Abra, officially the Province of Abra (; ; ; ; ), is a province in the Cordillera Administrative Region of the Philippines. Its capital is the municipality of Bangued, the most populous in the province. It is bordered by Ilocos Norte on the northwest, Apayao on the northeast, Kalinga on the mid-east, Mountain Province on the southeast, and Ilocos Sur on the southwest.

Etymology Abra is from the Spanish word abre meaning gorge, pass, breach or opening; abra itself is a Spanish word of 'opening.' It was first used by the Spaniards to denote the region above the Banaoang Gap where the Abra River exits into the South China Sea, thus the Rio Grande de Abra.

History

Early history The first inhabitants of Abra were the ancestors of the Bontocs and the Ifugaos. These inhabitants eventually left to settle in the old Mountain Province. Other early inhabitants were the Tinguians or Itnegs.

Spanish colonial era In 1585, the Tinguians were mentioned for the first time in a letter from Father Domingo de Salazar to the King of Spain.

In 1598, Bangued was occupied by Spanish-Iloco forces. The Spanish established a garrison to protect their missionaries from headhunters so that they could Christianize the Tinguians and locate gold mines. This led to the Ilocano settlement of this area.

Bangued was under the care of the Spanish missions in Vigan and Bantay. Fr. Esteban Marin and Fr. Agustin Minon established a mission in Bangued as early as 1598. On April 5, 1612, Fr. Pedro Columbo became the first minister. It would seem that this actuation of the Augustinians was precipitated by the Dominican takeover of the ministry of Narvacan since the Dominicans wanted to convert Narvacan into a mission center to evangelize the other parts of Abra. To check this Dominican move, the Augustinians elevated Bangued to a ministry.

Fr. Juan Pareja OSA, a former parish priest in Bantay, led the conversion of the province. He came to Abra in 1626 and is reported to have converted as many as 3,000 inhabitants, including the chieftain Miguel Dumaoal. He founded the mission of San Diego and later the ministry of Bangued. He established the following towns as visitas of Bangued: Tayum, Sabangan and Bucao (now Dolores). Inspired by Fr. Pareja, these towns battled almost daily against the rancherias of Palang, Talamuy, Bataan, Cabulao, Calaoag, and Langiden.

Fr. Jose Polanco OP also contributed to the conversion of Abra. A man of austere mortification, he died in Abra in 1679 and was considered a saint by the locals.

Fr. Bernardino Lago OSA arrived in the early 19th century. In 1823, Fr. Lago began work in Pidigan. After 25 years, the Christians were numbered about a thousand "baptized, living in community, with schools, church and municipal house, tilling the earth to support themselves and their children." Fr. Lago also founded the town of La Paz. Fr. Galende enumerates the foundation of the other towns of Abra:

Tayum, 1803 San Gregorio, 1829 Pidigan, 1823 La Paz, 1832 Bucay, 1847 San Jose, 1848 Villavieja, 1862 San Quintin, 1868 Dolores, 1882 Pilar, 1882 San Juan, 1884 Alfonso XII, 1884

Originally, the area was called El Abra de Vigan ("The Opening of Vigan"). During the British Occupation of the Philippines, Gabriela Silang and her army fled to Abra from Ilocos and continued the revolt begun by her slain husband Diego Silang. She was captured and hanged by authorities in 1763.

In 1818, the Ilocos region was divided into Ilocos Norte and Ilocos Sur. On October 9, 1846, Abra became an independent province with the capital and residence of the provincial governor located in Bucay. In 1863, the capital was transferred to Bangued, the province's oldest town. It remained so until the arrival of the Americans in 1899.

American occupation In 1908, the Philippine Commission annexed Abra into Ilocos Sur in an attempt to resolve Abra's financial difficulties. On March 9, 1917, the Philippine Assembly re-established Abra as a province under Act 2683.

Japanese occupation During World War II, Japanese forces occupied Abra in 1942. The province was liberated by Filipino soldiers and guerrillas in 1945. The Battle of Abra was characterized by intense fighting between Filipino guerrillas/Allied forces and the Japanese military. The capital, Bangued, experienced intense conflict during the liberation, including heavy carpet bombing and artillery fire from American forces to remove the Japanese, resulting in significant destruction of ancestral homes.

Martial law era

The beginning months of the 1970s marked a period of turmoil and change in the Philippines, as well as in Abra. During his bid to be the first Philippine president to be re-elected for a second term, Ferdinand Marcos launched an unprecedented number of public works projects. This caused the Philippine economy took a sudden downwards turn known as the 1969 Philippine balance of payments crisis, which in turn led to a period of economic difficulty and social unrest.

With only a year left in his last constitutionally allowed term as president, Ferdinand Marcos placed the Philippines under Martial Law in September 1972 and thus retained the position for fourteen more years. This period in Philippine history is remembered for the Marcos administration's record of human rights abuses, particularly targeting political opponents, student activists, journalists, religious workers, farmers, and others who fought against the Marcos dictatorship. In Abra, many of the victims were from the indigenous Itneg people (known then among most lowlanders as the Tingguian people, which is an exonym). Numerous human rights abuses against Itnegs were documented in the various Amnesty International missions which allowed to conduct investigations in the country after Marcos had to give in to political pressure.

On May 6, 1983, Sitio Beew in the Municipality of Tubo was the site of several attacks by the 623rd Philippine Constabulary (623rd PC) led by Captain Berido, Lt. Rehaldo Lebua and Lt. Juanito Puyawan, which would collectively come to be known as the "Beew massacre." The 623rd PC burned down four houses and a rice granary, which still contained the remains of three villagers including an unborn baby, and Barangay Councilman Rodolfo Labawig, pregnant mother Josefina Cayandag, and her unborn child. Beew residents, including babies and toddlers, were beaten and their houses looted in response to the residents' alleged support of protests against the logging operations of Herminio Disini's Cellophil Resources Corporation in their area.

