1. HISTORICAL/POLITICAL BACKGROUND

1. Etymology

Long time ago there was once a group of people who formed the Astan colony in the little plateau on the mid-slope of the mighty mountain Sumangchil which was abandoned by settlers due to force “majeure”. The settlers went to find better settlement areas in order to earn enough living. The majority preferred to move down to wider nearby areas within the proximity of the old settlement, others went far, and one of these, is the group who went to settle in the mid-slope of mountain Tau-ngay they called themselves Talibong.

Years passed by, they moved down to the nearby river (now Chico) a place name Cagaluan. They developed to recognize one leader (pangat) who is brave enough to command his fellowmen in this tribal village. This tribe is malevolent to other tribes so that they began their headhunting expedition. Their activities are almost successful that became known far and wide of their victim tribe.

This attitude and practice of this Cagaluan ignited the anger of all their victim tribes and began attacking Cagaluan one after the other. However, this heroic brave leader of Cagaluan tribe successfully defended his village with all his warriors.

One time, the well prepared group of Tinggian warriors surprisingly attacked the Cagaluan village. The battle began with a fierce fight of tumultuous hand to hand combat. At the dawn of the day many warriors were left dead in the battlefield and the brave leader of Cagaluan was fatally wounded that made his warriors retreat. They picked him for safety before the night shielded both side warriors.

On the following day, the succeeding battle began, the Cagaluan tribal warriors fought for a break through. No sign of retreat by the Tinggians, the successor leader of Cagaluan warriors ordered his two men to climb into highest mountain adjacent to the enemy line to study their position during night and early morning when they cook their food. The two returned at sunrise reporting what they saw to their leader which prompted him to order his warriors to have a command conference immediately on their defense line. Their collective decision came out with a surrender feeling of peace agreement. They raised an object upward in their defense line. The Tinggian warriors upon seeing the raised object shouted with chanting for they defeated the Cagaluan tribe.

The Tinggian warrior leader appeared in the open area and the Cagaluan leader met him for an exchange of peace agreement. The two leaders signaled and the two both side warriors all appeared and joined them. To end their hostilities, they agreed to interchange their tribe names. Cagaluan to become Tinggian and Tinggian to became Cagaluan.

The name Tinglayan evolved from the word Tinggian later Tongrayan and finally the people prefer Tinglayan up to present time.

2. Creation of the Municipality

There were five groups of municipal leaders who held the reign of the government before Tinglayan became a regular Municipality. The first group was the American appointed district president and later mayor who served from 1906 to 1929 and the second group was the pre-war who served from 1936 to 1939. The third was the Military appointed mayor from 1940 to 1941. The fourth was the Japanese occupation mayors who served from 1942 to 1945. And the fifth group was the mayors during the liberation period who served from 1946 to 1963. And finally on June 25, 1963 Tinglayan became a regular municipality pursuant to executive order no. 42 of then president Diosdado Macapagal along with other municipal districts. This was during the term of Mayor Francisco Paltog Macaiba. The town now consisted of twenty (20) barangays with poblacion considered as urban center.

1. MAJOR SIGNIFICANT EVENTS AND SITUATIONS LEADING TO THE PRESENT STATUS OF THE MUNICIPALITY

1. Historical Roles and Events

From the oral ancient history of Tinglayan as recounted and passed on from generation to generation, tribal villages of Tinglayan have existed before the coming of the Spaniards. They already had flourishing trade and commerce relationship with each sub-tribe and other tribes of Kalinga as well as some parts of the Cordillera and Cagayan by means of barter system.

There is no written record of any events during the pre-Spanish period. what is in the archive record is the coming of the Spaniards in Tinglayan in the year 1880 when a trail was built passing through Tinglayan to northern Kalinga. The trail was built by Filipino natives who were victims of force labor. In the succeeding years, the Spaniards which the native called “Porao” in their dialect constructed trails in the upper villages of the municipality and established their camp on their attempt to Christianize the people but was short lived because they were driven away by the tribal warriors as their sign of resistance to foreign subjugation.

The first presidencia was in Loblofon sometimes in 1906, but was transferred to Pac-ing, Bangad in 1946. And in the year 1950 it was transferred back to Loblofon now part of Poblacion up to present. From 1906 to the present, there were twenty-two (22) municipal local chief executives who took turn in shaping the town but some of the significant events that took place were not put into writing. the following events had contributed a lot to what is Tinglayan today:

B. Economic Development

The subsistence agriculture economy of the town is always interrupted by natural calamities such as earthquakes and typhoons and man made calamities such as the first, Second World War, various intra, inter-tribal war and insurgency.

