Aguinaldo, Ifugao
Name and location
According to Aguinaldo's defunct Angelfire web page, the town "is a daughter of the Municipality of Mayoyao. It was created by Batas Pambansa Blg. 86 sponsored by then Assemblyman Gualberto Lumauig and approved as law by then President Ferdinand Marcos on September 20, 1980." The new town was ratified through a plebiscite on December 6, 1980.
The original idea was for the new town to be named Bunhian, which was the name of a well-known barangay in the area. However, the authors of BP 86 chose the name Aguinaldo in honor of General Emilio Aguinaldo, who had passed through the place and built a stop-over camp at Bunhian in his retreat to Isabela during the Philippine-American War.
Aguinaldo lies on the eastern part of the province, bounded on the north by Mt. Province, on the south by the Magat Dam Reservoir, on the east by the municipality of Alfonso Lista, and on the west by Mayoyao and Lagawe municipalities.
The center (town hall) is located at 16°58'42.83"N and 121°19'35.37"E.
The land
Aguinaldo has a total land area of 53,806.0006 has. Halag is the largest barangay (12,453.4595 has) while Bunhian is the smallest (389.4404 has).
The town is mountainous. The thickly forested areas are rich in timbers and rattans. The cleared and thinly forested portions are planted to coffee and bananas.
The town is traversed by rivers and many tributary creeks. The Talite River has a potential for irrigation and hydroelectric power. There are reports of metallic mineral deposits in the southeastern part particularly at barangay Itab.
The town's climate is montane. Dry season is from February to May, the rainy season is from June to January, and the coolest months are from November to January.
The people
Aguinaldo has the following barangays:
- Awayan
- Bunhian
- Butac
- Buwag
- Chalalo
- Damag
- Galonogon
- Halag
- Itab
- Jacmal
- Maajlong (Majlong)
- Monggayang (Mongayang)
- Posnaan
- Ta-ang
- Talite
- Ubao
Majority of the local people speak the Ayangan language and trace their roots to the Ayangan tribes of southwestern Mayoyao and southeastern Banaue. About half of the population of eastern barangays, which are near the border with Isabela, speak Ilocano.
Based on the 1995 Census of Population, Aguinaldo has a total population of 12,623, a total number of households of 2,661 with an average househod size of 4.74 and a negative population growth rate of 8.11 for the 1990-1995 period.
