Santa Praxedes, Cagayan

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)

Santa Praxedes Langangan
Municipality
Municipality of Santa Praxedes
Seal
Map of Cagayan with Santa Praxedes highlighted
show OpenStreetMap Wikimedia | © OpenStreetMap
Santa Praxedes Location within the Philippines
Coordinates: 18°34′N 121°00′E / 18.57°N 121°E / 18.57; 121Coordinates: 18°34′N 121°00′E / 18.57°N 121°E / 18.57; 121
Country	Philippines
Region	Cagayan Valley
Province	Cagayan
District	2nd district
Named for	Saint Práxedes
Barangays	10 (see Barangays)
Government  [1]
• Type	Sangguniang Bayan
• Mayor	Esterlina A. Aguinaldo
• Vice Mayor	Rene D. Estabillo
• Representative	Samantha Louise V. Alfonso
• Electorate	3,728 voters (2019)
Area [2]
• Total	109.97 km2 (42.46 sq mi)
Elevation	163 m (535 ft)
Highest elevation	693 m (2,274 ft)
Lowest elevation	0 m (0 ft)
Population  (2020 census) [3]
• Total	4,434
• Density	40/km2 (100/sq mi)
• Households	980
Economy
• Income class	5th municipal income class
• Poverty incidence	9.79% (2015)[4]
• Revenue	₱47,111,782.63 (2016)
Service provider
• Electricity	Cagayan 2 Electric Cooperative (CAGELCO 2)
Time zone	UTC+8 (PST)
ZIP code	3521
PSGC	021524000
IDD : area code	+63 (0)78
Climate type	tropical monsoon climate
Native languages	Ilocano Ibanag Isnag Tagalog

Santa Praxedes, officially the Municipality of Santa Praxedes (Ibanag: Ili nat Santa Praxedes; Ilocano: Ili ti Santa Praxedes; Tagalog: Bayan ng Santa Praxedes), is a 5th class municipality in the province of Cagayan, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 4,434 people. ^[3]

The poblacion of the municipality consists of two barangays, Centro-Uno and Centro-Dos, which are situated in the valley surrounded by the northern tip of the Cordilleras.

Geography[]

It borders the Ilocos Norte municipality of Pagudpud to the west; Calanasan, Apayao, to the south-west; Claveria, Cagayan, to the east. It also shares a third of the area of the Calvario National Park along with the municipality of Pagudpud. Taiwan directly to the north of Luzon Island via Luzon Strait to Bashi Channel.

The central plain is situated in a valley enveloped by the Caraballo Mountains. It is also one of the coastal towns of Cagayan that does not have direct road access to its seacoast due to the high mountains surrounding it.

Barangays[]

Santa Praxedes is politically subdivided into 10 barangays.

• Cadongdongan
• Capacuan
• Centro I (Poblacion)
• Centro II (Poblacion)
• Macatel
• Portabaga
• San Juan
• San Miguel
• Salungsong
• Sicul

Climate[]

As in the other part of the country, the municipality has two seasons: the wet and dry seasons. It has a longer wet season, unlike most parts of the country that enjoy almost equal periods of wet and dry seasons. The wet season normally starts in the last week of May and lasts up to the end of January. It is during the later months of this season that the famous "gamet" or "nori" grows along its rocky seacoast. The dry season starts by the end of January till the end of May.

Demographics[]

Population census of Santa Praxedes

Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1918 1,191 —     1939 812 −1.81% 1948 1,095 +3.38% 1960 1,530 +2.83% 1970 1,921 +2.30% 1975 2,206 +2.81% 1980 2,211 +0.05%	Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1990 2,514 +1.29% 1995 2,709 +1.41% 2000 2,952 +1.86% 2007 3,379 +1.88% 2010 3,646 +2.81% 2015 4,154 +2.52% 2020 4,434 +1.29%
Source: Philippine Statistics Authority [6] [7] [8][9]

In the 2020 census, the population of Santa Praxedes was 4,434 people, ^[3] with a density of 40 inhabitants per square kilometre or 100 inhabitants per square mile.

Language[]

Ilokano is the main language but a portion of the population also speaks Isneg (locally known as Yapayao) as part of the population hailed from the Calanasan, Apayao, when the municipality was a part of the former Kalinga-Apayao province.

Economy and tourism[]

Poverty Incidence of Santa Praxedes
Source: Philippine Statistics Authority[10][11][12][13][14][15]

Economic activity consists mainly of fishing, farming and tourism. Currently, the local government is further developing both Portabaga Falls and Mingay Beach Resorts. There is a lot of potential of the town in ecotourism but due to poor infrastracture, tourism spots such as Sicul Falls and Hotsprings as well as Macatel Falls were seldomly visited.

• Portabaga Falls Resort - a 25-meter single-drop waterfall having four downstream catch pools
• Mingay Beach and Resorts
• Sicul Falls and Hotspring
• Macatel Falls

Transportation and communication[]

The municipality is 595 kilometres (370 mi) north of Manila via Laoag and 191 kilometres (119 mi) northwest of Tuguegarao, the province's capital. Bus companies serving the town are RCJ Lines and GV Florida Transport (Manila–Sanchez Mira v/v via Laoag), GMW Trans (Laoag–Tuguegarao/Santiago) and L. Pascua Liner (Flora–Baguio) on a daily regular basis.

Although it has a small population, it enjoys full coverage of Smart and Globe cellular networks which residents use to connect to the Internet.^{[citation needed]}

History[]

The town's original name was Langangan, then changed to Santa Praxedes, after the second-century martyr of the same name, by virtue of Republic Act No. 4149 in 1964. The first settlers were known to be the emigrants from the neighboring provinces of Ilocos Sur (from the municipalities of Sinait and Magsingal) and Ilocos Norte (from the municipalities of Pasuquin, Badoc and Pinili).

There has also been past and present moves by the municipal council to regain political control of some barangays of the neighboring municipality of Claveria, particularly the barangays of Cadcadir, Lablabig, Mabnang, Union, Kilkiling and Siam-Siam. These barangays were once part of Santa Praxedes but lost political control when the municipality was transferred to the provincial jurisdiction of Ilocos Norte.

Early Settlers[]

Early settlers in this municipality are the Agamanos, Agnir, Aguinaldo, Aguirre', Agullana, Bumanglag, Estabillo, Madamba, Pagdilao, Ragsac, Rivera, Sanchez families.

Controversies & politics[]

Being a small town and the fact that its inhabitants are related by ancestry, recent political development created friction among political clans. Among other factor is that politicians are mainly late-comer emigrants from neighboring municipalities and provinces thus in the 2016 national election, claims of illegal voters or "flying voters" were uncovered by the local election office. Such controversy was resolved before election.

Local government[]

Elected municipal officials as of 2021:

• Mayor: Esterlina Aguinaldo
• Vice Mayor:

Schools[]

Elementary

• Santa Praxedes Central School
• Cadongdongan Elementary School
• Capacuan Elementary School

Secondary

• Santa Praxedes National High School and Senior High School

References[]

External links[]

• Santa Praxedes Profile at PhilAtlas.com
• Philippine Standard Geographic Code
• Philippine Census Information