Gonzaga, Cagayan

Gonzaga, officially the Municipality of Gonzaga (Ili ti Gonzaga; Bayan ng Gonzaga), is a 1st class municipality in the province of Cagayan, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 41,680 people.

The 2012 film The Mistress, starring John Lloyd Cruz and Bea Alonzo, was partly shot in the town.

Pre-Colonial Period and Etymology
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 Executive Order of Governor-General Francis Burton Harrison.

World War II
Japanese troops of the Tanaka Detachment from Formosa, as a main invasion force, lands 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 km from Tuguegarao and 604 km from Manila.

It has a total land area of 56743 ha, 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 1130 m above sea level, located at Mount Cagua in Barangay Magrafil.

The majority of the municipality's 40 km 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 ha of beaches, 69 ha of mangrove forests, and 348 ha of coral reefs.

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.


 * Amunitan
 * Batangan
 * Baua
 * Cabanbanan Norte
 * Cabanbanan Sur
 * Cabiraoan
 * Callao
 * Calayan
 * Caroan
 * Casitan
 * Flourishing (Poblacion)
 * Ipil
 * Isca
 * Magrafil
 * Minanga
 * Rebecca (Nagbabacalan)
 * Paradise (Poblacion)
 * Pateng
 * Progressive (Poblacion)
 * San Jose
 * Santa Clara
 * Santa Cruz
 * Santa Maria
 * Smart (Poblacion)
 * Tapel

Demographics
In the 2020 census, the population of Gonzaga, Cagayan, was 41,680 people, with a density of undefined PD/km2.

Economy
Gonzaga is primarily an agricultural municipality, with more than half of the workforce employed primarily as either farmers or fishers. Approximately 5500 ha of agricultural land are currently under production, the majority of which are dedicated to rice farming.

Local government
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 the councilors are elected directly by the people through an election which is being held every three years.

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 the key educational institution in the municipality of Gonzaga and in the nearby towns. Offers a wide range of academic degree programs and contributes to tertiary education opportunities for the local community by providing quality and relevant education.

Notable personalities

 * Juan Ponce Enrile, cabinet secretary under two presidents, Ferdinand Marcos Sr. (finance, justice, and defense) and Corazon Aquino (defense), also became a senator and later became President of the Senate of the Philippines (2008–2013). And currently, Chief Presidential Legal Counsel is under the administration of Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is native 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.