According to a legend, Apayao is derived from the combination from the Ilocano word “Apay” meaning “Why” and Tagalog word “Ayaw” meaning “Don’t like”, the legend tells of an Ilocano and Tagalog who accidentally met in one forest of the province. The Ilocano ask, “Apay adaka ditoy?” to which the Tagalog answered,”Ayaw” thinking that Ilocano is offering food. Not understanding each other, they fought. Men from a nearby village the two men fighting and hearing the word “Apay” and “Ayaw”. The place was then referred as Apay-ayaw by the villagers thus came the name Apayao.
From being a Commendancia during the time of the Spaniards, Apayao became a sub-province of the Old Mountain Province under the Americans. On June 18, 1966, the sub-provinces of Kalinga and Apayao were combined to form a single province when Republic Act No. 4695, an act creating four provinces from the Old Mountain Province, was enacted. On February 14, 1995, Kalinga-Apayao was converted into two separate and regular provinces (Kalinga and Apayao) with the signing into the law of Republic Act No. 7878.
Located at the northern part of Cordillera (Northernmost tip of Luzon), Apayao is bounded by Cagayan on the east, Ilocos Norte and Abra on the west, and Kalinga in the south. The province is classified into upper Apayao, which has the mountainous topography characterized by towering peaks, plateaus and intermittent patches of valleys and lower Apayao, which is generally flat land with rolling mountains and plateaus.
Apayao has its own collection of natural wonders (underground rivers, waterfalls, lakes, exotic wildlife…)that are otherwise not found in the rest of the Cordillera Region making it the “Cordilleras Last Frontier of Natural Richeness”.
