Cordon, Isabela

Cordon was originally founded in 1878 as a settlement under the jurisdiction of Carig (now Santiago). It was established as a rest stop for travelers and a military outpost as it lies on the edge of the mountain pass that separates the provinces of Isabela and Nueva Vizcaya. In 1896, it was converted into a town by a Spanish Royal Decree. The origin of the name is unclear, with the first mention of the name dating from 1837 when a Spanish military expedition mentioned the existence of a warehouse called Cordon in the area. Other accounts mention that the place was a quarantine stop for travelers to and from the Cagayan Valley.^[6]

On July 18, 1972, a military raid on a New People's Army hideout in Barrio Taringsing led to the discovery of the so-called Taringsing Documents, outlining plans by the CPP-NPA to overthrow the Philippine government by 1973. This became one of the reasons used by President Ferdinand Marcos in declaring Martial Law later in September 1972.^[7]

The present area of Cordon is totally different from its previous area as defined in its charter, the law creating this town, much of the previous Carig town (Modern day Santiago City) territories were annexed to Modern Cordon including the Magat Reservoir Territories (Barangay Taliktik and Barangay Dallao) and the diadi region barangays (San Juan, Aguinaldo, Villamarzo, Camarao, and Rizaluna). It is bordered by Santiago City to the north and east, Diffun, Quirino to the south, and Diadi, Nueva Vizcaya to the west.

The map of Modern Isabela Province and Modern Municipality of Cordon has been changed showing the new boundaries of each towns and cities.

Cordon is situated 87.68 kilometres (54.48 mi) from the provincial capital Ilagan, and 349.83 kilometres (217.37 mi) north of the country's capital Manila.

Cordon is politically subdivided into 26 barangays. ^[8] Each barangay consists of puroks while some have sitios.

In the 2024 census, the population of Cordon was 46,688 people,^[15] with a density of 320 inhabitants per square kilometre or 830 inhabitants per square mile.

Poverty incidence of Cordon

Source: Philippine Statistics Authority^{[16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23]}

As a suburb of first class city Santiago, Cordon benefits from rapid growth of commercial demand in the district. Toyota Isabela, the first branch of Japan-based car company in the province, has opened an outlet in Cordon.^[24] Some hotels and "stop overs" are also located in Cordon.

As a municipality in the province of Isabela, government officials at the provincial and municipal levels are voted by the town. The provincial government has political jurisdiction over most local transactions of the municipal government.

The Municipality of Cordon is governed by a mayor, designated as its local chief executive, and by a municipal council as its legislative body in accordance with the Local Government Code. The mayor, vice mayor, and the municipal councilors are elected directly by the people through an election held every three years.

Barangays are also headed by elected officials: Barangay Captain, Barangay Council, whose members are called Barangay Councilors. The barangays have SK federation which represents the barangay, headed by sK chairperson and whose members are called SK councilors. All officials are also elected every three years.

Cordon, belonging to the fourth legislative district of the province of Isabela, currently represented by Hon. Joseph S. Tan.^[26][27]