', officially the ' is a of the Philippines| in the province of,. According to the, it has a population of people.
History
Early beginning
This town draws its name from an ancient practice. It was said that war parties coming from certain areas in northern Kalinga used to meet by a creek when mapping out their plan of attack against or when regrouping after attacking a certain village. Since they would always wash their blood-stained bodies and weapons in the creek, the place and its adjacent areas came to be known as Balbalan. Since its tribal war days, Balbalan has become one of the most peaceful place in Kalinga as dramatized by the selection of one of its ethnic sub-groups, the Salegseg.
The Spaniards made at least 10 incursions into the land of the Kalingas from the early 1600s to the late 1800s, four of which were made from the west primarily targeting the regions of Banao and Guinaang. Although they succeeded around the mid-1800s in establishing a telegraph station in Balbalasang and subsequently hacking out an Ilocos-Abra-Kalinga-Cagayan trail, they failed to establish a total politico-military foothold in Kalinga. Prior to the establishment of American rule in Kalinga, the ethnic sub-groups covered by the present geopolitical configuration of Balbalan were, like other Kalinga communities at that time, organized according to an indigenous system or concept of local governance operating within a “bilateral kinship group” circumscribed by semi-permanent territorial boundary. This period saw the rise of several community leaders often mentioned in Balbalan orature: Sagaoc, Balutoc, Masadao, Gaddawan, Dawegoy, Lang-ayan, Bayudang, Gammong, et al.
American Era: Toward the Mainstream
When the Americans imposed their system of government over the archipelago, the land of the Kalingas became one of the highlights of their so-called “pacification campaign.” On 18 August 1907, Kalinga, then a sub-province of Lepanto-Bontoc, came under the control of Lt. Gov. Walter Franklin Hale who established his seat of government in Lubuagan where he organized the sub-province into four districts: Tinglayan-Tanudan; Balbalan-Pasil; Pinukpuk-Tobog, and Liwan. Exactly a year later, Act 1870 of the Philippine Commission carved the old Mountain Province out of northern Luzon with Kalinga as one of its five sub-provinces. Kalinga was immediately reorganized into five municipal districts — Lubuagan, Balbalan, Tabuk, Tinglayan, and Pinukpuk — each led by presidents. Among these municipal chiefs was Puyao who served in that capacity for close to 24 years under five subprovincial chief executives: Walter F. Hale, Alex F. Gilfilan, Samuel E. Kane, Tomas Blanco, and Nicasio Balinag. Puyao did not run for office during the first local elections in the area in 1934, and was succeeded by Awingan. Three years later, municipal chief executives became known as “Municipal District Mayors.” Little is known of the political organization of the municipality during the Japanese occupation of the Philippines, except that in 1942 a Japanese garrison was established in Balbalan, as well as in Lubuagan and in Tabuk.
Post-War Era: Charting a Course
The old Mountain Province was regularized as a “first class province” in 1959 and new local elections were subsequently held. In Balbalan, Pedro Sagalon was elected mayor. From the birth of the new Mountain Province on 18 June 1966 to 1988, there is a dearth of records on the succession of leadership in Balbalan. From 1988 to the present, however, government records list the following as mayors: Leonardo Banganan, Edward Calumnag, Rosendo Dakiwag, and Allen J.C. Mangaoang. The present leadership of Balbalan has special significance to those who feared that the death of Juan Puyao in 1948 meant the end of his political bloodline. In the words of Kalinga historian Miguel Sugguiyao :
Geography
Barangays
Balbalan is politically subdivided into 14 barangays.
Climate
Demographics
In the, the population of Balbalan was people, with a density of.
Works cited
;Books
Bacdayan, Albert. The Peace Pact System of the Kalingas in the Modern World. Ann Arbor, MI: University Microfilms, Inc., 1967.
De Los Reyes, Angelo J. & Aloma M. De Los Reyes, eds. Igorot: A People Who Daily Touch the Earth and Sky. Vol. II. Baguio City: Cordillera Schools Group, 1986.
DILG-CAR. Cordillera Almanac Vol. 1 : Local Government Units. Baguio City: DILG-CAR, 1999.
Dozier, Edward P. Mountain Arbiters: The Changing Life of a Philippine Hill People. Tucson, AZ: The University of Arizona Press, 1966.
