Roxas, officially the Municipality of Roxas (; ), is a 1st class municipality in the province of Isabela, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 65,839 people.
The municipality is the center of business and commerce in the Mallig Plains Region. 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.
Etymology
The place used to be called Bindang (Bayani), and was part of the La Provincia del Valle de Cagayan (present day area of Cagayan to Nueva Vizcaya).
History
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.
Geography
The municipality of 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 the municipality of Mallig, on the north-east by the municipality of Quirino, on the east by the municipality of Burgos, on the south by the municipality of San Manuel all within the province of Isabela and on the west by the municipality of Paracelis in the province of Mountain Province.
The road traversing the municipality of 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 is from Ilagan and from Manila.
Roxas lie on a flat fertile land between the two valleys of Cagayan. It occupies an area of 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.
Barangays
Roxas is politically subdivided into barangays. Each barangay consists of puroks while some have sitios.
Topography
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.
The center of the town is relatively low relief of flatlands, while the south-western and north-western part having moderately sloping areas comprising the foothills of Mountain Province.