Balbalan, Kalinga
| Balbalan | |
|---|---|
| Municipality | |
 Map of Kalinga with Balbalan highlighted |
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.svg)
 Balbalan
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| Coordinates: 17°27′N 121°09′E / 17.45°N 121.15°ECoordinates: 17°27′N 121°09′E / 17.45°N 121.15°E | |
| Country |
 Philippines
|
| Region | Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) |
| Province | Kalinga |
| District | Lone District of Kalinga |
| Barangays | 14 (see Barangays) |
| Government | |
| • Type | Sangguniang Bayan |
| • Mayor | Ruben Dongui-is |
| • Electorate | 8,809 voters (2016) |
| Area | |
| • Total | 542.69 km2 (209.53 sq mi) |
| Population (2015 census) | |
| • Total | 12,195 |
| • Density | 22/km2 (58/sq mi) |
| Time zone | PST (UTC+8) |
| ZIP code | 3801 |
| PSGC | 143201000 |
| IDD : area code | +63 (0)74 |
| Income class | 3rd municipal income class |
| Website | www |
Balbalan, officially the Municipality of Balbalan is a 3rd class municipality in the province of Kalinga, Philippines. According to the 2015 census, it has a population of 12,195 people.
[Note: The historical note is taken from an article by Scott Magkachi Saboy]
This town draws its name from an ancient practice. It was said that war parties coming from certain areas in northern Kalinga (probably, the ancient place of Salegseg) used to meet by a creek when mapping out their plan of attack against or when regrouping after attacking a certain village. Since they would always wash (balbal, in the local dialect) their blood-stained bodies and weapons in the creek, the place and its adjacent areas came to be known as Balbalan. Since its tribal war days, Balbalan has become one of the most peaceful place in Kalinga as dramatized by the selection of one of its ethnic sub-groups, the Salegseg.
The Spaniards made at least 10 incursions into the land of the Kalingas from the early 1600s to the late 1800s, four of which were made from the west (Abra) primarily targeting the regions of Banao and Guinaang. Although they succeeded around the mid-1800s in establishing a telegraph station in Balbalasang (where, incidentally, they appointed the noted Banao leader Juan Puyao as a gobernadorcillo or councilor) and subsequently hacking out an Ilocos-Abra-Kalinga-Cagayan trail, they failed to establish a total politico-military foothold in Kalinga.
Prior to the establishment of American rule in Kalinga, the ethnic sub-groups covered by the present geopolitical configuration of Balbalan were, like other Kalinga communities at that time, organized according to an indigenous system or concept of local governance operating within a “bilateral kinship group” circumscribed by semi-permanent territorial boundary.
This period saw the rise of several community leaders often mentioned in Balbalan orature: Sagaoc, Balutoc, Masadao, Gaddawan, Dawegoy, Lang-ayan, Bayudang, Gammong, et al.
When the Americans imposed their system of government over the archipelago, the land of the Kalingas became one of the highlights of their so-called “pacification campaign.” On 18 August 1907, Kalinga, then a sub-province of Lepanto-Bontoc, came under the control of Lt. Gov. Walter Franklin Hale who established his seat of government in Lubuagan where he organized the sub-province into four districts: Tinglayan-Tanudan; Balbalan-Pasil; Pinukpuk-Tobog (Tabuk), and Liwan (Rizal).
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Wikipedia