Piat, Cagayan

There are quite a few conjectures on how Piat got its name. One has it that it derives from "pias," an Ilokano word, in Ibanag "addulu" and in Tagalog, "kamiyas." Another holds that the word comes from "aggapiya," meaning "healer, masseuse," and a more credible version has it that it is derived from the Ibanag and Itawes word "piya" which means "goodness, kindness, health." The latter words were said to have come from a healer or masseur who lived in the area.^[6]

From Fr. Jose Bugarin's Dictionary "Pia-t, a tree, and the name of a town in the province in the Ytaves (Itawes) district."

The original people were the Itawes; at present, there are many Ibanag, Ilocano, Tagalog, Kapampangan and other speakers. There are also families of Spanish and American descent. The head of the family was called urayan or baruwang and the council of elders Kammaranan. There were also war leaders and braves called mengal, and priestesses called anitera from the Spanish word called anito or minangilu in Ibanag, mangilut in Itawes and baybaylan in Bisayan; there were few priests among the ancient people.

In 1596, the Dominican Provincial, Fr. Miguel de San Jacinto named Piat as a mission in the Itawes region comprising the towns of Tabang, Malaueg, Tuao, and Piat. The encomenderos then were Pedro Barreda, Juan de Arranda, and Isabel de Cardona.

In 1604, the Bishop, Diego de Soria, negotiated for more missionaries for the Itawes region. To help in the pacification and evangelization of the region, the Dominicans introduced the devotion to Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary. In that year, they brought the images of Our Lady of Piat from Macau and first enshrined it in Lal-lo, and later bringing it back to Piat in 1622.

It is located in the south-west part of Cagayan province in what is known as the Itawes Region, along which the Rio Chico runs west, south, and north-west of the town until it debouches into the Rio Ibanag somewhere near Nassiping.^[7]

Piat is situated 39.12 kilometres (24.31 mi) from the provincial capital Tuguegarao, and 507.01 kilometres (315.04 mi) from the country's capital city of Manila.

Piat is politically subdivided into 18 barangays. Each barangay consists of puroks while some have sitios.

In the 2024 census the population of Piat was 25,436 people^[14] with a density of 180 inhabitants per square kilometre or 470 inhabitants per square mile.

Poverty incidence of Piat

Source: Philippine Statistics Authority^{[15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22]}

As a municipality in the Province of Cagayan, government officials in the provincial level are voted by the town. The provincial government has political jurisdiction over most local transactions of the municipal government.

The municipality of Piat 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.

Piat, belonging to the second legislative district of the province of Cagayan, is represented by Samantha Louise V. Alfonso in the house of representatives.

The Schools Division of Cagayan governs the town's public education system.^[24] The division office is a field office of the DepEd in Cagayan Valley region.^[25] The Piat Schools District Office governs the public and private elementary and high schools throughout the municipality.^[26]