Kapangan, Benguet

Kapangan
Municipality
Seal
Location in the province of Benguet
Kapangan Location within the Philippines
Coordinates: 16°35′N 120°36′E / 16.583°N 120.600°E / 16.583; 120.600Coordinates: 16°35′N 120°36′E / 16.583°N 120.600°E / 16.583; 120.600
Country	Philippines
Region	Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR)
Province	Benguet
District	Lone district of Benguet
Established	1900
Barangays	15
Government
• Mayor	Roberto Kalaw Canuto
Area[1]
• Total	164.39 km2 (63.47 sq mi)
Population (2010)[2]
• Total	20,084
• Density	120/km2 (320/sq mi)
Time zone	PST (UTC+8)
ZIP code	2613
Dialing code	74
Income class	4th class

Kapangan is a fourth class municipality in the province of Benguet, Philippines. According to the 2010 census, it has a population of 20,084 people.^[2]

Geography

Kapangan is located within 16º33" to 16º41" latitude and 120º29" to 120º40" longitude. It is bounded by Kibungan on the on the northeast, Atok on the east, Tublay on the southeast, Sablan and Bagulin on the southwest, San Gabriel on the mid-west, and Sugpon on the northwest.

The total land area of Kapangan is 16,439 hectares (40,620 acres)^[1] or 6.68% of the total land area of the province of Benguet. The municipal's terrain is characterized by rugged mountains and hills. Rugged mountains have slopes of 50% while hills have slopes from 30%-50%. The highest elevation is 1,700 metres (5,600 ft) above sea level with the lowest is 200 metres (660 ft) above sea level.

It is about 29 kilometres (18 mi) away from the capital town of La Trinidad.

Barangays

Climate

Climate is divide into to seasons - the wet and the dry. Wet season occurs from the months of May to October while dry season occurs November to April.

History

Pre-colonial period

Kapangan was formerly called Takdang (or Tacdang), which means "people from the east". The early natives, who came from eastern settlements such as Tinec in Buguias and Bontoc, settled along the Amburayan River and lived by the kaingin system. They traveled to Naguilian in La Union to trade goods with the Ilocano people.^[4]

Spanish period

During the Spanish Regime, Kapangan was organized into four barrios; Balacbac, Paykek, Pongayan, and Taba-ao. The Spaniards appointed Espiritu Cariño as the first Capitan del Barrio, whose duty was overseeing tax collection from local land owners. The also appointed Juan Ora-a Cariño the position, eventually promoting him to Commandantes, one of the highest ranks in office during the time. Both Espiritu Cariño and Juan Ora-a Cariño appointed eight people of different barrios as barrio capitans, whose tasks were to oversee the construction of Spanish trails throughout the mountain region.^[4]

American period

Under the American Civil Government, Kapangan was established as one of the 19 townships of the province of Benguet, upon the issuance of Act No. 48 on November 22, 1900^[5][4][6]

On August 13, 1908, Benguet was established as a sub-province of the newly-created Mountain Province with the enactment of Act No. 1876. Six townships of Benguet were later abolished, one of which was Balakbak, which was integrated into the township of Kapangan.^[7][8]

Post-war Era

On June 25, 1963, then-President Diosdado Macapagal issued Executive Order No. 42 converting eight (8) of the thirteen (13) towns (designated as municipal districts) of Benguet sub-province into regular municipalities. Kapangan was among them.^[9]

On June 18, 1966, the sub-province of Benguet was separated from the old Mountain Province and was converted into a regular province. Kapangan remained to be a component municipality of the newly established province.^{[7][10][5][4]}

Demographics

Education

Public schools

As of 2014, Kapangan has 27 public elementary schools and 4 public secondary schools.^[12][13][14]

Private schools

• St. Theresita's High School

Religion

• St. Michael Catholic Mission located at Labueg, Kapangan, Benguet
• St. Andrew's Episcopal Parish located at Paykek, Kapangan, Benguet
• Ascension Episcopal Mission located at Cabilisan, Pudong, Kapangan, Benguet
• St. Mark Episcopal Mission located at Gadang, Kapangan, Benguet
• Mt. Zion Lutheran Church located at Liblibeng, Gadang, Kapangan
• Duntog Kalbaryo Lutheran Church located at Balakbak, Kapangan
• St. Luke Lutheran Church located at Taba-ao, Kapangan
• Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses located at Central, Kapangan
• St. Mark Lutheran Church located at Landing, Sagubo, Kapangan
• Iglesia ni Cristo,Local ng Kapangan
• Iglesia ni Cristo,Local ng Balakbak, Kapangan

Points of interest

• Camp Utopia
• Camp Shangri La
• Daraw Ancient Ruins of Civilization
• Caliwaga Cave
• Tinongchol Burial Cave
• Amburayan River
• Dakiwagan Mountain
• Balakbak Rice Terraces
• Gaswiling Mountain Top View
• Minehaha Waterfalls
• The Biggest Municipal Hall Nationwide
• Pongayan and Bolalakaw Cave
• Nagitiwan Mountain
• Antorium Forest
• Poro Point View
• Gadang Rice Terraces
• SERI-CULTURE

References

External links

• Philippine Standard Geographic Code
• Philippine Census Information

		Sugpon, Ilocos Sur	Kibungan
	San Gabriel, La Union		Atok
	Kapangan
	Bagulin, La Union	Sablan / Tublay

Province of Benguet La Trinidad (capital) Municipalities Atok Bakun Bokod Buguias Itogon Kabayan Kapangan Kibungan La Trinidad Mankayan Sablan Tuba Tublay Highly urbanized city Baguio (Administratively independent from the province, but grouped under Benguet by the National Statistics Office) Barangays See: List of barangays in Benguet