Solano, officially the Municipality of Solano (; ; ), 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 ...

Nueva Vizcaya Nueva Vizcaya, officially the Province of Nueva Vizcaya (; ; Pangasinan: ''Luyag/Probinsia na Nueva Vizcaya''; ), is a landlocked province in the Philippines located in the Cagayan Valley region in Luzon. Its capital and largest town is Bayo ...

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 65,287 inhabitants.. According to 2021 data from the Bureau of Local Government Finance, Solano has the highest locally sourced revenue (LSR) of all the municipalities in Region 2 making it one of the notable economic hubs in Cagayan Valley. This further solidified the status of Solano as the undisputed premier town of Cagayan Valley.

History

In 1760, the original name of the town was Bintauan, then a Gaddang settlement that is now a barangay of Villaverde. The town was later moved and formally founded in 1767 by Father Alejandro Vidal, a Dominican priest who led a Spanish mission. In 1768, it was called Lungabang, from the Gaddang word for cave, ''lungab''. The name was later changed to Lumabang by the Spaniards for convenience. In 1851,

Governor General Governor-general (plural governors-general), or governor general (plural governors general), is the title of an official, most prominently associated with the British Empire. In the context of the governors-general and former British colonies, ...

Antonio Urbiztondo declared Lumabang a barrio of Bayombong for not having sufficient inhabitants and revenue to maintain itself. Governor General Ramon Solano y Llanderal authorized the separation of Lumabang as barrio from Bayombong. In 1853, the first Ilocanos arrived, brought by Don Diego Lumicao, a former ''gobernadorcillo''. In 1889, it was renamed Solano, in honor of Governor General Ramon Solano y Llanderal. The town was redeveloped by Father Juan Villaverde in 1889, and the poblacion consisted of 14 parallel wide streets, each having a width of 20 meters. Streets run from north to south and east to west, forming 100 square blocks with an aggregate area of one hectare per block. Solano was the largest municipality in the province until two of its barangays, Caliat and Bintawan, were separated to become the municipalities of

Quezon Quezon, officially the Province of Quezon () and historically known as Tayabas, is a Provinces of the Philippines, province in the Philippines located in the Calabarzon Regions of the Philippines, region on Luzon. Lucena, a highly urbanized ci ...

and Villaverde respectively. The land area of Solano was correspondingly reduced to 13,980 hectares. In 1957, the barrios of Ibung and Bintawan were separated to form the town of Ibung, later renamed as Villaverde.

Geography

Solano is situated from the provincial capital Bayombong, and from the country's capital city of

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

Solano is politically subdivided into 22

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 and 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 ...

. * Aggub * Bagahabag * Bangaan * Bangar * Bascaran * Communal * Concepcion (Calalabangan) * Curifang (Sinafal) * Dadap * Lactawan * Osmeña (Urban) * Pilar D. Galima * Poblacion North (Urban) * Poblacion South (Urban) * Quezon (Urban) * Quirino (Urban) * Roxas (Urban) * San Juan * San Luis * Tucal * Uddiawan * Wacal

Climate

Demographics

Economy

Solano is the main commercial and financial center of Nueva Vizcaya. It also has the most number of fast food restaurants in the province and has the most number of banks among the municipalities in the entire region with 25 banks. Major banks as well as rural and regional banks are based here.

Government

Local government

Solano is part of the lone congressional district of the province of

. It 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 polls held every three years.

Elected officials

Local chief executives

Spanish-era heads of government

Under the Spanish regime, Solano (then Bintauan) was ruled by a ''

gobernadorcillo The (, literally "little governor") was a municipal judge or governor in the Captaincy General of the Philippines, Philippines during the History of the Philippines (1565–1898), Spanish colonial period, who carried out in a town the combined ...

'', which was elected by the ''cabezas de barangay'' (barangay heads) which represented the survival of the earlier tribal organizations and were responsible for the tributes of their groups. The ''cabezas'' were originally hereditary, but, in time, it became elective. The electors of the ''gobernadorcillo'' were current or former heads of the barangay and after 3 years of service became eligible for the office. The following list shows the ''gobernadorcillos'', who had the honorary title "Don", during the Spanish regime from 1762 to 1898. The following served as ''capitán del pueblo'': The next three years, the town head was to be known ''gobernadorcillo'', and the position of ''capitan del pueblo'' was abolished. * 1779 Antonio Dayag * 1780 Vicente Labog * 1781 Francisco Busa The following served as ''alcaldes de naturales'': * 1782 Manuel Balassu * 1783 Pedro Arasa * 1784 Tomas Abbacan * 1785 Clemente Malenab * 1786 Tomas Lauagan * 1787 Domingo Dumelod * 1788 Santiago Agguid On April 19, 1789, the alcalde mayor f Cagayanconveyed to the people the decree issued by the King of Spain ordering the restoration of the title ''gobernadorcillo''. By executive order of 1851,

Governor-General Governor-general (plural governors-general), or governor general (plural governors general), is the title of an official, most prominently associated with the British Empire. In the context of the governors-general and former British colonies, ...

