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Isabela as of current is home to 1,697,050 people, of which are heavily known for their resilience and diligence. The majority of the people who make up about 69% of total households are Ilocanos. Two other prominent ethnolinguistic groups currently residing within Isabela are the Ibanag at 14% and the Tagalog at 10%. The remaining 7% is comprised of he Gaddang, Paranan, Yogad, and other indigenous tribes. The people of Isabela demonstrate a close kinship with one another, which is a very essential trait especially when challenging times call for unity, cooperation, and service to one’s family and community.

The province of Isabela has one of the highest literacy rates in the world at roughly 97%. Most residents, especially those living within the urban areas, can speak and understand both the Filipino and English languages. Because of the province’s attractive suburban lifestyle, different people from different cultures and different languages have moved to the area, further contributing to the fluency of the people of Isabela in other languages and other local dialects. With this also comes the very widespread inter-regional cultural blends that are most evident in the lifestyle and overall livelihood of the people.

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Amongst the Philippines’ 80 provinces, the province of Isabela is the second largest with a total land area of 10,655 square kilometers comprising more than 3% of the Philippines territory and almost 40% of the Cagayan Valley region. It is the largest province on Luzon Island and it is bounded on the north by Cagayan province; on the west by Kalinga, Mountain Province, and Ifugao ; on the south by Nueva Viscaya, Quirino, and Aurora; and on the east by the Philippine Sea and the Pacific Ocean.

The province is divided into three distinct areas namely Western, Eastern, and Coastal Isabela. All of which is straddled by the Sierra Madre Mountains, the longest mountain range in the Philippines. Isabela is also home to one of the biggest remaining rainforests in the world known as the Sierra Madre Natural Park. The park is considered among the global top ten biodiversity hotspots.

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In terms of income classification, the province of Isabela is considered a first-class province with it also being among the richest and most progressive provinces in the Philippines. With it located at the center of Cagayan Valley, Isabela is known to have demonstrated a profound skill in the field of business and Industry. Because of this, it has come to be known as the Regional Trade and Industrial Center of northeast Luzon.

The biggest industry in Isabela, which is agriculture, is deemed as the country’s top corn-producing province as it contributes to 21% of the annual national yellow corn production. The Mindanao Grains, the largest post-harvest corn processing facility in Asia, is located in Reina Mercedes, Isabela. Other high-value agricultural crops found in Isabela include monggo, tobacco, coffee, banana, and mango. Livestock and poultry industries are also slowly increasing, especially dairy processing, hog production, cattle breeding, and commercial poultry raising.

Another developing industry in Isabela is its aquaculture, sustained by inland fishing in the freshwater fishponds and 450 hectares of fish cage culture at the Magat Dam reservoir.

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Isabela is endowed with a rich soil conducive to the growth of agricultural crops and is blessed with verdant forests, preserved wildlife sanctuaries, abundant marine life, and extensive mineral deposits. The forests of Isabela are ecologically managed with the aim of having a balanced and sustainable ecosystem. Coastal Isabela’s wide range of seacoasts is rich in marine resources and untapped fisheries.  Extensive gold, copper, zinc, chromite, nickel, and manganese deposits found in the mountains located in eastern Isabela are yet to be fully utilized. A selection of nonmetallic minerals like marble, limestone, guano, clay, sand, and gravel are also present in large deposits.

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Ever since the start of the 21st  century, a great number of investors, both foreign and local have selected Isabela as a site for their business ventures. Isabela’s current top investors are Mindanao Processing Company, inc. in Reina Mercedes, SN Aboitiz Power-Magat Inc. in San Mariano.

Universal Leaf Philippines has built a tobacco processing plant in Reina Mercedes. The Coca-Cola Company’s Philippine subsidiary and SAN Miguel Corporation’s Cosmos division both operate bottling plants in Cauayan City, while RC Cola AND Pepsi Cola have beverage operations in Ilagan and Santiago City, respectively.

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Being the second-largest province in the Philippines and garnering a reputation of being a successful province, one would think that Isabela is the place to be. However, people tend to overlook that Isabela is still under a lot of economic stress given its rates of poverty spread throughout its areas. Though the rates of poverty are relatively minute compared to other provinces, it is still worth looking into given its potential risk for the future of the province.