The building of roads from mountain province to the northern Kalinga did not skip Tinglayan as its passage due to its strategic location that brought in immigrants settlers who established their homes along the road in Maswa, sitio of Basao and in Po-ong now part of Poblacion and engage in trade and industry such as buying, selling and restaurant that cater to the needs of the tribal villages and commuters from northern Kalingas going to Baguio via Mt. Province and from Mt. Province going to Lubuagan and other part of the northern Kalingas.

The economy of the town moves when the Tinglayan barangay High School was established in the year 1965 when other immigrants business people settled at the poblacion to engage in business and trades as well as teachers and students from other neighboring municipality flock in to teach and study in this place, the white beans crop considered by the merchants as export quality agricultural product of the municipality attract traders from outside the province to come and buy this product at the Poblacion, Tinglayan. These mark the beginning that farmers should produce more of this product.

The opening of barangay access road from Poblacion to Tulgao by an active Belgian Missionary Fr. Gilbert Obin strengthened the faith and confidence of the people of this municipality that development is possible within this geographical terrain.

It was in the early 1980’s and late 1990 that transport and tourism industry was established. Today, Tinglayan is a fourth class Municipality.

C. Socio-Cultural Development

C.1. Ethnic Origin

Tinglayan people tend to be taller and more slender than the so-called Mongoloid race. They are a closely-knit clan; bound together by various religious cultures that teaches that they are all descended from matting-oy, the woman who on mountain Patu-an survived after the great flood. This old belief is akin to the great flood story on the holy bible.

The municipality is now inhabited by the Tinglayan sub-tribes as follows:

Itongrahyan – composing the barangay old Tinglayan, Luplupa, Ambato- Legleg and Poblacion.

Ifahaw - composing the barangay Basao

Iwhotwhot – composing the barangays Proper Butbut, Bugnay, Loccong, Buscalan and Ngibat

Iturkao - composing the barangays Tulgao East and West

Ichananao - composing the barangay Dananao

Isumachor - composing the Barangay Sumadel I, Sumadel II, Belong-Manubal and Mallango

Ifangad – composing the barangays Upper, Centro, and Lower Bangad

C.2. Language/Dialect

Except for the immigrants, the people of Tinglayan have only one spoken dialect called by the linguist, the southern Kalinga Dialect.

C.3. Migration Trend

The first immigrant recorded to the municipality was in the year 1906. They were group of soldiers of different origin; they are Lacambra from Pangasinan, Moldero from Ilocos sur, Ismael from Santa Maria, Ilocos Sur and Beltran from Bicol.

They occupied the place Maswa now a sitio of Basao along the national road. They transferred to Sagada in the year 1908 and in 1910 they returned back to Maswa.

There were immigration that took place from 1910 up to 1939 in this place like Sanchez, Singson, Baldo, Bayle, and Cusipag they are the witnesses of the Japanese soldiers who established their garrison in the area.

It was in the 1980’s that mostly people from different barangays of this municipality emigrated to Tabuk to look for greener pasture when the Chico river irrigation was completed and government expropriated the NPC land and were offered for cultivation to beneficiaries of the Agrarian Reform Program of the Government of which majority comes from Tinglayan Municipality as the beneficiaries, evidence show on the settlement in the third plateau of Tabuk agricultural expansion areas. This emigration immediately lowered the number of population of the municipality.

C.4. Development and Establishment of Settlement.

The growth of the business community of the Poblacion has been made possible when some immigrant and a few Itongrahyan settled at the Poblacion and established their business such as buying, selling and restaurants industry.

The settlement expansion in the tribal villages are widening in accordance to their living standard.

C.5. Religious Affiliations

In 1892 Spanish Augustinian ordered Fr. Mariano Rodriguez in 1894-1895 and Fr. Juan Toledo in 1895-1897 to Christianize the area. No record of development of their activities. And in October 1930 Fr. Oscar Deltour took charge of Tinglayan. In 1938 with his desire to Christianize the people of Tinglayan, Mr. And Mrs. Ricardo Cusipag came and open the catholic primary school at Basao along with other teachers to open Luplupa, Tulgao and Butbut in June 1938, but were close in the year 1941 during the war. After the war and pacification campaign, in 1954, catholic school were open to the other barangays of the town. This was the introduction of the catholic faith.

There are fifteen- (15) religious sects existing in the municipality but Roman Catholic is considered the major religion as being the first introduced. The others are the Seventh Day Adventist, Episcopalian, Baptist, Iglesia Ni cristo, Presbyterian Church, Free Believers and etc.