Alfonso Castañeda, officially the Municipality of Alfonso Castañeda (Ilocano: Ili ti Alfonso Castañeda; Tagalog: Bayan ng Alfonso Castañeda), is a municipality in the province of Nueva Vizcaya, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 8,539 people, making it the least populated municipality in the province.[3]
The territory now comprising Alfonso Castañeda was part of the municipality of Dupax prior to the division into three separate ones; the other two were Dupax del Norte and Dupax del Sur.[5]
In the early 18th century, Dupax was inhabited by three tribes.[6][5] One of them were the Bugkalots; the rest were the Malaats and the Caraos.[5]
In 1930, five families supposedly from Batac, Ilocos Norte settled in Lublub, an area inhabited by Bugkalots which was later organized as a sitio of barrio Marikit[7] when the inhabitants increased; Virgilio Castillo was the first teniente del barrio.[8] In 1950, it became an independent barrio in Pantabangan, Nueva Ecija.[7] In 1974,[8] residents headed by village chief Alfredo Castillo, Sr. requested Assemblyman Carlos Padilla to convert the barrio into a municipality in Nueva Vizcaya.[7] Hence, Batas Pambansa Blg. 27, authored and sponsored by Padilla,[7] was issued by PresidentFerdinand Marcos on April 20, 1979; two barangays, including Lublub which was designated the seat of government, and seven sitios in Dupax del Sur, and four barangays and a sitio in Dupax del Norte, were separated to constitute into an independent municipality named after the first provincial governor to come from a cultural minority.[9][7] The plebiscite was held on July 10.[10] Castillo was appointed the municipality's first mayor.[8]
Geography
Barangays
Alfonso Castañeda is politically subdivided into 6 barangays. Each barangay consists of puroks and some have sitios.
Alfonso Castañeda, belonging to the lone congressional district of the province of Nueva Vizcaya, 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 the councilors are elected directly by the people through an election which is being held every three years.
The Schools Division of Nueva Vizcaya governs the town's public education system. The division office is a field office of the DepEd in Cagayan Valley region.[25] The office governs the public and private elementary and public and private high schools throughout the municipality.
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