Solano
Municipality
Municipality of Solano
Downtown Solano
Flag Seal
Nickname(s):  Best of Vizcaya, Commercial and Financial Center of Nueva Vizcaya
Motto(s):  Keep on shining, and progressing!
Anthem: Solano March
Map of Nueva Vizcaya with Solano highlighted
OpenStreetMap
Solano Location within the Philippines
Coordinates: 16°31′06″N 121°10′52″E / 16.5183°N 121.1811°E / 16.5183; 121.1811
Country	Philippines
Region	Cagayan Valley
Province	Nueva Vizcaya
District	Lone district
Founded	October 7, 1741
Named for	Ramón María Solano y Llanderal
Barangays	22 (see Barangays)
Government  [1]
• Type	Sangguniang Bayan
• Mayor	Philip A. Dacayo
• Vice Mayor	Eduardo D. Tiongson
• Representative	Luisa Lloren Cuaresma
• Municipal Council	Members Milady M. Dickson Nezel C. Duque Ma. Regina M. Valino-Valdez Jerome G. Marcos Ramon P. Ramento Luisito L. Lannu Michael D. Tiongson Rudie R. Bueno
• Electorate	40,348 voters (2022)
Area [2]
• Total	139.80 km2 (53.98 sq mi)
Elevation	273 m (896 ft)
Highest elevation	573 m (1,880 ft)
Lowest elevation	240 m (790 ft)
Population  (2020 census)[3]
• Total	65,287
• Density	470/km2 (1,200/sq mi)
• Households	18,887
Economy
• Income class	1st municipal income class
• Poverty incidence	6.41 % (2021)[4]
• Revenue	₱ 306.1 million (2020)
• Assets	₱ 949.8 million (2020)
• Expenditure	₱ 390.1 million (2020)
• Liabilities	₱ 116.9 million (2020)
Service provider
• Electricity	Nueva Vizcaya Electric Cooperative (NUVELCO)
Time zone	UTC+8 (PST)
ZIP code	3709
PSGC	025013000
IDD : area code	+63 (0)78
Native languages	Gaddang Ilocano Tagalog
Website	solano.gov.ph

Solano, officially the Municipality of Solano (Gaddang: Ili na Solano; Ilocano: Ili ti Solano; Tagalog: Bayan ng Solano), is a municipality in the province of Nueva Vizcaya, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 65,287 inhabitants.^[3].

According to the BLGF 2021 data, the town of Solano has the highest locally sourced revenue (LSR) of all the municipalities in Region 2 making it one of the notable economic hubs in Cagayan Valley. This further solidified the status of Solano as the undisputed premier town of Cagayan Valley.

Solano, being the fastest-growing municipality in the region, is proposed to become Cagayan Valley Region's 5th City after Tuguegarao, Santiago, Cauayan, and Ilagan.

Solano is 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) from Bayombong and 270 kilometres (170 mi) from Manila.

In 1760, the original name of the town was Bintauan, then a Gaddang settlement that is now a barangay of Villaverde. The town was later moved and formally founded in 1767 by Father Alejandro Vidal, a Dominican priest who led a Spanish mission. In 1768, it was called Lungabang, from the Gaddang word for cave, lungab. The name was later changed to Lumabang by the Spaniards for convenience. In 1851, Governor General Antonio Urbiztondo declared Lumabang a barrio of Bayombong for not having sufficient inhabitants and revenue to maintain itself. Governor General Ramon Solano y Llanderal authorized the separation of Lumabang as barrio from Bayombong. In 1853, the first Ilocanos arrived, brought by Don Diego Lumicao, a former gobernadorcillo. In 1889, it was renamed Solano, in honor of Governor General Ramon Solano y Llanderal.

The town was redeveloped by Father Juan Villaverde in 1889,^[5] and the poblacion consisted of 14 parallel wide streets, each having a width of 20 meters. Streets run from north to south and east to west, forming 100 square blocks with an aggregate area of one hectare per block. Solano was the largest municipality in the province until two of its barangays, Caliat and Bintawan, were separated to become the municipalities of Quezon and Villaverde respectively. The land area of Solano was correspondingly reduced to 13,980 hectares. In 1957, the barrios of Ibung and Bintawan were separated to form the town of Ibung,^[6] later renamed as Villaverde.

Solano is politically subdivided into 22 barangays. Each barangay consists of puroks and some have sitios.

Poverty incidence of Solano

Solano is the main commercial and financial center of Nueva Vizcaya. It also has the most number of fast food restaurants in the province and has the most number of banks among the municipalities in the entire region with 25 banks. Major banks as well as rural and regional banks are based here.

Solano, belonging to the lone congressional district of the province of Nueva Vizcaya, 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 councilors are elected directly by the people through an election which is being held every three years.

