Gonzaga, Cagayan

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Gonzaga
Municipality
Municipality of Gonzaga
Flag Seal
Map of Cagayan with Gonzaga highlighted
OpenStreetMap
Gonzaga Location within the Philippines
Coordinates: 18°15′41″N 121°59′49″E / 18.2614°N 121.9969°E / 18.2614; 121.9969
Country	Philippines
Region	Cagayan Valley
Province	Cagayan
District	1st district
Barangays	25 (see Barangays)
Government  [1]
• Type	Sangguniang Bayan
• Mayor	Marilyn S. Pentecostes
• Vice Mayor	Jessie G. Gaspar
• Representative	Ramon C. Nolasco Jr.
• Electorate	26,810 voters (2022)
Area [2]
• Total	567.43 km2 (219.09 sq mi)
Elevation	42 m (138 ft)
Highest elevation	249 m (817 ft)
Lowest elevation	0 m (0 ft)
Population  (2020 census)[3]
• Total	41,680
• Density	73/km2 (190/sq mi)
• Households	9,685
Economy
• Income class	1st municipal income class
• Poverty incidence	10.58 % (2021)[4]
• Revenue	₱ 241.2 million (2020)
• Assets	₱ 609.6 million (2020)
• Expenditure	₱ 194.3 million (2020)
• Liabilities	₱ 91.22 million (2020)
Service provider
• Electricity	Cagayan 2 Electric Cooperative (CAGELCO 2)
Time zone	UTC+8 (PST)
ZIP code	3513
PSGC	021514000
IDD : area code	+63 (0)78
Native languages	Ibanag Ilocano Dupaningan Agta Tagalog
Website	www.sbgonzaga.ph

Gonzaga, officially the Municipality of Gonzaga (Template:Lang-ilo; Tagalog: Bayan ng Gonzaga) , is a 1st class municipality in the province of Cagayan, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it had a population of 41,680.^[3]

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

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').

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 the Executive Order of Governor-General Francis Burton Harrison.^[5]

Japanese troops of the Tanaka Detachment from Formosa, as a main invasion force, landed on several locations in Northern Luzon, one of which is the town of Gonzaga, on December 10, 1941.

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 kilometres (76 mi) from Tuguegarao and 604 kilometres (375 mi) from Manila.

It has a total land area of 56,743 hectares (140,220 acres), 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 1,130 metres (3,710 ft) above sea level, located at the Mount Cagua in Barangay Magrafil.

The majority of the municipality's 40 kilometres (25 mi) 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 hectares (340 acres) of beaches, 69 hectares (170 acres) of mangrove forests and 348 hectares (860 acres) of coral reefs.^[6]

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.

Population census of Gonzaga

Year	Pop.	±% p.a.
1918	3,339	—
1939	8,682	+4.66%
1948	10,811	+2.47%
1960	12,519	+1.23%
1970	17,686	+3.51%
1975	19,316	+1.78%
1980	22,467	+3.07%
1990	26,536	+1.68%
1995	27,997	+1.01%
2000	32,079	+2.96%
2007	35,424	+1.38%
2010	36,303	+0.90%
2015	38,892	+1.32%
2020	41,680	+1.37%
Source: Philippine Statistics Authority[8][9][10][11]

In the 2020 census, the population of Gonzaga, Cagayan, was 41,680 people,^[3] with a density of 73 inhabitants per square kilometre or 190 inhabitants per square mile.

Poverty incidence of Gonzaga

5 10 15 20 2006 19.90 2009 16.61 2012 13.37 2015 13.10 2018 12.19 2021 10.58 Source: Philippine Statistics Authority[12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19]

Gonzaga is primarily an agricultural municipality, with more than half of the workforce employed primarily as either farmers or fishers. Approximately 5,500 hectares (14,000 acres) of agricultural land are currently under production, the majority of which are dedicated to rice farming.^[20]

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 councillors are elected directly by people through an election which is held every three years.

Members of the Municipal Council
(2022–2025)

Position	Name
Congressman	Ramon C. Nolasco Jr.
Mayor	Marilyn S. Pentecostes
Vice-Mayor	Jessie G. Gaspar
Councillors	Sherryl Anne C. Gaspar
	Eliseo C.Alibania Jr.
	Rafael E.Sumajit Jr.
	Ferdinand L.Baclig
	Oscar G.Idmilao
	Cecilia G.Morales
	Orlando B.Rasos
	Quirino S.Jara

Name	Years
Francis Torres	1918-1921
Leandro Zuniega	1922-1924
Teodoro Castro	1925-1927
Francisco Torres	1928-1931
Cesario Peralta	1932–1940, 1945–1946
Frederico Navarro	1941
Cayatano de la Cruz	1942–1945, 1948–1951, 1960–1967
Delfin Baltazar	1952-1955
Claro P. Nuñez	1956-1959
Romarico Salvanera	1967-1968
Francisco T. Baclig	1968-1986
Hermogenes T. Baclig	1986-1987
Juan B. Naval	1987
Ricardo M. Paddayuman	1988-1990
Atty. Arsenio P. Gonzales	1990-1998
Epifanio G. Gaspar	1998-2007
Rosendo P. Abad	2007-2010
Engr. Carlito F. Pentecostes, Jr.	2010–2014
Rene Salvanera	2014-2016
Marilyn S. Pentecostes	2016–present

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 an educational institution in the municipality of Gonzaga.

• 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.

• Philippine Standard Geographic Code
• Philippine Census Information
• Official Sangunian Bayan ng Gonzaga Website