of their socio-economic life.
Most of the people speak Ivatan as their first language, while most of the people speak Ilocano,
Tagalog, and English as their second languages.
In the 2016 election, it had 970 registered voters.[4]

Economy[edit]
The Uyugan economy is mainly agriculture and fishing.
Farming in Uyugan began long before the arrival of the Spaniards. The Ivatans loved the land and
cultivated many plants for food.
Isantonino[clarification needed] farmers started with root crops, but when the Spaniards arrived, they learned to
grow other crops, while introducing livestock and vegetables. Farming meant growing root crops
often just enough to feed the farmer's family.
Camot and other root crops became Uyugan's most hardy and widely grown crops, but in the
1950s, livestock became more important than root crops on Uyugan farms. The government brought
breeding bulls and the farmers moved to "mixed" farming on a small scale.
Uyugan's farms are not scientific, but government agricultural extension workers give direction and
support to farming methods. The farmers seldom have problems like plant and animal diseases and
pests.
Today's Isantonino farmer still could barely feed his family due to antiquated methods of farming
dictated mainly by the topography of the land that at best is unsuitable to agriculture. Nevertheless,
Uyugan was a leading producer of beef cattle and garlic prior to the global economy.[citation needed]
Fishing plays a role in partly meeting the fish requirements of the municipality. Fishing methods
use hook and line and cast nets.
Situated north of Imnajbu is Madi Bay in Mahatao, one of the richest fishing grounds in all of
mainland Batanes, where Isantoninos (Uyugan) along with Isancarnos (Mahatao) and other Ivatans
(Ivasays) engaged in coastal fishing.