About Ifugao
The province of Ifugao had always been assumed to be just a step away from its highland neighbors such as Baguio City and other provinces in the Cordilleras. It is actually a landlocked province on the eastern flank of the Cordillera Range bounded on the north and west by mountain ranges which separates Ifugao from Mountain Province and Benguet respectively. Along this northwestern mountain range are Mount Polis and Mount Pulog. The southeastern side of the province is bounded by the Magat river.The rough undeveloped dirt road passing through Bontoc otherwise known as the Halsema highway is rarely used by Ifugaos who travel to Baguio. A longer and more agreeable route to Baguio City passes through the lowland provinces of Nueva Vizcaya (Bayombong), Nueva Ecija (San Jose), Tarlac, then through Pangasinan (Dagupan). The road distance is almost equal to the distance between Ifugao and Manila which is about 322 kilometers.
Ifugao is one of the 6 provinces of the Cordillera Administrative Region and it is politically subdivided into 11 municipalities and 185 barangays. From the 2000 Census, the province’s population is 161, 623. Its population density is 64 persons per square kilometer.
The total land area is 251, 778 hectares. About 81.77% of this is more than 18 degrees in slope (BSWM, 1988) marked by rugged mountains and massive forests that are distributed on the north and western areas of the province. According to Presidential Decree 705 otherwise known as the Revised Forestry Code of the Philippines, these lands are inalienable and indisposable for agricultural and settlement purposes. The Bureau of Forest Development classified 226.369 hectares as forestland, which is roughly 90 % of the aggregate land area. Thus, only 10 % were certified Alienable and Disposable land. Most of these areas lie on the southeast towards the Magat river.
Of the province’s total land area, 62.58% lie at more than 500 meters above sea level, which characterizes the areas in nine municipalities. These are the towns of Asipulo, Banaue, Hingyon, Hungduan, Kiangan, Mayoyao, Tinoc, some parts of Lagawe and Aguinaldo. These highland areas are interlocked with sharp mountain ridges and v-shaped river valleys. The slopes are usually more than 18%. Only two towns – Lamut and Alfonso Lista lie on the lowlands.
The highest mountain, Munhuyuhuy (Munsuyusuy to some) which is 2,523 meters above sea level is found in the municipality of Tinoc, and the lowest mountain, Binahagan which is 925 meters above sea level is found in the town of Lagawe.
The weather is very cold during the months of November to February. The rainy season starts on the later part of May and ends on February the following year. During heavy downpours, erosions usually occur on the steep and unstable slopes.
About Ifugao
