Spanish colonial era The
Spanish had great difficulty in taking over Ifugao, like most of the Cordilleras due to the fierce belief of the
Cordillera people of their rights since ancient times. The Ifugao battled colonizers for hundreds of years, even after the state was colonized and was transformed into a part of
Nueva Vizcaya province of the Spanish-administered Philippines. In 1891, the Spanish government established
Quiangan as a
comandancia-politico-militar for the Ifugao area. The Spanish occupation in the province ended with the outbreak of the
Philippine Revolution. In the
Northern Philippines, the
Ifugao people are one of many minority ethnolinguistic groups best
documented by
ethnohistory and
anthropological scholars. However, there is a dearth of historical information in the region particularly during the Spanish conquest. Changes in both demographics and cultural orientation among existing communities were to be expected during the time as certain groups resulted to migration towards the highlands. According to studies, the Ifugao succeeded multiple times resisting against the Spanish at conquest. The groups that migrated to the highlands were believed to be those that resisted the
Spanish colonial control, which became prevalent in the lowlands. According to Acabado, the rugged nature of the highlands around the Ifugao region did not out rightly provide a hindrance to the
Spanish conquest. Other regions that had similar rugged environment as found in Ifugao were subjected to colonial rule. Archeological research shows Ifugao practices of successful resistance by strengthening their political and economic resources. Spanish conquest and population increase was the source of shifting to wet-rice agriculture.
American colonial era On August 18, 1908, Ifugao was separated from Nueva Vizcaya and, along with
Amburayan,
Apayao,
Benguet, Bontoc,
Kalinga and Lepanto, was annexed to the newly created
Mountain Province established by the
Philippine Commission with the enactment of
Act No. 1876.
Japanese occupation Ifugao became the center of warfare in the last year of
World War II when Gen.
Tomoyuki Yamashita launched his last stand against the American and
Philippine Commonwealth forces at
Mount Napulawan. He informally surrendered to Captain Grisham of the 6th US Army in the Philippines based in Kiangan,
Philippine independence On June 18, 1966,
Republic Act No. 4695 was enacted, and Ifugao was converted into a regular province when the huge
Mountain Province was split into four (the other three being
Benguet, Mountain Province, and
Kalinga-Apayao). Ifugao and Kalinga-Apayao were placed under the jurisdiction of the
Cagayan Valley region. The capital was moved from Kiangan to Lagawe due to the harsh landscape of Kiangan which made it unsuitable for public transportation and as a capital.
Post-martial law era On July 15, 1987, the
Cordillera Administrative Region was established by then-President
Corazon Aquino through
Executive Order 220, and Ifugao was made one of its provinces.
Contemporary In 1992,
Republic Act No. 07173 was enacted, separating several
barangays from
Kiangan and constituting them under a new municipality known as
Asipulo. Since 1992, the province has observed every September 2 as "Victory Day", commemorating the valor of Philippine
war veterans and the surrender of General Yamashita in the municipality of
Kiangan on September 2, 1945. In 1995, the
Batad Rice Terraces,
Bangaan Rice Terraces (both in
Banaue),
Mayoyao Rice Terraces (in
Mayoyao),
Hungduan Rice Terraces (in
Hungduan) and
Nagacadan Rice Terraces (in
Kiangan, Ifugao) were inscribed by
UNESCO as a
World Heritage Site under the collective name "
Rice Terraces of the Philippine Cordilleras". In 2001, the
Hudhud Chants of the Ifugao was chosen as one of the 11
Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity. It was then formally inscribed as a
UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2008. In 2013, the official Intangible Heritage Book of the Philippine was published, and 13 of its elements were from Ifugao. In 2014, the Philippines joined other Asian nations in establishing the support and submission of the "Tug of war" — a multinational cultural heritage or Tugging rituals and games, an Intangible Cultural Heritage that encompasses tug-of-war games in Vietnam, Cambodia, and the Philippines. The initial move of the Philippines started in 2013. The Philippines' part in the new element is represented by the tug-of-war of the Ifugaos (in Barangay Hapao, Municipality of Hungduan) called the
punnuk. The element is expected to be declared as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2015. Since the 20th century, the province has been central to the archaeological research of various international institutions, mostly from the United States and the Philippines. A major discovery was the archaeological site of
Kiangan, which proved the oral tradition of the Ifugao that the first settlement in the province was in Kiangan. ==Geography==