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The origins of Isabela date back to 25,000 years ago when a group of indigenous people namely the “Agtas” inhabited the Philippines. These people were the ancestors of the Dumagats, a group of people who of which still lived within the forestlands of Eastern Isabela and the shorelines of Coastal Isabela. For the past few centuries, the aforementioned Agtas subsisted as hunters, gatherers, and fishermen.

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In the 16th century and the 17th centuries, the arrival of the Spaniards in Northern Luzon introduced the Christian religion, the encomienda system of the government, and the tobacco monopoly. The Spaniard’s 300-year rule, being primarily marked by oppression, led to several revolts in the 18th century led by local chieftains Dabo and Marayag.

On May 1, 1856, a royal decree issued by the Spanish regime saw the creation of the province’s name Isabela de Luzon, which was derived from then reigning Queen Isabela the second of Spain.

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In the 19th century, a large number of Ilocanos from northwestern Luzon migrated to Isabella. They were then followed by other ethnolinguistic groups, transforming the province into the “Melting Pot of the North”.

During the American's rule over the Philippines in the late 1890s, changes were instituted primarily in the political system but the economy of Isabela remained mainly agricultural.

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From 1942 to 1945, the Japanese occupied Isabela when the entire country was liberated by American and Filipino forces after the end of World War 2. The Philippines then became an independent republic in 1946.

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From the late 20th century to the turn of the millennium, Isabela has continued to grow as a top-tier province of the Philippines. In 1994, Santiago became an independent component city which was then followed by Cauayan in 2001 and Ilagan in 2012 respectively.

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Western Isabela, a fertile valley between the foothills of the Cordillera Mountain range and the Sierra Madre, has a flat and rolling terrain that is subdivided by several tributaries into smaller plains and valleys. Criss-crossing the area is the Philippines’ longest river, the Cagayan River.

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A substantial portion of Eastern Isabela is still considered uncharted territory. Having thick forestlands and rugged terrains, these unexplored parts of Eastern Isabela are said to contain a variety of unnamed flora and fauna.

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Coastal Isabela, which is separated from the province by the mountain peaks of Sierra Madre, has a 113-kilometer shoreline facing the Pacific ocean. Along with these, are the untapped fisheries and resources within the small islands and white sand beaches.

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In the rice industry, substantial investments have been made by Valiant Rice Mills Corporation in San Mateo, Family Choice Grains Processing Center in Cabatuan, Golden Season Grains Center in Luna, Hergo Agro Industries in Santiago City, JDT Silver Grains Center, and New Cauayan Goldyluck Grains in Cauayan City.

Retail giants like SM and Robinsons have also set up shop in Ilagan.  Fast-food chains like Jollibee and Mcdonald's are also among the quickly expanding assortment of franchises that continue to pop up in the areas of the province. The big three oil companies Shell, Petron, and Chevron have numerous stations in Isabela, as do new petroleum industry players like Total, Eastern plus Gold, and Flying V.

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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. Telecom firms Globe, PLDT/Smart, and Digitel/ Sun operate cellular sites and fixed telephony facilities throughout Isabela.

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As an example, based on the 2021 provincial rankings, Isabela is placed at the 52nd spot among the 81 provinces of the Philippines in terms of economic dynamism, government efficiency, infrastructure, and resiliency.  These rankings are based on the population and income weighted average of the overall scores of cities and municipalities under a province.

