Mallig

The municipality was named after the Mallig River that runs through it.

The area was first mentioned by Fray Pedro de Santo Tomas as the area to which the Irraya/Gaddang fled after the revolt of Dayag and Catabay in 1621 in what is now Ilagan City.

In 1939, then President Manuel L. Quezon declared the westernmost part of the province as a resettlement area, historically known as the Mallig Plains Resettlement Area. From then on, the influx of settlers from the Central Plains and the Ilocos Region encouraged more other settlers to migrate westward in these Kalinga-dominated plains.

Mallig was created by virtue of Republic Act No. 678 authored in 1952 by then Congressman Samuel F. Reyes. The act was approved on April 8, 1952,^[1] with the former barrio of Olango as the seat of government. The territory comprising Mallig was taken from several neighboring towns:

• from Roxas: barangay of Holy Friday, San Jose (East), and San Jose (West)
• from Ilagan: barangay of Casili, Olango Primero, Olango Segundo, San Jose Nuevo, and Manano
• from Tumauini: barangay of Barucbuc, Siempre Viva Norte, Siempre Viva Sur Bimmonton, Pasurgong, Manga, and Settlement No. 1
• from Santo Tomas: barangay of Abut and Minagbag^[7]

Mallig was a harsh abode for the migrants at the beginning, particularly because of the hostile natives who dominated the area, and also because of the occurrence of endemic malaria. It took the settlers gradual adaptation and acclimatization before they finally convinced their relatives and other migrants to settle permanently.^[8]

Mallig is bounded by the towns of Paracelis on its western limits, Quezon on its northern limits, Roxas on its southern limits and by both Delfin Albano and Quirino on its eastern limits. The municipality has a land area of 133.40 square kilometers or 51.51 square miles which constitutes 1.07% of Isabela's total area.

Its main gateway is the Santiago–Tuguegarao Road which is a part of the national highway. The Ilagan–Delfin Albano–Mallig Road, a provincial road, also serves as an important point of entry to Mallig. It is also an agricultural town mainly composed of agricultural farms such as rice fields and corn fields which makes its rural landscape.

Mallig is situated 37.33 kilometres (23.20 mi) from the provincial capital Ilagan, and 425.19 kilometres (264.20 mi) from the country's capital city of Manila.

In the 2024 census, the population of Mallig was 32,509 people,^[16] with a density of 240 inhabitants per square kilometre or 620 inhabitants per square mile.

Poverty incidence of Mallig

Source: Philippine Statistics Authority^{[17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24]}

Mallig is considered as one of the largest exporters of rice, corn, and tobacco in the Mallig Plains Region.^[25]

The Schools Division of Isabela governs the town's public education system.^[29] The division office is a field office of the DepEd in Cagayan Valley.^[30] The XXXX Schools District Office governs all educational institutions within the municipality. It oversees the management and operations of all private and public, from primary to secondary schools.^[31]