province of isabela

Isabela province - History

Prior to 1856, there were only two provinces in the Cagayan Valley Region: Cagayan and Nueva Vizcaya. The Province of Cagayan at that time consisted of all towns from Tumauini to the north in Aparri and all other towns from Ilagan southward to Aritao comprised the Province of Nueva Vizcaya. In order to facilitate the work of the missionaries in the evangelization of the Cagayan Valley, a royal decree was issued on May 1, 1856 that created the Province of Isabela consisting of the towns of Gamu, Angadanan and Gamarang (now Echague), Carig (now Santiago City) and Palanan. The new province was named in honor of "Her Royal Highness Queen Isabela II" of Spain.
Although the province did not play a major role in the revolt against Spain, it was in Palanan that the final pages of the Philippine Revolution was written when the American forces led by Gen. Frederick Funston finally captured Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo on March 23, 1901.
The Americans built schools and other buildings and instituted changes in the overall political system. The province’s economy, however, remained particularly agricultural with rice replacing corn and tobacco as the dominant crop. World War II stagnated the province’s economic growth but it recovered dramatically after the war. Isabela today is the premier province of the north, one of the more progressive in the country and Santiago, the commercial center of Region 02 has been declared an independent city last July 7, 1994.
In 1995, a bill was passed legislating that Isabela be divided into two new provinces: Isabela del Norte and Isabela del Sur. A referendum was held on the same year with a strong majority voted not to separate the province.

source: http://isabela.ph