Apayao: History
By the 20th century, Apayao is predominated by the Isneg people. They are located primarily in the highland municipalities of Kabugao and Calanasan. Majority of them live in scattered settlements along the upper reaches of the Apayao-Abulug River; while some along a major tributary of the Matalag River in Conner.
Although Apayao which was then part of Cagayan, was among the earliest areas penetrated by the Spaniards in the Cordilleras, the region, inhabited by the Isneg tribe, remained largely outside Spanish control until late in the 19th century. As early as 1610, the Dominican friars established a mission in what is now the town of Pudtol. In 1684, the friars again made attempts to convert the people and established a church in what is now Kabugao.
The Spanish authorities were then able to establish in Cagayan the comandancias of Apayao and Cabugaoan in 1891, which covered the western and eastern portions of what is now Apayao. The comandancias, however, failed to bring total control and the Spanish government only maintained a loose hold over the area.
Apayao was established through Act No. 1642 on May 9, 1907, as a sub-province of Cagayan province.
The Americans established the Mountain Province on August 13, 1908, with the enactment of Act No. 1876. Apayao was incorporated; and along with Amburayan, Benguet, Bontoc, Ifugao, Kalinga, and Lepanto, became sub-provinces of this new province.
In the early years, the sub-province underwent series of territorial changes:
Part of Apayao was transferred to the province of Ilocos Norte (Executive Order 21, 1920).
1922: A barrio of municipal district of Bayag (now Calanasan) was transferred to Namaltugan.
1927: Parts of the municipal district of Pinukpuk in Kalinga were annexed to Conner.
Through EO 200, approved on September 6, 1929, barrios in Tauit were organized into a separate municipal district, Luna, effective October 1.
Through EO 13, approved on January 21, 1936, Tauit was abolished and was annexed as a single barrio to Luna, effective February 1.
Through EO 78, approved on December 23, 1936, Namaltugan was abolished and was annexed to Bayag and Kabugao, effective January 1, 1937.
In the early years, Apayao as a sub-province was divided into seven municipal districts, all Isneg predominated.
While the Isneg clashed with the Philippine Constabulary in the early years, the families attempted to escape the area and go into the mountains of Ilocos Norte and Abra. They were involved in an attack in Tauit in 1913.
In 1942, Japanese Imperial forces entered Apayao, starting a three-year occupation of the province during the Second World War. Local Filipino troops and the military forces of the 11th and 66th Infantry Regiment, Philippine Commonwealth Army, USAFIP-NL, supported by the Cordilleran guerrillas, drove out the Japanese in 1945.
During the Second World War, Kabugao was occupied for a year by the Japanese; an Isneg guerilla force was organized under a United States Army captain who had escaped the Fall of Bataan. Little fighting occurred in the sub-province, but a number of Isneg fought with the American and Filipino forces in the Cagayan Valley and in the neighboring areas. The war and the post-war era seen development among the Isnegs, although slowly.
==== Kalinga-Apayao creation and splitting ==== …