1902–1908 → Established May 28, 1902 | Capital Cervantes Disestablished August 18, 1908 | |
Historical era American colonial period Today part of Benguet
Ilocos Sur
Kalinga
La Union
Mountain Province | ||
Lepanto-Bontoc was a short-lived province of the Philippines, existing from 1902 to 1908. The province encompassed much of the central section of the Cordillera mountains in Luzon. Its capital was Cervantes, in the sub-province of Lepanto.
Prior to its incorporation into the Mountain Province in 1908, its territory consisted of:
The territory of Lepanto-Bontoc is now divided between the present-day provinces of:
History
Lepanto-Bontoc was created on May 28, 1902 through Act No. 410 of the Philippine Commission. Included in the new province's territory were the Spanish-era comandancias of Amburayan, Bontoc and Lepanto, which became its three component sub-provinces. By virtue of the same law, the comandancia of Bontoc, upon its conversion into a sub-province, annexed all unassigned territories to its north which lay between the eastern boundaries of Abra and western boundaries of Cagayan. This territory, corresponding to the lower Chico River basin, was later organized into the sub-province of Kalinga through Act No. 1642, enacted on May 9, 1907.
The province was slightly enlarged when Tagudin, the coastal town at the mouth of the Amburayan River, was detached from Ilocos Sur and made the capital of the sub-province of Amburayan on May 15, 1907 by virtue of Act No. 1646 of the Philippine Commission.
On August 18, 1908 the Philippine Legislature annexed all four of Lepanto-Bontoc's sub-provinces to the Mountain Province through Act No. 1876, effectively ending its existence as a province.