Later 20th Century The revolutionary Marxist priest Conrado Balweg, who fought for the rights of the Cordillera tribes, began his crusade in Abra. After successfully negotiating a peace accord with Balweg's group in 1987, the Philippine government created the Cordillera Administrative Region, which includes Abra.

Contemporary history On July 27, 2022, a magnitude 7.0 earthquake, jolted the province. Eleven people died (at least seven of them were from Abra), and more than 600 were injured. A magnitude 6.4 aftershock three months later injured more than 100 people and caused additional damage.

The province is notorious for its election-related crimes, hence earning some nicknames including the title as the "Killing Fields of the North." Through the decades, there have been numerous assassinations of alleged supporters, former politicians, and even incumbent officials. These killings include the gunning incident that took the life of then Vice Governor Rafael Blanco; and the more recent and notorious incident involving Rep. Luis Bersamin in 2006, which earned nationwide attention. These election-related crimes typically occur months before and during both the midterm and general elections. Most especially weeks before the official filing of COCs (Certificate of Candidacy), and during the campaign period. With this, the Commission on Elections along with concerned agencies (e.g. DILG, PNP, etc.), usually identifies several municipalities in the province as "areas of concern," in which they bear the Category Red in terms of election hot spots.

Geography

Abra is situated in the mid-western section of the Cordillera Administrative Region in Luzon. It is bordered by the provinces of Ilocos Norte on the northwest, Apayao on the northeast, Kalinga on the mid-east, Mountain Province on the southeast and Ilocos Sur on the southwest. Abra has a total land area of .

The province is bordered by the towering mountain ranges of the Ilocos in the west and the Cordillera Central in the east. The Abra River runs from the south in Benguet to the west and central areas bisecting the Abra Valley. It is joined by the Tineg River originating in the eastern uplands at a point near the municipality of Dolores.

Administrative divisions

Abra is composed of 27 municipalities, all encompassed by Abra's lone congressional district.

Municipality Population Area Density km2 /km2 Bangued † 48,163 31 Boliney 3,573 8 Bucay 17,115 21 Bucloc 2,501 4 Daguioman 2,088 4 Danglas 4,192 7 Dolores 11,315 15 LaPaz 15,437 12 Lacub 3,403 6 Lagangilang 14,255 17 Lagayan 4,499 5 Langiden 3,198 6 4,689 11 Luba 6,339 8 Malibcong 3,428 12 Manabo 10,761 11 Peñarrubia 6,640 9 Pidigan 12,185 15 Pilar 10,223 19 Sallapadan 6,622 9 SanIsidro 4,574 9 SanJuan 9,867 19 SanQuintin 5,438 6 Tayum 14,467 11 Tineg 5,097 10 Tubo 5,699 10 Villaviciosa 5,392 8 Total 250,985 241,160 4,199.72 303 Provincial capital Municipality

Barangays The 27 municipalities of the province comprise a total of 303 barangays, with Poblacion in La Paz as the most populous in 2010, and Pattaoig in San Juan as the least.

Demographics The population of Abra in the 2024 census was 246,948 people, with a density of .

Abra's inhabitants are mostly descendants of Ilocano settlers and members of the Tingguian tribe. Based on 2000 census data, Ilocanos comprised of the total provincial population of 209,146. Tingguians came in second at , while other ethnic groups in the province were the Ibanag at , Itneg at , and Tagalog at .

Languages The predominant languages of Abra are Ilocano and Itneg.

Economy

As of 1990 there were 743 cottage industries in Abra of which 208 are registered with the Department of Trade and Industry. 59% are engaged in bamboo and rattan craft making, both leading industries in the area.

Abra's economy is agriculture-based. Its major crops are rice, vegetables and root crops. Commercial products include coffee, tobacco and coconut. Extensive grassland and pasture areas are used for livestock production.

Sports The province's lone professional sports team is the Abra Weavers of the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL). The Weavers joined the league in the 2024 season.

Infrastructure

Power distribution

Government

List of former military and elected governors:

Don Ramon Tajonera y Marzal (Military Governor): 1846–1852 Don Esteban de Peñarrubia (Military Governor): 1868–? Col. William Bowen (Military Governor): 1901 Juan G. Villamor (Governor): 1902–1904 Joaquin J. Ortega (Governor): 1904–1914 Rosalio G. Eduarte (Governor): 1914–1916 Julio V. Borbon (Governor): 1916–1922 Virgilio V. Valera (Governor): 1922–1925 Eustaquio P. Purugganan (Governor): 1925–1930 Virgilio V. Valera (Governor): 1930–1936 Bienvenido N. Valera (Governor): 1936–1939 Eustaquio P. Purugganan (Governor): 1939–1941 Bernardo V. Bayquen (Governor): 1941–1944 Zacarias A. Crispin (Governor): 1944–1946 Juan C. Brillantes (Governor): 1946–1947 Luis F. Bersamin (Governor): 1947–1951 Lucas P. Paredes (Governor): 1951–1953 Vene B. Pe Benito was acting governor in 1953 Ernesto P. Parel (Governor): 1953–1954 Jose L. Valera (Governor):1954–1963 Carmelo Z. Barbero (Governor): 1963–1965 Petronilo V. Seares (Governor): 1965–1971 Gabino V. Balbin (Governor): 1971–1977 Arturo V. Barbero (Governor): 1977–1984 Andres B. Bernos (Governor): 1984–1986 Vicente P. Valera (Governor): 1986–1987