Echague

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources:  –  ·  ·  · scholar · JSTOR (January 2014) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

Echague
Municipality
Municipality of Echague
Flag Seal
Nickname(s):  Queen Town of Isabela Home of the Mengals
Map of Isabela with Echague highlighted
show OpenStreetMap
Echague Location within the Philippines
Coordinates: 16°42′N 121°39′E / 16.7°N 121.65°E / 16.7; 121.65Coordinates: 16°42′N 121°39′E / 16.7°N 121.65°E / 16.7; 121.65
Country	Philippines
Region	Cagayan Valley
Province	Isabela
District	6th district
Named for	Rafaél de Echagüe y Bermingham
Barangays	64 (see Barangays)
Government  [1]
• Type	Sangguniang Bayan
• Mayor	Francis Faustino A. Dy
• Vice Mayor	Amador A. Gaffud, Jr.
• Representative	Faustino A. Dy V
• Electorate	54,715 voters (2019)
Area [2]
• Total	680.80 km2 (262.86 sq mi)
Elevation	70 m (230 ft)
Highest elevation	101 m (331 ft)
Lowest elevation	47 m (154 ft)
Population  (2020 census) [3]
• Total	88,410
• Density	130/km2 (340/sq mi)
• Households	18,536
Economy
• Income class	1st municipal income class
• Poverty incidence	15.77% (2015)[4]
• Revenue	₱240,331,816.37 (2016)
Service provider
• Electricity	Isabela 1 Electric Cooperative (ISELCO 1)
Time zone	UTC+8 (PST)
ZIP code	3309
PSGC	023112000
IDD : area code	+63 (0)78
Climate type	tropical rainforest climate
Native languages	Yogad Ilocano Tagalog
Website	www.echague-isabela.gov.ph

Echague, officially the Municipality of Echague, is a 1st class municipality in the province of Isabela, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 88,410 people. ^[3] The town is known for the indigenous and endangered Yogad language, which is spoken and conserved by its locals.

History[]

The town was founded in 1752 and ecclesiastically placed under the patronage of St. Joseph on May 12, 1753.

Prior to 1856, there were only two provinces in the Cagayan Valley Region: Cagayan and Nueva Vizcaya. The province of Cagayan at that time consisted of all towns from Tumauini to the north in Aparri and all other towns from Ilagan City southward to Aritao comprised the Province of Nueva Vizcaya. In order to facilitate the work of the missionaries in the evangelization of the Cagayan Valley, a royal decree was issued on May 1, 1856, that created the Province of Isabela consisting of the towns of Gamu, Angadanan, Bindang (now Roxas) and Camarag (now Echague), Carig (now Santiago City) and Palanan. The new province was named in honor of Queen Isabela II of Spain.

Fr. Pedro Salgado, the Dominican writer, in volume I of his "Cagayan Valley and Eastern Cordillera (1581-1898)," wrote that Echague formerly used to be called Camarag, the name of a big tree then common in the place. Before it separated from Nueva Vizcaya, Camarag was Nueva Vizcaya's first capital, before Bayombong was declared such in 1865.

Missionaries wanted to transfer the town from the banks of the Cagayan River to the Ganano River 10 kilometers away. The people rebelled because the soil was more fertile along the Cagayan River. But in 1776, they were forcibly transferred. Some 72 years later, the people returned to Camarag, later renamed after Rafael de Echagüe y Bermingham, a former Spanish governor-general.

Cityhood[]

House Bill 5970 was filed last January 2020 for the conversion of the municipality of Echague into a component city in the province of Isabela.^[5] The bill is currently pending with the committee on local government since January 21, 2020. On February 23, 2021, as introducted by Senator Imee Marcos, Senate Bill 2067 was filed in the Senate with pending status in the committee on February 24, 2021.^[6]

Barangays[]

Echague is politically subdivided into 64 barangays. ^[7]

Climate[]

Demographics[]

Population census of Echague

Year	Pop.	±% p.a.
1903	9,403	—
1918	17,104	+4.07%
1939	16,249	−0.24%
1948	16,311	+0.04%
1960	28,919	+4.89%
1970	36,180	+2.26%
1975	36,834	+0.36%
1980	41,390	+2.36%
1990	51,916	+2.29%
1995	56,119	+1.47%
2000	61,101	+1.84%
2007	67,553	+1.39%
2010	74,680	+3.72%
2015	79,094	+1.10%
2020	88,410	+2.21%
Source: Philippine Statistics Authority [10] [11] [12][13]

In the 2020 census, the population of Echague, Isabela, was 88,410 people, ^[3] with a density of 130 inhabitants per square kilometre or 340 inhabitants per square mile.

Economy[]

Poverty Incidence of Echague
Source: Philippine Statistics Authority[14][15][16][17][18][19]

Local government[]

Members of the Echague Municipal Council (2019–2022)^[20]

Position	Name
District Representative (6th Legislative District of the Province of Isabela)	Faustino A. Dy V
Chief Executive of the Municipality of Echague	Mayor Francis Faustino A. Dy
Presiding Officer of the Municipal Council of Echague	Vice Mayor Amador A. Gaffud, Jr.
Councilors of the Municipality of Echague	Judith Ildefonso
	Allan P. Tupong
	Marcos D. Baccay, Jr.
	Marlon B. Lim
	Marcelina M. Alzate
	Nolito D. Panganiban
	Walter C. Uy
	Roher A. Ballad

Education[]

Universities

• Isabela State University (Main Campus)

Main secondary schools

Main elementary schools

Forest Region elementary schools

References[]

External links[]

• Echague Profile at PhilAtlas.com
• Municipal Profile at the National Competitiveness Council of the Philippines
• Echague at the Isabela Government Website
• Local Governance Performance Management System
• Philippine Standard Geographic Code
• Philippine Census Information
• Municipality of Echague