Ambaguio, officially the Municipality of Ambaguio, is a 5th class municipality in the province of Nueva Vizcaya, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 15,472 people.

Etymology

The name "ambaguio" was from the word "bagiw," meaning "moss" which covered every inch of trees and stones in the area. The inhabitants were called "e-am-bagiw" meaning "conqueror of moss." The name underwent a series of changes due to its difficult pronunciation by the lowland people who later settled in the area and to differentiate the town from the more famous City which also had the same etymology, resulting in the present "Ambaguio."

History

A handful of settlers headed by Fausto Tagangtang who came from the neighboring Mountain Province first settled in the area, establishing farmed hills and rice terraces. Due to its terrain, distance and road problems, the inhabitants were composed only of three major tribes: Igorot, Ifugao, and Ibaloi, who unanimously called the place “Ambaguio”, which means “the land of mosses”, and “its climate is similar to that of Baguio”. Before its creation as a municipality, Ambaguio was then a barrio of the Municipality of Bayombong. Leonardo B. Perez, then Congressman of Nueva Vizcaya, authored the bill seeking for the creation of Ambaguio as an independent municipality. The bill was approved on 18 June 1966 by virtue of Republic Act. No. 4735. In the same year, Mariano L. Agnahe, the then Barrio Lieutenant, was appointed as the first mayor of the town.

Geography

Barangays

Ambaguio is politically subdivided into 8 barangays. Each barangay consists of puroks and some have sitios.

Climate

Demographics

Economy

Government

Local government

Ambaguio, belonging to the lone congressional district of the province of Nueva Vizcaya, 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 councilors are elected directly by the people through an election which is being held every three years.

Elected officials

Tourism

The Municipality of Ambaguio is famous for being a gateway to Luzon’s tallest peak, Mount Pulag. In 2019, Violet Lucasi, a former employee of Etihad Airways opened Nueva Vizcaya (NV) Paragliding, which later became the Ambaguio Skyport, in Barangay Tiblac, attracting both local and foreign tourists. As the Philippines' first domestic paragliding "Airport terminal", this led to Ambaguio being awarded P25 million by the Department of Tourism's Tourism Champions Challenge on April 15, 2024. On April 30 however, the venue closed due to safety issues raised by authorities.

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 region. The office governs the public and private elementary and public and private high schools throughout the municipality.