BY VINCE JACOB VISAYA
CABARROGUIS, Quirino (September 11, 2025)—Street dancers dazzled amid heavy rains during Quirino’s Panagdadapun Festival that capped the province’s five-day celebration of its 54th foundation day on Wednesday, Sept. 10.
Gov. Dakila Carlo Cua said this year’s theme was “Honoring 54 Years of Heritage, Advancing Together as a First-Class Province,” which showcased the rich culture and tradition of the province.
The Panagdadapun Festival, from the Ilocano word “panagdadapun,” means “assembly” or “coming together,” wherein the people, including the indigenous folk, band together, explained chief tourism operations officer Aurea Martinez.
Quirino was founded in 1971 through Republic Act 6394 after it was carved out of Nueva Vizcaya and named after the sixth President of the Philippines, Elpidio Quirino.
Aside from the Bugkalots, other Quirino natives include Dumagats, Ifugaos, and Isinays.
The event, since Sunday, was marked with the drum and lyre competition, agro-industrial and ecotourism booths and trade fair, discount caravan, pregnant women’s congress, bloodletting, waste management plogging, and battle of the bands, among others.
The province’s culture was also promoted in the arts and crafts exhibit and the Dapun art showcase, Quirino Got Talent (Season 12), bike fun ride, circumcision operation, Tupad payout, and distribution of livelihood assistance and tools, including bakery equipment, cattle, and protective gear for disaster response volunteers.
Local artisans also put on live demonstrations on transforming wood, fiber, and canvas into “innovative works that bridge tradition with modern design,” provincial administrator Carmelita Jimenez said.
The Dakilang Pamana Awards later honored outstanding Quirinian graduates, while arnis competitions and indigenous games later followed.
The culinary competition with coffee fusion and latte bar competition also took center stage.
Tree planting, a job fair, the distribution of senior citizen kits, and the inauguration of the PSWDO staging and repacking area were also done.
The Binibining Quirino 2025 pageant, Rigodon de Honor, farm family day, ecumenical thanksgiving, floral opening, fun run, grand parade, and street dancing, aside from the sportsfest and Project Layag on education, capped the weeklong events.
Quirino is located along the upper floodplains of Cagayan River. Its neighboring provinces are Aurora, Isabela and Nueva Vizcaya. All of these provinces are part of the Cagayan Valley Region alongside Batanes and Cagayan.
Quirino has a vast forested area, which is the homeland of the Negritos, the aboriginal group of people who lived in and subsisted on sustenance offered by the forest.
Then it became a sub-province of Nueva Vizcaya when Republic Act 4734 was approved on June 18, 1966. It was composed of the towns of Aglipay, Diffun, Maddela, and Saguday.
Then the municipality of Cabarroguis was carved from a part of the territories comprising the town of Aglipay through Republic Act 5554 which was approved on June 21, 1969.
The province became an independent province on Sept. 10, 1971.