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Echague
Municipality
Municipality of Echague
Flag Seal
Nickname(s):  Queen Town of Isabela Home of the Mengals
Map of Isabela with Echague highlighted
OpenStreetMap
Echague Location within the Philippines
Coordinates: 16°42′20″N 121°40′34″E / 16.7056°N 121.6761°E / 16.7056; 121.6761
Country	Philippines
Region	Cagayan Valley
Province	Isabela
District	6th district
Founded	1752
Named for	Rafaél de Echagüe y Bermingham
Barangays	64 (see Barangays)
Government  [1]
• Type	Sangguniang Bayan
• Mayor	Francis Faustino A. Dy
• Vice Mayor	Allan P. Tupong
• Representative	Faustino A. Dy V
• Municipal Council	Members Nenita M. Agustin Allan P. Tupong Marcos D. Baccay Jr. Marlon B. Lim Marcelina M. Alzate Nolito D. Panganiban Walter C. Uy Roher A. Ballad
• Electorate	58,472 voters (2022)
Area [2]
• Total	680.80 km2 (262.86 sq mi)
Elevation	70 m (230 ft)
Highest elevation	101 m (331 ft)
Lowest elevation	47 m (154 ft)
Population  (2020 census)[3]
• Total	88,410
• Density	130/km2 (340/sq mi)
• Households	23,536
Economy
• Income class	1st municipal income class
• Poverty incidence	13.41 % (2021)[4]
• Revenue	₱ 377.4 million (2020)
• Assets	₱ 1,411 million (2020)
• Expenditure	₱ 454.6 million (2020)
• Liabilities	₱ 680 million (2020)
Service provider
• Electricity	Isabela 1 Electric Cooperative (ISELCO 1)
Time zone	UTC+8 (PST)
ZIP code	3309
PSGC	023112000
IDD : area code	+63 (0)78
Native languages	Yogad Ilocano Tagalog
Website	www.echague-isabela.gov.ph

Echague, officially the Municipality of Echague, is a municipality in the province of Isabela, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 88,410 people.^[3] The town is known for the indigenous and endangered Yogad language, which is spoken and conserved by its locals.

Echague is 57 kilometres (35 mi) from Ilagan and 341 kilometres (212 mi) from Manila.

Fr. Pedro Salgado, the Dominican writer, in volume I of his "Cagayan Valley and Eastern Cordillera (1581-1898)," wrote that Echague formerly used to be called Camarag, the name of a big tree then common in the place. Before it separated from Nueva Vizcaya, Camarag was Nueva Vizcaya's first capital, before Bayombong was declared such in 1865.

The town was founded in 1752 and ecclesiastically placed under the patronage of St. Joseph on May 12, 1753.

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, Bindang (now Roxas) and Camarag (now Echague), Carig (now Santiago City) and Palanan. The new province was named in honor of Queen Isabela II of Spain.

Missionaries wanted to transfer the town from the banks of the Cagayan River to the Ganano River 10 kilometers away. The people rebelled because the soil was more fertile along the Cagayan River. But in 1776, they were forcibly transferred. Some 72 years later, the people returned to Camarag, later renamed after Rafael de Echagüe y Bermingham, a former Spanish governor-general.

Echague is politically subdivided into 64 barangays. ^[5] Each barangay consists of puroks while some have sitios.

Population census of Echague

Year	Pop.	±% p.a.
1903	9,403	—
1918	17,104	+4.07%
1939	16,249	−0.24%
1948	16,311	+0.04%
1960	28,919	+4.89%
1970	36,180	+2.26%
1975	36,834	+0.36%
1980	41,390	+2.36%
1990	51,916	+2.29%
1995	56,119	+1.47%
2000	61,101	+1.84%
2007	67,553	+1.39%
2010	74,680	+3.72%
2015	79,094	+1.10%
2020	88,410	+2.21%
Source: Philippine Statistics Authority[8][9][10][11]

In the 2020 census, the population of Echague, Isabela, was 88,410 people,^[3] with a density of 130 inhabitants per square kilometre or 340 inhabitants per square mile.

Poverty incidence of Echague

5 10 15 20 25 30 2006 20.40 2009 15.16 2012 17.48 2015 15.77 2018 14.99 2021 13.41 Source: Philippine Statistics Authority[12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19]

As a municipality in the Province of Isabela, government officials in the provincial level are voted by the electorates of the town. The provincial government have political jurisdiction over local transactions of the municipal government.

The municipality of Echague 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.

Barangays are also headed by elected officials: Barangay Captain, Barangay Council, whose members are called Barangay Councilors. The barangays have SK federation which represents the barangay, headed by SK chairperson and whose members are called SK councilors. All officials are also elected every three years.

Members of the Echague Municipal Council (2022-2025)^[20]

Position	Name
District Representative (6th Legislative District of the Province of Isabela)	Faustino A. Dy V
Chief Executive of the Municipality of Echague	Francis Faustino A. Dy
Presiding Officer of the Municipal Council of Echague	Allan P. Tupong
Councilors of the Municipality of Echague	Alfredo V. Alili
	Walter C. Uy
	Nemesio S. Castillo
	Rodolfo Acosta, Jr.
	Hector Domingo
	Nolito D. Panganiban
	Edgardo G. Baccay
	Josephine Rivera

Echague, belonging to the sixth legislative district of the province of Isabela, currently represented by Hon. Faustino A. Dy V.^[21]

The Schools Division of Isabela governs the town's public education system.^[22] The division office is a field office of the DepEd in Cagayan Valley region.^[23] The office governs the public and private elementary and public and private high schools throughout the municipality.

• Isabela State University (Main Campus)

• Municipal Profile at the National Competitiveness Council of the Philippines Archived 2017-07-02 at the Wayback Machine
• Echague at the Isabela Government Website Archived 2018-09-27 at the Wayback Machine
• Local Governance Performance Management System
• Philippine Standard Geographic Code
• Philippine Census Information
• Municipality of Echague