Roxas, Isabela

Roxas, officially the Municipality of Roxas (Ilocano: Ili ti Roxas; Tagalog: Bayan ng Roxas), is a municipality in the province of Isabela, Philippines. According to the 2024 census, it has a population of 66,593 people. The municipality is the center of business and commerce in the Mallig Plains Region. The place used to be called Bindang (Bayani), and was part of La Provincia del Valle de Cagayan (the present-day area of Cagayan to Nueva Vizcaya). On July 1, 1948, President Elpidio Quirino issued Executive Order 136, which established Barrio Vira as an independent municipality named Roxas in honor of his predecessor, Manuel Roxas. Roxas is one of the 34 municipalities comprising the wide province of Isabela. It is exactly located on the central-western part of the province, bounded in the north by Mallig, on the north-east by Quirino, on the east by Burgos, on the south by San Manuel, and on the west by Paracelis in Mountain Province. The road traversing Roxas is the Maharlika Highway or better known as Cagayan Valley Road, connecting to other towns in Isabela particularly the adjacent towns of Gamu, Quirino, Mallig, and San Manuel. Roxas lie on a flat fertile land between the two valleys of Cagayan. It occupies an area of 184.80 square kilometres (71.35 sq mi) or 2.01% of the total land area of Isabela. The town is partly urban, and partly rural. The urban area is expanding rapidly throughout the years making it a future city. The rural part of the town compose mainly of rice fields. Roxas is situated 38.80 kilometres (24.11 mi) from the provincial capital Ilagan, 415.53 kilometres (258.20 mi) from the country's capital city of Manila. Roxas is politically subdivided into 26 barangays. Each barangay consists of puroks while some have sitios. The landscape of Roxas is relatively compose of flatlands with minimal rise at certain point with base mountain elevations on the eastern part, on the parts of Sinamar, Simimbaan and San Placido. It is approximately 90% of the land area comprising the town can be described as low-lying hills with rolling terrain and an elevation of 200 feet or 61 meters above sea level. The town is dissected by creeks, river and waterways acting as natural drainage from waters coming from the uplands. The Siffu River, a connection from Ilog ng Cagayan (Cagayan River) traverse west ward from its diversion from Paracelis to Tuguegarao City supplying the rice fields with irrigation. Using the corona classification scheme, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) classified Roxas' climatic type as to Type III category. Type III Climate is characterized by no pronounced seasons, but often drier from November to April and wet season from May to October like any other parts of the country. Roxas is described as Cloudy especially during summer time with an average wind of 1 mph to 3 mph. The temperature of Roxas is very rare to change but it varies minimally with an average temperature ranging from 23.4 °C to 23.9 °C. The hottest months of the year are April and May with an average of 27 °C. Weather extremes vary from 16°C nights during January and 38°C during the hot, dry season. People can describe the temperature as hot weather, due to its close proximity to the hottest points of the Philippines, like Quezon in Isabela and Tuguegarao City in Cagayan. The data was gathered using weather station RPLC, 310 feet (94 m) above Roxas, Isabela. In the 2024 census, the population of Roxas was 66,593 people, with a density of 360 inhabitants per square kilometre or 930 inhabitants per square mile.

Early settlers were the Kalingas who originated from adjacent places in Mountain Province and parts of Kalinga. Despite occasional clashes with Kalingas, Ilocano people settled in the area, and increased their number with an influx from Ilocanos from Central Plains of Luzon and Ilocos. In 1839, two new provinces were created by the Spanish conquistadors dividing the La Provincia del Valle de Cagayan into two. One retained the name Cagayan, while a new province of Nueva Vizcaya was created. Bindang was dissolved as Barrio Vira under the municipality of Gamu, Isabela. In 1938, the Mallig Plains was set aside by the National Land Settlement Administration (NLSA) under Settlement No. 2 due to the construction of another National Highway project of President Manuel L. Quezon that passed through the area. But World War II interrupted the implementation of the highway, leaving it uncemented for many years. After the war, provincial leaders saw the potential of Barrio Vira as an independent town. On July 1, 1948, President Elpidio Quirino established Executive Order 136 creating Barrio Vira as an independent municipality named "Roxas" to honor his predecessor Manuel A. Roxas who just died a few months back. It was then inaugurated on July 4, 1948, and Rafael Lintao became its first mayor. In 1952, the barrios of Holy Friday, San Jose (East), and San Jose (West) were transferred to the newly created town of Mallig. In 1957, the barrios of Callang, Eden, Babanuang, Cabaritan, Santa Cruz, Malalinta, Mararigue, Calaocan, and Caraniogan were separated to form the municipality of Callang, now San Manuel. In the same year, the barrio of Basilio was renamed to San Jose.

• In 1839, two new provinces were created by the Spanish conquistadors dividing La Provincia del Valle de Cagayan into two; Bindang was dissolved as Barrio Vira under the municipality of Gamu, Isabela.

• In 1938, the Mallig Plains was set aside by the National Land Settlement Administration (NLSA) under Settlement No. 2.

• On July 1, 1948, President Elpidio Quirino issued Executive Order 136, establishing Barrio Vira as an independent municipality named Roxas.

• On July 4, 1948, the municipality was inaugurated, and Rafael Lintao became its first mayor.

• In 1952, the barrios of Holy Friday, San Jose (East), and San Jose (West) were transferred to the newly created town of Mallig.

• In 1957, several barrios were separated to form the municipality of Callang, now San Manuel; the barrio of Basilio was renamed to San Jose.

1. 1Roxas, Isabela - Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org
2. 2Roxas - Wikidatawikidata.org