- published: 07 Apr 2016
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Cagayan Valley (Lambak ng Cagayan in Filipino; Tana' nak Cagayan in the Ibanag Language; Tanap ti Cagayan in the Ilocano Language)(Ga-dang yoh Cagayan in Malaueg language) is a region of the Philippines, also designated as Region II or Region 02. It is composed of five provinces, namely: Batanes, Cagayan, Isabela, Nueva Vizcaya, and Quirino. It has three cities; Industrial center-Cauayan City, its regional center-Tuguegarao, and its commercial center-Santiago City.
Most of the region lies in a large valley in northeastern Luzon, between the Cordilleras and the Sierra Madre mountain ranges. The Cagayan River, the country's longest river runs through its center and flows out to Luzon Strait in the north, in the town of Aparri, Cagayan. The Babuyan and Batanes island groups that lie in the Luzon Strait also belong to the region.
Cagayan Valley is the vast mass of land in the northeastern region of Luzon, comprising today the provinces of Cagayan, Isabela, Nueva Vizcaya and Quirino. It is bounded to the west by the Cordillera Mountain Range, to the east by the Sierra Madre Mountain Range, and bounded by the Babuyan Island, where the waters of the Pacific Ocean in the east and the South China Sea in the west meet. During Spanish times Cagayan Valley had a larger territory than what it has today. It included not only the territories of the above mention provinces, but also the eastern parts of the Cordillera provinces of Apayao, Kalinga, Ifugao and Benguet. As the historian and missionary Jose Burgues, said, The old Cagayan Valley comprises the province of Cagayan, Isabela and Nueva Vizcaya as well as the military Districts of Apayao, Itaves, Quiangan, Cayapa and Bintangan, plus the area of the Sierra Madre to the Pacific Ocean in hte said trajectory. "Descripcion del Valle de Cagayan, 1897 by Jose Burgues"
Cagayan (/kɑːɡəˈjɑːn/kah-gə-YAHN), the "Land of Smiling Beauty", is a province of the Philippines in the Cagayan Valley region in Luzon. Its capital is Tuguegarao City and is located at the northeastern corner of the island of Luzon. Cagayan also includes the Babuyan Islands to the north. The province borders Ilocos Norte and Apayao to the west, and Kalinga and Isabela to the south. Cagayan province is distinct from the city in Mindanao named Cagayan de Oro, and is far away from Cagayancillo of Palawan or Cagayan de Tawi-Tawi Island in the Sulu Sea.
Present day chroniclers say that the name was derived from the word “tagay,” a kind of plant that grows abundantly in the northern part of the province. Thus, “Catagayan” which means a place where the tagay grows abundantly was shortened to “Cagayan,” the present name of the province.
In 1581, Captain Juan Pablo Carreon came to Cagayan with one hundred fully equipped soldiers with their families by order of Gonzalo Ronquillo de Peñaloza, the fourth Spanish Governor-General of the Philippines, to explore the Cagayan Valley and to force the conversion of the natives to Catholicism as well as to establish ecclesiastical missions and towns throughout the valley. This was the first batch of Spanish settlers in the Cagayan Valley who introduced Spanish culture and Latin civilization, subverting native culture, customs, and tradition.