Bontoc, officially the Municipality of Bontoc (Ilocano: Ili ti Bontoc; Tagalog: Bayan ng Bontoc), is a 2nd class municipality and capital of the province of Mountain Province, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 24,104 people.

Bontoc is 392 kilometres (244 mi) from Manila, 20 kilometres (12 mi) from Sagada, and 142 kilometres (88 mi) from Baguio.

Bontoc is the historical capital of the entire Cordillera region since the inception of governance in the Cordillera. The municipality celebrates the annual Lang-ay Festival.

Bontoc is home to the Indigenous Bontoc people. The town also hosts the UNESCO tentatively-listed Alab petroglyphs.

History

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (December 2015)

Samuel E. Kane, the American supervisor and then Governor, established the capital here after the Philippine Commission passed the Mountain Province Act in 1908, building a provincial building, hospital, doctor's office, nurse's home, a school, and provincial prison. He also built the Tagudin-Bontoc trail, which by 1926, could accommodate a small car.

Bontoc was one of several municipalities in Mountain Province which would have been flooded by the Chico River Dam Project during the Marcos dictatorship, alongside Bauko, Sabangan, Sagada, Sadanga, and parts of Barlig. However, the indigenous peoples of Kalinga Province and Mountain Province resisted the project and when hostilities resulted in the murder of Macli-ing Dulag, the project became unpopular and was abandoned before Marcos was ousted by the 1986 People Power Revolution.

Cityhood

In the 19th Congress of the Philippines, house bills were filed by various representatives which seeks Bontoc including other capital towns of provinces with no current component cities, independent component cities or highly urbanized cities to automatically convert into cities.

Geography

Barangays

Bontoc is politically subdivided into 16 barangays. Each barangay consists of puroks and some have sitios.

Climate

Demographics

Population census of Bontoc

Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1918 13,948 —     1939 14,284 +0.11% 1948 15,005 +0.55% 1960 16,301 +0.69% 1970 16,901 +0.36%	Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1975 17,476 +0.67% 1980 17,091 −0.44% 1990 17,716 +0.36% 1995 21,192 +3.41% 2000 22,308 +1.11%	Year Pop. ±% p.a. 2007 24,798 +1.47% 2010 23,980 −1.21% 2015 24,643 +0.52% 2020 24,104 −0.43%
Source: Philippine Statistics Authority

Most inhabitants speak the Bontoc language, with other major languages being Kankana-ey and Ilocano. Minor languages spoken include Tagalog, Pangasinan, Cuyonon and Butuanon.

Economy

Poverty incidence of Bontoc

5 10 15 20 2006 15.10 2009 16.71 2012 10.86 2015 15.43 2018 10.01 2021 4.49 Source: Philippine Statistics Authority

The local economy depends largely on small trades and agriculture. This capital town's biggest economic potential is tourism with its smaller rice terraces in Barangay Bay-yo, Maligcong and other areas.

Government

Local government

Bontoc, belonging to the lone congressional district of the province of Mountain Province, 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.

Elected officials

Members of the Municipal Council (2019–2022):

• Congressman: Maximo Y. Dalog Jr.
• Mayor: Jerome “Chagsen” Tudlong, Jr.
• Vice-Mayor: Eusebio S. Kabluyen
• Councilors:
  • Jupiter Kalangeg
  • Dan Evert Sokoken
  • Timothy Pongad
  • Glenn Bacala
  • Peter C. Kedawen
  • Julian Chumacog
  • Benedict Odsey II
  • Viola Okko

Culture

The highland town of Bontoc is home to two National Cultural Treasures of the Philippines. These are the Stone Agricultural Calendar of Bontoc and Petroglyphs of Alab.

The Alab petroglyphs are ancient figures carved on mountain walls by the prehistoric people of Bontoc. The petroglyphs are the most important ancient rock art carvings in the Cordilleras and the second oldest in the entire country, second only to the Angono petroglyphs of Rizal. Due to its high significance, it was submitted by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts of the Philippines to the UNESCO Tentative List of Heritage Sites in 2006, pending its inclusion in the World Heritage List along with the Singanapan charcoal-drawn petrographs of southern Palawan, Angono petroglyphs of Rizal province, charcoal-drawn Peñablanca petrographs of Cagayan, and the Anda red hermatite print petrographs of Bohol.

Education

Secondary education

• ALBAGO National High School, Balili
• Dalican National High School, Dalican
• Guina-ang National High School, Guina-ang
• Mountain Province General Comprehensive High School, Poblacion
• Saint Vincent School, Poblacion
• Talubin National High School, Talubin
• Tocucan National High School, Tocucan

Tertiary education

Mountain Province State Polytechnic College is the first tertiary institution in the municipality that offers various undergraduate and graduate courses.

XiJen College of Mountain Province is the only private tertiary institution that also offers technical-vocational courses.

Notable People

• Francisco Claver, SJ - Roman Catholic bishop, Jesuit, and human rights activist