[5] Based on the fact that Cabagan at the time was in constant contact with members of the "pagan tribes" from southern Isabela as well as with the "Kalingas", of the neighboring Cordillera mountains.

In 1621, the Irraya rebelled and the Spanish relocated three hundred loyalist families who agreed to establish the village of Maquilla, near Tuguegarao.

The brainchild of the transfer was parish priest Pedro Ricart, who had aggressively lobbied the Spanish government.

Father Jose Burgues' History of Cagayan Valley gave the unhealthiness of the old site as the reason for the transfer.

[5] When the Spaniards moved the town, they also endeavored to build a massive church and convent made of stone, brick and mortar.

[5] Cabagan is a land-locked municipality in the Cagayan River valley in the north of Luzon Island.

During colonial rule, people were discouraged or forbidden to speak the language as it was considered the language of the "pagans" at the time, the Kalingas, leading to connotations of Irraya speakers as ignorant people or mountain-dwellers.

[21] There are several popular restaurants (locally called 'Panciterias') serving this dish along the main highway in Barangays Centro, Anao, Ugad and Cubag.

As a municipality in the Province of Isabela, government officials in the provincial level are voted by the electorates of the town.

Cabagan, as a municipality, belongs to the first legislative district of the province of Isabela.

[31] The Schools Division of Isabela governs the town's public education system.