Alfonso Castañeda

The territory that now comprises Alfonso Castañeda was part of the municipality of Dupax prior to the division into three separate ones; the other two were Dupax del Norte and Dupax del Sur.^[6]

In the early 18th century, Dupax was inhabited by three tribes.^[7][6] One of them were the Bugkalots; the rest were the Malaats and the Caraos.^[6]

In 1930, five families supposedly from Batac, Ilocos Norte settled in Lublub, an area inhabited by Bugkalots which was later organized as a sitio of barrio Marikit^[8] when the inhabitants increased; Virgilio Castillo was the first teniente del barrio.^[9] In 1950, it became an independent barrio in Pantabangan, Nueva Ecija.^[8] In 1974,^[9] residents headed by village chief Alfredo Castillo, Sr. requested Assemblyman Carlos Padilla to convert the barrio into a municipality in Nueva Vizcaya.^[8] Hence, Batas Pambansa Blg. 27, authored and sponsored by Padilla,^[8] was issued by President Ferdinand Marcos on April 20, 1979; two barangays, including Lublub which was designated the seat of government, and seven sitios in Dupax del Sur, and four barangays and a sitio in Dupax del Norte, were separated to constitute into an independent municipality named after the first provincial governor to come from a cultural minority.^[10][8] The plebiscite was held on July 10.^[11] Castillo was appointed the municipality's first mayor.^[9]

Alfonso Castañeda is situated 164.15 kilometers (102.00 mi) from the provincial capital Bayombong (via Nueva Ecija and Dalton Pass), and 224.99 kilometers (139.80 mi) from the country's capital city of Manila.

Poverty incidence of Alfonso Castañeda

Source: Philippine Statistics Authority^{[18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25]}

The Schools Division of Nueva Vizcaya governs the town's public education system. The division office is a field office of the DepEd in Cagayan Valley region.^[27] The Alfonso Castañeda Schools District Office governs all the public and private elementary and high schools throughout the municipality.^[28]

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  Parish church
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  Mount Guiwan