Jones, Isabela

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Jones
Municipality

Seal

Map of Isabela showing the location of Jones

Jones
Location within the Philippines

Coordinates:

163329N 1214225ECoordinates:
163329N 1214225E

Country

Philippines

Region

Cagayan Valley (Region II)

Province

Isabela

District

4th District of Isabela

Barangays

42

Government[1]
Mayor

Leticia T. Sebastian

Area[2]
Total

670.14 km2 (258.74 sq mi)

Population (2010)[3]
Total

44,218

Density

66/km2 (170/sq mi)

Time zone

PST (UTC+8)

ZIP code

3313

Dialing code

78

Income class

1st class; rural

Jones is a first class municipality in the province of Isabela on the island of Luzon, in the Philippines.
According to the 2010 census, it had a population of 44,218 people.[3]

Contents
[hide]

1 Barangays
2 History
3 Demographics
4 References
5 External links

Barangays[edit]
Jones is politically subdivided into 42 barangays.[2]

Abulan
Addalam
Arubub
Bannawag
Bantay
Barangay I (Pob - Centro)
Barangay II(Pob - Centro)
Barangay III(Pob - Cemetery)
Barangcuag
Dalibubon
Daligan
Diarao
Dibuluan
Dicamay I
Dicamay II
Dipangit
Disimpit
Divinan
Dumawing
Fugu
Lacab
Linamanan
Linomot
Malannit
Minuri
Namnama
Napaliong
Palagao
Papan Este
Papan Weste
Payac
Pongpongan
San Antonio
San Isidro
San Jose

San Roque
San Sebastian
San Vicente
Santa Isabel
Santo Domingo
Tupax
Usol
Villa Bello

History[edit]
This section does not cite any references or sources. Please
help improve this section byadding citations to reliable sources.
Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (January
2014)
The southern portion of Echague separated by Cagayan River was created into a municipality
named Jones in honor of an American Legislator, William Atkinson Jones, who authored the
Philippine Autonomy Act of 1916, and was inaugurated on January 1, 1921. It was originally
composed of 21 barrios of virgin forest and wide fertile plains with Cabanuangan as the seat of the
Municipal Government.
The house of one Tirso Mateo served as the first town hall with the following as the first municipal
officials; President;Don Antonio Vallejo, Vice President; Benito Tiburcio, Secretary; Francisco
Gumpal; Treasurer Pio Tomines; Justice of Peace Daniel Apostol; Zoilo Gadingan, Chief of Police;
and Modesto Payuyo, Antonio Pintang, Gregorio Santos, Dionicio Cristobal, Valentin Torio; and
Damaso Leano as Councilors.
The first proposed town site of Jones was in Barangay Daligan, but due to the insistence of the
Municipal President Don. Antonio Vallejo who voluntarily donated two hectares of land for the
municipal hall and public market site, he also later donated the vast fertile land area of Jones Rural
School and Jones North Central School hence the present site of Barangay I and II.
Transportation was then a big problem as there were no good roads, the barrios being only
connected by narrow roads and trails suited for hiking, for horse and carabao and for sled and cart.
During rainy days, these roads and trails easily turned into knee-deep mud fit only for wallowing
carabaos. The principal means of transportation was the Cagayan River passing almost all the
barrios, using raft and boats. It was only after about eight years of existence that more vehicles
applied between Jones and Echague.
The vast virgin forest and fertile soil of the place was pioneered by enterprising Ilocanos from the
Ilocos Province, particularly from Ilocos Norte and some Yogads who are natives of Cagayan Valley.
Other ethnic groups followed like the Ibanags and some Tagalogs from Central Luzon.
The Aglipayan Church (Philippine Independent Catholic Church) was the first established church.
There were very few primary schools, all hinged to an intermediate school called Jones Farm School
at the Poblacion. The early inhabitants concentrated on agriculture with tobacco and corn as the
chief crop. Revenue principally came from the real property tax, cedula and sled tax. The town was
greatly dependent on national aid.
The town holds a special place in the history of Isabela. When the Japanese Imperial Army invaded
the Philippines in 1914, JONES was a shelter for the National and Provincial officials and evacuees
from other places up to 1942.

The town likewise became the provincial seat of the Provincial Government during the wartorn years
from 1941 to 1942. It was subsequently occupied by the Japanese forces but it continued to be a
stronghold of Filipino and American Guerillas led by the brave soldiers under the command of the
Brigadier General Guillermo Nakar.
On 1945, Filipino troops of the 2nd, USAFFE 11th, 12th and 13th Infantry Division and the USAFIPNL 11th Infantry Regiment of the Philippine Commonwealth Army and the 1st Infantry Regiment of
the Philippine Constabulary was liberated and recaptured the entering towns in Jones, Isabela and
helping recognized guerrilla units and defeated and attacking Japanese Imperial Army forces and
ended in World War II.
Jones is the home of Silvino M. Gumpal, who ably led the Province as Provincial Governor from
1946 to 1951 and who represented Isabela in Congress from 1934 to 1935.
In 1959, the name of barrio Mangaratungat was changed to San Vicente.[4]
Jones has two new steel bridges worth P300M.

Demographics[edit]
Population census of Jones
Year

Pop.

% p.a.

1990

34,373

1995

34,669

+0.16%

2000

39,001

+2.56%

2007

41,237

+0.77%

2010

44,218

+2.57%

Source: National Statistics Office[3]

There was originally a population of Agta living in the vicinity of Jones, along the Dicamay River. The
Agta are one of the many groups known as 'Negritos' and who are descended from the preAustronesian population of the islands. The Dicamay Agta, who combined hunter-gathering with
swidden agriculture, have been severely impacted by the influx of other ethnic groups to take up
farming land in the area, resulting in there being no Agta living in the area today. There are
numerous reports of the Agta having been driven off their lands, and in some cases of having been
killed by immigrant groups of farmers.[5][6]