Reina Mercedes, officially the Municipality of Reina Mercedes (; ), is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

in the

province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

Isabela Isabela may refer to: People with the given name * Isabela Boscov, Brazilian film critic * Isabela Corona (1913–1993), Mexican actress * Isabela Garcia (born 1967), Brazilian actress * Isabela Moraes (born 1980), Brazilian synchronized swimmer ...

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 27,900 people.

Etymology

The town derived its name in honor of

Mercedes of Orléans María de las Mercedes of Orléans (24 June 1860 – 26 June 1878) was List of Spanish consorts, Queen of Spain as the first wife of King Alfonso XII. She was born in Madrid, the daughter of Prince Antoine, Duke of Montpensier, and Infanta L ...

, Queen of Spain. Coupled with the province's name "Isabela", named after

Isabella II Isabella II (, María Isabel Luisa de Borbón y Borbón-Dos Sicilias; 10 October 1830 – 9 April 1904) was Queen of Spain from 1833 until her deposition in 1868. She is the only queen regnant in the history of unified Spain. Isabella wa ...

, Queen Regnant of Spain, the town's address of "Reina Mercedes, Isabela" is the most regnant address in the Philippines (which was also named after King

Philip II of Spain Philip II (21 May 152713 September 1598), sometimes known in Spain as Philip the Prudent (), was King of Spain from 1556, King of Portugal from 1580, and King of Naples and List of Sicilian monarchs, Sicily from 1554 until his death in 1598. He ...

History

Reina Mercedes was founded in 1743 as the settlement of Abbag, which means "on the other side" (of the

Magat River The Magat River is a river in the Philippine island of Luzon with a total length of . It originates in the Nueva Vizcaya municipality of Aritao, where the Santa Fe River joins the Marang. It is the largest tributary of the Cagayan River by ...

), before then being renamed to Calering, and Calanusian (from ''canusi'', a species of

white ebony ''White Ebony'' is a collection of short stories by the Syrian writer Hanna Mina Hanna Mina (; 9 March 1924 – 21 August 2018) was a Syrian novelist, described in '' Literature from the "Axis of Evil"'' as the country's "most prominent" writer ...

). The town was finally renamed in honor of

Queen Queen most commonly refers to: * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a kingdom * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen (band), a British rock band Queen or QUEEN may also refer to: Monarchy * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Q ...

, the first consort of

Alfonso XII Alfonso XII (Alfonso Francisco de Asís Fernando Pío Juan María de la Concepción Gregorio Pelayo de Borbón y Borbón; 28 November 185725 November 1885), also known as ''El Pacificador'' (Spanish: the Peacemaker), was King of Spain from 29 D ...

, son of Isabela II. Mercedes died of tuberculosis on June 26, 1878, in the fourth year of Alfonso's reign. When the town was partitioned from Cauayan on January 20, 1886, the priest Pedro Jiménez named it after the late queen.

Geography

Reina Mercedes is from the provincial capital

Ilagan Ilagan, officially the City of Ilagan (; ; ), is a component city and capital of the province of Isabela, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 158,218 people making it the most populous city in the province and ...

, and from the country's capital

Manila Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the Capital of the Philippines, capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on ...

Barangays

Reina Mercedes is politically subdivided into 20

barangay The barangay (; abbreviated as Brgy. or Bgy.), historically referred to as ''barrio'', is the smallest Administrative divisions of the Philippines, administrative division in the Philippines. Named after the Precolonial barangay, precolonial po ...

s. Each barangay consists of

purok A ''purok'' () is an informal division within a barangay in the Philippines. While not officially considered a local government unit (LGU), a ''purok'' often serves as a unit for delivering services and administration within a barangay. ''Pur ...

s while some have

sitios A ''sitio'' (Spanish language, Spanish for "site") in the Philippines is a territorial enclave that forms part of a barangay. Typically rural, a ''sitios location is usually far from the center of the barangay itself and could be its own bar ...

. * Banquero * Binarsang * Cutog Grande * Cutog Pequeño * Dangan * District I (

Poblacion ''Poblacion'' (from Spanish '' población'', meaning "population"), sometimes abbreviated as Pob., is a term used in the Philippines to refer to the administrative center, downtown, old town, or commercial area of a city or municipality. It ...

) * District II * Labinab Grande * Labinab Pequeño * Mallalatang Grande * Mallalatang Tunggui * Nappacu Grande (

) * Nappacu Pequeño (

) * Salucong * Santiago * Santor * Sinippil (Poblacion) * Tallungan (

) * Turod * Villador

Climate

Demographics

In the 2020 census, the population of Reina Mercedes, Isabela, was 27,900 people, with a density of .

Economy

Government

Local government

As a municipality in the Province of Isabela, government officials at the provincial and municipal levels are voted by the town. The provincial government has political jurisdiction over most local transactions of the municipal government. The Municipality of Reina Mercedes 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 municipal councilors are elected directly in elections held every three years. Barangays are also headed by elected officials: Barangay Captain,

Barangay Council The Sangguniang Barangay, known in English as the Barangay Council is the local government of a barangay, the smallest administrative division in the Philippines. Each of the 42,004 barangays in the country has its respective Sangguniang Baran ...

, 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.

Elected officials

Congress representation

Reina Mercedes, belonging to the second legislative district of the province of Isabela, currently represented by Hon. Ed Christopher S. Go.

Education

The Schools Division of Isabela governs the town's public education system. The division office is a field office of the

DepEd The Department of Education (DepEd; ) is the executive department of the Philippine government responsible for ensuring access to, promoting equity in, and improving the quality of basic education. It is the main agency tasked to manage and go ...

Cagayan Valley Cagayan Valley (; ), designated as Region II, is an Regions of the Philippines, administrative region in the Philippines. Located in the northeastern section of Luzon, it is composed of five Provinces of the Philippines, Philippine provinces: ...

region. Reina Mercedes Schools District office governs the public elementary and high schools throughout the municipality.

Elementary schools

* Binarsang Elementary School * Bliss Elementary School * Cutog Grande Elementary School * Cutog Pequeño Elementary School * Dangan Elementary School * Mallalatang Elementary School * Nappacu Grande-Sinippil Elementary School * Nappacu Pequeño Elementary School * Reina Mercedes Central School (District 2) * Salucong Elementary School * Santiago Elementary School * Santor Elementary School * Tallungan Elementary School

Secondary schools

* Banquero Integrated School * Reina Mercedes National Highschool (Cutog Pequeno) * Reina Mercedes Vocational and Industrial School (Pan-Philippine Highway) * Turod Integrated School

References

External links

Municipal Profile at the National Competitiveness Council of the PhilippinesReina Mercedes at the Isabela Government WebsiteLocal Governance Performance Management System
*

Philippine Standard Geographic Code The Philippine Standard Geographic Code (PSGC) is a systematic classification and coding for geographic areas in the Philippines. It classifies areas based on the country's four levels of administrative divisions: regions, provinces, municipalities ...

br>Philippine Census InformationMunicipality of Reina Mercedes
{{Authority control Municipalities of Isabela (province) Populated places on the Rio Grande de Cagayan