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Lal-lo Nueva Segovia | |
|---|---|
| Municipality of Lal-Lo | |
 Nueva Segovia Church | |
 Flag  Seal | |
 Map of Cagayan with Lal-lo highlighted | |
 Interactive map of Lal-lo | |
.svg)  Lal-lo Location within thePhilippines | |
| Coordinates:18°12′00″N121°39′44″E / 18.2°N 121.6622°E /18.2; 121.6622 | |
| Country | Philippines |
| Region | Cagayan Valley |
| Province | Cagayan |
| District | 1st district |
| Barangays | 35 (seeBarangays) |
| Government | |
| • Type | Sangguniang Bayan |
| • Mayor | Florence Oliver B. Pascual |
| • Vice Mayor | Maria Olivia B. Pascual |
| • Representative | Ramon C. Nolasco Jr. |
| • Electorate | 29,103 voters (2025) |
| Area | |
• Total | 702.80 km2 (271.35 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 9.7 m (32 ft) |
| Highest elevation | 130 m (430 ft) |
| Lowest elevation | 0 m (0 ft) |
| Population (2024 census)[4] | |
• Total | 48,404 |
| • Density | 68.873/km2 (178.38/sq mi) |
| • Households | 11,612 |
| Economy | |
| • Income class | 1st municipal income class |
| • Poverty incidence | 10.51 |
| • Revenue | ₱ 402.4 million (2022) |
| • Assets | ₱ 1,176 million (2022) |
| • Expenditure | ₱ 308.9 million (2022) |
| • Liabilities | ₱ 345 million (2022) |
| Service provider | |
| • Electricity | Cagayan 2 Electric Cooperative (CAGELCO 2) |
| Time zone | UTC+8 (PST) |
| ZIP code | 3509 |
| PSGC | |
| IDD : area code | +63 (0)78 |
| Native languages | Ilocano Ibanag Cagayan Agta Tagalog |
Lal-lo, officially theMunicipality of Lal-Lo (Ibanag:Ili nat Lal-lo;Ilocano:Ili ti Lal-lo;Tagalog:Bayan ng Lal-lo), is amunicipality in theprovince ofCagayan,Philippines. According to the 2024 census, it has a population of 48,404 people.[6]
The municipality was formerly known asMunicipio de Nueva Segovia and was the seat of theDiocese of Nueva Segovia before it was moved toVigan inIlocos Sur during theSpanish colonial period. Despite the name, now (since 1910) the ancient "Nueva Segovia" is part of theArchdiocese of Tuguegarao.
Lal-lo means "twisting two strands to make a rope", or may also refer to the strong river current as it is located alongCagayan River, the longest and largest river in thePhilippines.
In Fr. Jose Bugarin's Ibanag dictionary "Lallo-c, a town in this province which existed as the ancient capital until 1839 [also] Lallo-c, to twist two strands, making a string or rope."
In the classical era, Lal-lo was the home of hunter-gatherers who were specialized in huntingmollusks. These hunter-gatherers stockpiled their leftover mollusk shells in numerous sites in Lal-lo and neighboring Gattaran. Eventually, the shells formed the largest stock of shell-midden sites in the entire Philippines.
The first European to set foot on what is now the town of Lal-lo wasJuan de Salcedo, aSpanishconquistador and grandson ofMiguel Lopez de Legazpi, in 1572. Don Juan Pablo Carrión established it as apueblo (municipality) in 1581 and named itNueva Segovia. The reason is currently unknown, as the hometown of Carrión wasCarrión de los Condes (Palencia, Spain), as suggested by his last name. This is mentioned byJuan Miguel Aguilera and Ángel Miranda in their bookEspadas del Fin del Mundo (2016). A founding population of 200 Spanish citizens from Europe accompanied by 100 Spanish soldiers set up settlements acrossCagayan Valley, headed by the city of Nueva Segovia (Old Lal-lo).[7] These people were in turn supplemented by 155 Latin American soldiers recruited from Mexico.[8]
In 1595,Pope Clement VIII created the Diocese of Nueva Segovia. In 1596, theDominicans accepted it as an ecclesiastical mission. Nueva Segovia had three churches: the cathedral that was under the secular clergy, and the parishes of Centro and Tocolona under the supervision of the Dominicans. Because of its distance from Manila and the constant threat of the Cagayan River's rampaging waters, however, the Diocese of Nueva Segovia was transferred toVigan inIlocos Sur province in 1758. The diocese's name went along with the transfer to Vigan and to avoid confusion, Bishop Miguel Garcia requested that Nueva Segovia and its suburbs renamed back to Lal-lo. The seat of the Diocese of Nueva Segovia remains in Vigan till today where is now elevated as theArchdiocese of Nueva Segovia.
The transfer affected the closure of the cathedral and the merging of the three churches into the single parish of Centro. The two other churches were abandoned and eventually destroyed because of neglect while the church of Centro, dedicated toSanto Domingo de Guzman (Saint Dominic), became what is nowLal-lo Church. The remains of three bishops are interred in the church: BishopMiguel de Benavides who was Nueva Segovia's first bishop and later of Manila where he founded theUniversity of Santo Tomas, Bishop Diego de Soria who was the second bishop of the diocese, and Bishop Diego Aduarte who was the sixth.
Lal-lo remained the capital of Cagayan province until 1839 when the provincial seat of power was relocated to Tuguegarao; its transformation into the most important town in Cagayan led to the decline of Lal-lo. It was accepted as an ecclesiastical mission by the Dominicans in 1604, 23 years after the foundation of Lal-lo.
