History and Government
According to legend, Lagangilang derived its name from combining the words "ilang-ilang" and "lagam". Ilang-ilang, predominant in the municipality, is a tree whose flowers emit a distinctively sweet scent especially at night. Lagam, meaning bravery, is the name of a famous Tinguian leader who once ruled and defended the original Tinguian village of Lagangilang along the eastern bank of the Abra River from adversaries.
In 1908, Lagangilang became a municipal district from a small settlement of Tinguians called Itnegs. In 1910, the first missionary station was established and in 1918, Lagangilang became a full-fledged municipality. During the latter part of the Spanish Regime, traders from Ilocos Sur, using the Abra River as route, sailed upstream to barter goods for land. The Ilocanos' first settlement was barangay Aguet, half kilometer west of the Poblacion. Ever searching for a better place to live in, the Ilocano immigrants spread eastward along the Baay River founding the communities of Presentar, Nagtupacan, Dalaguisen, Taping, Bio and San Isidro.
An important institution that helped shape the municipality is the 82-year old school established in 1908 during the American Regime by an American named Amos E. Allen. The Americans took turn in its administration until 1917, when the first Filipino administrator, Jose Reyna, took over. The school became an agricultural college on June 6, 1966, by virtue of Republic Act No. 4647. During World War II, the school served as the seat of the military government of Abra.
As it was in its olden days, the municipality is one of the major learning centers of the province catering not only to the educational needs of Abra but also to neighboring provinces such as Ilocos Sur, Ilocos Norte, La Union and Mountain Province.
Past to present municipal chief executives of Lagangilang are: Cagaid Omli, Valentin Bintucan, Eusebio Omli (1940), Jose Wagayen (1943), Jose Tuazon, Gregorio Danga-ap, Avelino Lumcang (1955-1960), Ricardo Lunizo (1960-1963), Emeterio Atmosfera (1964-1978), Jesus Villamor, Sr. (1979-1984), Eduardo Lumcang (1979-1985), Johnny Omli (1986), Isidro Tuzon (1987), Romeo Villamor, Sr. (1988 to present).
At present, Lagangilang is subdivided into 17 barangays: Aguet, Bacooc, Balais, Cayapa, Dalaguisen, Laguiben, Lagben, Laang, Nagtupacan, Nagtipulan, Pawa, Presentar, Tagodtod, Taping, Poblacion, Paganao and San Isidro.
Lagangilang lies about 21 km. northeast of the capital town of Bangued. It is bounded on the north by the municipalities of San Juan and Dolores, on the west by the municipality of Tayum, on the south by the municipalities of Bucay and Sallapadan, on the east by the municipality of Licuan-Baay and on the southeast by the municipality of Tineg.
With the municipality's land area of 6,910 has., the land use distribution is as follows: built-up area - 36.5 has., agricultural area - 918.0 has., forest land - 4,522.5 has., pasture land - 1,283.0 has. and inland fisheries and other uses - 150.0 has. The municipality is predominantly forest land with 4,522.5 has. or an equivalent of 65.5% of its total land area. On urban land use, the urban land area of 113.37 has. is classified as follows: residential - 8.6 has., commercial - 3.75 has., institutional - 5.77 has., agricultural - 90.5 has., and parks and open spaces - 4.75 has.
The Tinguians being the native of the place and with the integration of the early immigrants from the province of Ilocos, Lagangilang is at present home to both Tinguians and Ilocanos having a total population of 12,023. Of the total municipal population, 71% are estimated to be Ilocanos, 25% are Tinguians and the remaining 4% comprising other ethnic groups. Other population data include a total number of 2,153 households with an average household size of 5.57 and an annual population growth rate of 1.26% covering the year 1990-1995. Comparing the population of 1995 with that of 1990 which was 11,335, the population increase was 5.7%. The number of household in 1990 was 2,051 increasing to 2,153 households in 1995 with an equivalent increase of 4.97%. The average household size remained at 6 with the annual growth rate dropping to 1.26% from 2.75% in 1990.
The municipality's economy is agriculture based with palay production as the main activity. Of the total agricultural land area of 918.0 has., only 215.0 has. are irrigated and 595.25 has. being rainfed. Upland agricultural land has a land area of 26.0 has. while the remaining 80.75 has. are cropland planted to other crops such as beans, legumes, vegetables, rootcrops and sugarcane. Secondary to farming, other industries existing in the municipality include livestock production, fishing and cottage industries such as weaving.