Urbiztondo

The municipality was named after General Juan Antonio de Urbiztondo y Eguía, the Spanish Governor-General of the Philippines from 1850 to 1853, who was also known as the conqueror of the Muslims in Jolo. He then issued a decree founding the town and consequently the newly formed town was named “Urbiztondo” in his honor.

The town's establishment can be attributed to Fr. Ramon Dalmau, the parish priest of San Carlos (Binalatongan), who in 1852 began the process for its separation from San Carlos. While the area remained a visita of San Carlos for that year, the town of Urbiztondo was finally established as a separate entity on November 28, 1853, when it was assigned its own curate (parish priest). The Dominicans accepted Urbiztondo as a vicariate in 1855 and assigned Rev. Fr. Francisco Treserra to the town; he is also responsible for relocating the town to the place where it is now located.

On October 8, 1903, Urbiztondo was absorbed by the municipality of Mangatarem by virtue of Philippine Commission Act No. 931.^[6] It was later separated as a re-established municipality on October 31, 1906.^[7]

Urbiztondo is situated 34.59 kilometers (21.49 mi) from the provincial capital Lingayen, and 193.41 kilometers (120.18 mi) from the country's capital city of Manila.

Poverty incidence of Urbiztondo (%)

Source: Philippine Statistics Authority^{[14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22]}

The Urbiztondo 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.^[24]