Under the Spanish regime, Solano (then Bintauan) was ruled by a gobernadorcillo, which was elected by the cabezas de barangay (barangay heads) which represented the survival of the earlier tribal organizations and were responsible for the tributes of their groups. The cabezas were originally hereditary, but, in time, it became elective. The electors of the gobernadorcillo were current or former heads of the barangay and after 3 years of service became eligible for the office.

The following list shows the gobernadorcillos, who had the honorary title "Don", during the Spanish regime from 1762 to 1898.^[21]

The following served as capitán del pueblo:

The next three years, the town head was to be known gobernadorcillo, and the position of capitan del pueblo was abolished.

• 1779 Antonio Dayag
• 1780 Vicente Labog
• 1781 Francisco Busa

The following served as alcaldes de naturales:

• 1782 Manuel Balassu
• 1783 Pedro Arasa
• 1784 Tomas Abbacan
• 1785 Clemente Malenab
• 1786 Tomas Lauagan
• 1787 Domingo Dumelod
• 1788 Santiago Agguid

On April 19, 1789, the alcalde mayor [of Cagayan] conveyed to the people the decree issued by the King of Spain ordering the restoration of the title gobernadorcillo.

By executive order of 1851, Governor-General Antonio Urbiztondo, Marques de la Solana, declared Lumabang as a barrio of Bayombong, resulting in the office of gobernadorcillo becoming teniente del barrio.

It was during this time when a new province, Isabela, was created, carving a portion of Nueva Vizcaya and a part of Cagayan. The new province was named in honor of Queen Isabella of Spain. The Governor of Nueva Vizcaya was Julian del Valle. The alcalde mayor of Cagayan came here for the purpose of this reorganization.

• 1857 Venido Loggan
• 1858 Domingo Esguerra
• 1859 Miguel Dumelod
• 1860 Miguel Loggan

General Ramon Solano y Llanderal authorized the separation of Lumabang as a barrio from Bayombong restoring the title of gobernadorcillo to Solano. From 1864, the term limit of the gobernadorcillo was extended from one year to two years

In 1890, the establishment of the office of the justice of the peace was inaugurated in all the towns, and the first to assume this office in Solano was Domingo Panganiban who was in turn succeeded by Juan Sobrino, a Spaniard. who was succeeded by Sebastián Panganiban. who was then succeeded by Domingo Panganiban who held this office till 1898.

• 1890 Justice of the Peace Domingo Panganiban
• 1890 Justice of the Peace Juan Sobrino
• 1890 Justice of the Peace Sebastián Panganiban
• 1890-98 Justice of the Peace Domingo Panganiban
• 1890-91 Gobernadorcillo Antonio Dumelod
• 1892-93 Gobernadorcillo Domingo Loggan (replaced by Fernando Aggabao)
• 1894-95 Gobernadorcillo Sebastian Panganiban

It was during this time when the Royal Decree of the Central Government came, stopping the use of the title gobernadorcillo and in its stead capitán municipal was to be used. When Spanish colonial rule ended September 14, 1898, Solano was led by a teniente mayor.

• 1896-97 Capitán Municipal Sebastián Panganiban
• 1898 Teniente Mayor Felipe Lumicao

The town's Pagbiagan Festival is celebrated every year of October 11. It coincides with Solano's founding anniversary, as well as the feast day of the town's patron Saint Louis Beltran. Through Presidential Proclamation 658, October 2, 2024 was declared a special non-working day to celebrate Solano Day and its 163rd Founding Anniversary highlighted by the Pagbiagan Festival 2024 that runs from September 29 to October 2.^[22]

Tourist attractions and sites of interest in Solano include:

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.^[23] The office governs the public and private elementary and public and private high schools throughout the municipality.

• Aldersgate College - High School Department
• Solano High School
• Saint Louis School - High School Department
• Dalton High School
• Uddiawan National High School
• Bascaran National High School

• Aldersgate College
• Solano Institute of Technology
• Nueva Vizcaya Caregiver Academy
• Niño Jesus de Praga Learning, Inc.
• Cagayan Valley Maritime Studies, Inc.
• Fuzeko Polytechnic College

Solano is served by these radio stations.

• DWMG 1395 kHz (Vanguard Radio Network)

• DWDC 101.3 BiGSOUNDfm (Vanguard Radio Network)
• DWNV 100.5 (Rural Airwaves Media Services-Unified Airwaves Network)

• Danilo Lim (2017-2021), army officer, coup-plotter and Chairman of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority
• Romeo A. Brawner, chairman of the Commission on Elections (2008)
• Jimboy Martin, Actor/Rapper - PBB 737 winner
• Hillarie Parungao, winner of Miss World Philippines 2015 and Philippine representative and Top 10 semifinalist at the Miss World 2015 pageant
• Marites Vitug, investigative journalist
• Jose Gambito, Current governor of the province of Nueva Vizcaya

• Nueva Vizcaya Website
• Solano official government website
• Philippine Standard Geographic Code
• Philippine Census Information
• Local Governance Performance Management System Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine