Isabela (province)

Isabela is the second largest province in the Philippines in land area. It is in the Cagayan Valley.

Cities

• 1 Ilagan — The provincial capital, with plenty of visitor attractions, most notably the Japanese Tunnel.
• 2 Cauayan — Provincial economic center
• 3 Santiago City — Regional commercial center.

Understand

Isabela is considered among the richest and most progressive provinces in the Philippines.

The province has three geographic areas. The eastern area, straddled by the Sierra Madre mountain range, is rugged and thickly forested. A substantial portion is uncharted. These unexplored hinterlands are home to a rich variety of flora and fauna, and some are under government reservations. It is home to one of the world's largest remaining low-altitude rainforests, with numerous unknown endemic species of flora and fauna and biological diversity in the protected area known as the Northern Sierra Madre Natural Park.

This primarily agricultural province is the rice and corn granary of Luzon due to its plain and rolling terrain.

Major languages spoken are Ilocano followed by Ibanag, Yogad, and Gaddang.

Get in

By road

Almost 180 km (110 mi) of the Asian Highway 26 pass through the different towns and cities of the province. Several bus companies offer daily trips to different routes like Manila, Dagupan, Baguio, Ilocos, and vice versa. Public utility vans and small-time bus operators ply daily trips from Tuguegarao in Cagayan to Santiago City vice versa, while jeepneys and tricycles are commonly used as the basic mode of transportation within the province's jurisdiction.

By plane

There are three airports in the province. Cauayan Airport (CYZ ^IATA) is the primary airport in the province serving a trip to Manila, Palanan, and Maconacon. The other two are Palanan Airport in Palanan and Maconacon Airport in Maconacon. The country's leading passenger airline Cebu Pacific services the Cauayan-Manila-Cauayan Route. Light planes operated by Cyclone Airways and WCC Aviation's Sky Pasada have flights from Cauayan Domestic Airport to the community airports in Palanan and Maconacon.