The first attempt of the restoration of Lal-lo's city status was made during the first term of Mayor Florante Pascual. The historical document originally signed by King Philip was not found, even after sending a research delegation toMadrid. Pascual determined that the restoration of Lal-lo's cityhood be made through an earlier bill.[9]
There was a move in thePhilippine Congress to regain its cityhood as acomponent city, and also rename the municipality back to its original name, Nueva Segovia.[10]
Renewed attempt of city status restoration was carried out in January 2012. Board member Maria Olivia Pascual said that researchers had found a Spanish document that declared the municipality as a city. According to Pascual, a bill seeking the restoration of the city status of Lal-lo (the former Ciudad Nueva Segovia) could be filed again through the efforts of First District RepresentativeJuan Ponce Enrile, Jr.[9]
As recently as 2018, vice mayor Oliver Pascual has said that the establishment ofNorthern Cagayan International Airport in the municipality would be "a great boost" in its bid for the restoration of its city status.[11]
In 2006, the shell-midden sites of Lal-lo and Gattaran were included in theUNESCO Tentative List forWorld Heritage Site inclusion, a step closer to becoming a world heritage site. The shell-midden sites are currently being conserved by the local government from looting to preserve its outstanding universal value. In 2023, the government identified Lal-lo airport as a venue for American military forces as part of theEnhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA).[12]
In 2018, the provincial government ofCagayan through the leadership of Governor Manuel Mamba planned to make Lal-lo the provincial capital of Cagayan again.[11][13]
Lal-lo is situated 84.56 kilometres (52.54 mi) from the provincial capitalTuguegarao, and 569.71 kilometres (354.00 mi) from the country's capital city ofManila.
Lal-lo is politically subdivided into 35barangays. Each barangay consists ofpuroks while some havesitios.
| Climate data for Lal-lo, Cagayan | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 25 (77) | 26 (79) | 29 (84) | 31 (88) | 31 (88) | 31 (88) | 30 (86) | 30 (86) | 30 (86) | 28 (82) | 27 (81) | 25 (77) | 29 (84) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 20 (68) | 20 (68) | 21 (70) | 23 (73) | 24 (75) | 25 (77) | 25 (77) | 25 (77) | 24 (75) | 23 (73) | 23 (73) | 21 (70) | 23 (73) |
| Averageprecipitation mm (inches) | 120 (4.7) | 77 (3.0) | 62 (2.4) | 40 (1.6) | 118 (4.6) | 138 (5.4) | 162 (6.4) | 173 (6.8) | 143 (5.6) | 198 (7.8) | 185 (7.3) | 248 (9.8) | 1,664 (65.4) |
| Average rainy days | 16.9 | 12.2 | 11.5 | 10.6 | 18.7 | 20.1 | 21.2 | 23.3 | 20.8 | 16.9 | 16.5 | 20.0 | 208.7 |
| Source: Meteoblue[14] | |||||||||||||
Population census of Lal-lo | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Source:Philippine Statistics Authority[15][16][17][18][19] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
In the 2024 census, the population of Lal-lo was 48,404 people,[20] with a density of 69 inhabitants per square kilometre or 180 inhabitants per square mile.
Poverty incidence of Lal-lo
Source:Philippine Statistics Authority[21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28]
Lal-lo is part of thefirst legislative district of the province of Cagayan. 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 by the people through an election held every three years.
| Position | Name |
|---|---|
| Congressman | Ramon C. Nolasco Jr. |
| Mayor | Oliver Pascual |
| Vice-Mayor | Maria Olivia B. Pascual |
| Councilors | Crystalyn Mae D. Invierno |
| Simeon O. Israel Jr. | |
| Rowyn Rowel M. Samonte | |
| Monette V. Caliva | |
| Gayleen S. Durupa | |
| Jimmy P. Balatico | |
| Jimmy C. Bacuyag | |
| Winston L. Rosales |
TheNorthern Cagayan International Airport in southern Lal-lo was constructed to support both theCagayan Special Economic Zone in northern Cagayan and to serve seaborne traffic through Port Irene. The airport project involved the construction of a 2,200 metres (7,200 ft) runway with a width of 45 miles (72 km), following the standards of theInternational Civil Aviation Organization. The international airport accommodates large aircraft such as theAirbus A319-100 andBoeing regional jets of comparable size.Royal Air Philippines offers service twice weekly using BAe146 aircraft.[citation needed][needs update]
The Schools Division of Cagayan governs the town's public education system.[30] The division office is a field office of theDepEd inCagayan Valley region.[31] There are two schools district offices that govern all the public and private elementary and high schools throughout the municipality. These are Lal-lo North District and Lal-lo South District.[32]
The City of Nueva Segovia, at the mouth of the Cagayan, was founded in the governorship of Ronquillo, when the valley of the Cagayan was first occupied and the Japanese colonists, who had settled there, were expelled. It had at the beginning of the seventeenth century two hundred Spaniards, living in houses of wood. There was a fort of stone, where some artillery was mounted. Besides the two hundred Spanish inhabitants there were one hundred regular Spanish soldiers, with their officers and the alcalde mayor of the province. Nueva Segovia was also the seat of a bishopric which included all northern Luzon. The importance of the then promising city has long ago disappeared, and the pueblo of Lallo, which marks its site, is an insignificant native town.
Places adjacent to Lal-lo | |
|---|---|
 Province ofCagayan | |
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Tuguegarao (capital and largest city) | |
| Municipalities | |
| Component city | |
| Barangays | |