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User, S. (n.d.). | official website of the province of Isabela - Economic Profile. Retrieved March 5, 2022, from http://provinceofisabela.ph/index.php/doing-business-in-isabela/2013-07-09-01-13-03

Cities and Municipalities Competitiveness index. CMCI. (n.d.). Retrieved March 5, 2022, from https://cmci.dti.gov.ph/prov-profile.php?prov=Isabela&year=2021

Philippine Statistics Authority Regional Template. (2020, February 12). Retrieved March 5, 2022, from http://rsso02.psa.gov.ph/article/cagayan-valley-provinces-increased-poverty-threshold

2018 expanded National Nutrition Survey. (n.d.). Retrieved March 5, 2022, from http://enutrition.fnri.dost.gov.ph/site/uploads/2018%20Expanded%20National%20Nutrition%20Survey-CAMIGUIN.pdf

ABS-CBN News, & Garcia, A. G. (2018, February 3). Bambanti showcases Isabela's produce, food, people. ABS. Retrieved March 5, 2022, from https://news.abs-cbn.com/life/02/03/18/bambanti-showcases-isabelas-produce-food-people

https://library.csun.edu/SCA/Peek-in-the-Stacks/us-imperialism-philippines

Encyclopædia Britannica, inc. (n.d.). Corn. Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved March 5, 2022, from https://www.britannica.com/plant/corn-plant

Tarasuk, V., Dachner, N., & Loopstra, R. (2014, August 26). Food Banks, welfare, and food insecurity in Canada. British Food Journal. Retrieved March 5, 2022, from https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/BFJ-02-2014-0077/full/html?journalCode=bfj

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The 2018 Family Income and Expenditure Survey (FIES) of the Philippine statistics authority also revealed that across the provinces in the region, the province of Batanes registered the highest annual per capita poverty threshold for the full year of 2018, which was 37, 419 pesos. Isabela on the other hand only garnered 25,390 pesos. Additionally, in terms of the magnitude of poor families across provinces during the year of 2018, an estimated 340 families in Batanes belonged to families whose income fall below the amount needed to buy their basic food and non-food needs. Those numbers pale in comparison with Isabela’s recorded 50,810 poor families whose income falls below the amount needed.

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One glaring problem that may possibly contribute to the poverty rates in the province of Isabela is the small amounts of public transport and very few transport infrastructures. Transport infrastructure investment has long been hypothesized to contribute indirectly to poverty reduction. A good example of this is a study done in 2005 by Eunkyung Kwon on the poverty impact of roads in Indonesia. He found out that road investments improved the performance of provincial economic growth in poverty reduction, such that every one percent growth in provincial GDP led to a decline in poverty incidence by 0.33 percent in good-road provinces and 0.09 percent in bad-road provinces. This implies that the accumulation of road capital has an indirect contribution to somewhat alleviate the rate of poverty in an area.

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One of the glaring effects of poverty is the substantial decrease in the food security of the families residing in the province. This heavily affects the health and well-being of the residents.

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An Expanded National Nutrition Survey done in 2018 states that a little more than half (51.1%) of the households reported that they were food secure. This means that the remaining percent (48.9%) of the households weren’t. among households who were food insecure, 10% were classified as mildly food insecure in the sense that the household sometimes worried about food and/or was unable to eat their preferred food. In addition, a quarter (24.9%) of the households were classified as moderately food insecure in the context of having a hard time obtaining access to the food, leading them to be forced to compromise by decreasing both the quality and the quantity of food they get.

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One of the adverse effects of this food security problem is shown by the health status and general wellbeing of the residents, especially the children. Based on the survey, 2 out of 10 children were underweight and/or had suffered an acute form of malnutrition. Linking it with the poverty rates, the underweight prevalence was significantly higher in poor than nonpoor households.   Anemia amongst children was also identified, being 18.6% and vitamin A deficiency being 18%. Both of which were considered a “moderate” public concern, but a concern nonetheless.

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A major factor affecting the good health and wellbeing of the residents of Isabela, mostly the youth, is the lack of both the quantity and the quality of food needed. Combating food insecurity in and of itself is quite the tall order. various studies have shown that while these food banks are effective, they barely alleviate food insecurities. Taking into consideration the current financial state of the province, this is probably the simplest solution even if it doesn't yield the best results.
As an example; In 2012, 70% of the residents in Canada who were reliant on social assistance were food insecure. Social assistance recipients comprise at least half of food bank clientele and have done so for as long as this information has been tracked. However, the assistance provided by food banks appears insufficient to alter households’ food insecurity. Even considering the fact that food banks currently distribute over 200 million pounds of food annually, the scale of their operations pales in comparison to the food needs of those who seek their help.