Category Archives: Ifugao

Our Town: Asipulo, Ifugao


Asipulo, the newest town of Ifugao Province, is home to Kalanguyas, Ayangans, and Tuwalis. The town was carved out of Kiangan municipality sometime in the 1990s. In 2006, Asipulo distinguished itself as one of the country’s best performing municipalities in the implementation of the goverment’s Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan-Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services (KALAHI-CIDSS) program. Because of this good performance, the town was able to secure more funding support from the national government. [Lesson to government executives: GOOD GOVERNANCE PAYS!]

The town’s elevation ranges from 450 to 1,935 meters above sea level. For those interested in guerrilla stories like me, you might find it interesting that one of the mountains in Asipulo, Mt. Situ, used to be the hideout of World War II guerrillas. The mountain is named after one of the guerrilla camps — Camp 2 or C-2.

Continue reading Our Town: Asipulo, Ifugao

The Week. 25 Feb – 03 March 07

ELECTION FEVER. Gabriela Women’s Party names Igorot activist and former Overseas Filipino Worker as its third nominee to Congress. Flora Baniaga-Belinan (photo above) used to work as a domestic helper in Hongkong but is now doing advocacy work in Baguio. Northern Dispatch: “Flora was at the forefront of various major advocacies for the rights and welfare of migrants in Hongkong. She also promoted indigenous peoples’ rights to land, life, and resources, firmly opposing policies and projects in the homefront that particularly cause the destruction of the environment and exploitation of women indigenous peoples and children.” Read more here. Go Gabriela! Go Flora! [Source: Northern Dispatch]

Continue reading The Week. 25 Feb – 03 March 07

Cordillera Governance: Not Doing Bad At All

A study by an official of the government’s National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB) which ranks the country’s 79 provinces in a Good Governance Index shows that our region is not doing bad at all. The Cordillera provinces are actually doing well but some provinces are doing better than others. Note that this study is based from data gathered in 2003. You can read the whole article here.

First, the study looks at Economic Governance which it measures with the following indicators: financial resources generated, tax and non-tax revenue, per capita bank deposits, expenditure on social services, unemployment and underemployment rates, poverty incidence, and poverty gap. It then ranks the country’s top thirty best performing provinces. Four of the six Cordillera provinces are in the top 30:
Continue reading Cordillera Governance: Not Doing Bad At All