Antonio Urbiztondo, Marques de la Solana, declared Lumabang as a barrio of Bayombong, resulting in the office of ''gobernadorcillo'' becoming ''teniente del barrio''. It was during this time when a new province, Isabela, was created, carving a portion of Nueva Vizcaya and a part of Cagayan. The new province was named in honor of Queen Isabella of Spain. The Governor of Nueva Vizcaya was Julian del Valle. The ''alcalde mayor'' of Cagayan came here for the purpose of this reorganization. * 1857 Venido Loggan * 1858 Domingo Esguerra * 1859 Miguel Dumelod * 1860 Miguel Loggan General Ramon Solano y Llanderal authorized the separation of Lumabang as a barrio from Bayombong restoring the title of ''gobernadorcillo'' to Solano. From 1864, the term limit of the ''gobernadorcillo'' was extended from one year to two years In 1890, the establishment of the office of the justice of the peace was inaugurated in all the towns, and the first to assume this office in Solano was Domingo Panganiban who was in turn succeeded by Juan Sobrino, a Spaniard. who was succeeded by Sebastián Panganiban. who was then succeeded by Domingo Panganiban who held this office till 1898. * 1890 Justice of the Peace Domingo Panganiban * 1890 Justice of the Peace Juan Sobrino * 1890 Justice of the Peace Sebastián Panganiban * 1890-98 Justice of the Peace Domingo Panganiban * 1890-91 Gobernadorcillo Antonio Dumelod * 1892-93 Gobernadorcillo Domingo Loggan (replaced by Fernando Aggabao) * 1894-95 Gobernadorcillo Sebastian Panganiban It was during this time when the Royal Decree of the Central Government came, stopping the use of the title ''gobernadorcillo'' and in its stead ''capitán municipal'' was to be used. When Spanish colonial rule ended September 14, 1898, Solano was led by a ''teniente mayor''. * 1896-97 Capitán Municipal Sebastián Panganiban * 1898 Teniente Mayor Felipe Lumicao

Municipal presidents

Mayors under Republican government

Culture and tourism

The town's Pagbiagan Festival is celebrated every year of October 11. It coincides with Solano's founding anniversary, as well as the feast day of the town's patron Saint Louis Beltran. Through ''Presidential Proclamation 658'', October 2, 2024 was declared a special non-working day to celebrate Solano Day and its 163rd Founding Anniversary highlighted by the Pagbiagan Festival 2024 that runs from September 29 to October 2. Tourist attractions and sites of interest in Solano include:

Education

The Schools Division of Nueva Vizcaya governs the town's public education system. The division office is a field office of the DepEd in

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. There are two schools district offices which govern all public and private elementary and high schools throughout the municipality. These are Solano I Schools District Office, and Solano II Schools District Office.

Primary and elementary schools

* Aggub Elementary School * Aldersgate College - Elementary Department * Bagahabag Elementary School * Bangaan Elementary School * Bangar Elementary School * Bascaran Central School * Calaoagan Elementary School * Concepcion Elementary School * Curifang Elementary School * Dadap Elementary School * Isaiah Christian Academy of Solano, Inc. * Kids Workshop Learning Center * Lactawan Elementary School * Pilar D. Galima Elementary School * Saint Louis School - Elementary Department * San Juan Elementary School * San Luis Elementary School * Solano East Central School * Solano North Elementary School * Solano South Central School * Solano West Elementary School * Tucal Elementary School * Uddiawan Elementary School * Wacal Elementary School

Secondary schools

* Aldersgate College - High School Department * Bascaran National High School * Dalton High School * Solano High School * Saint Louis School - High School Department * Uddiawan National High School

Higher educational institutions

* Aldersgate College * Cagayan Valley Maritime Studies * Fuzeko Polytechnic College * Solano Institute of Technology * Nueva Vizcaya Caregiver Academy * Niño Jesus de Praga Learning *Saint Louis College of Solano Inc

Media

AM station

*DWMG 1395 kHz (Vanguard Radio Network)

FM stations

*DWDC 101.3 BiGSOUNDfm (Vanguard Radio Network) *DWNV 100.5 (Rural Airwaves Media Services-Unified Airwaves Network)

Notable personalities

* Danilo Lim, army officer * Hillarie Parungao, beauty pageant titleholder * Jimboy Martin, actor, and rapper * Jose Gambito, public official * Marites Vitug, investigative journalist * Romeo A. Brawner, public official

References

External links

Nueva Vizcaya WebsiteSolano official government website
* Philippine Standard Geographic Codebr>Philippine Census InformationLocal Governance Performance Management System
{{Authority control Municipalities of Nueva Vizcaya Populated places established in 1767 1767 establishments in the Spanish Empire