of Dupax into two municipalities: Dupax del Norte and Dupax del Sur. As early as 1928, during the term of Municipal President Inocencio Suzon, there were already attempts to transfer the town hall to Barangay Malasin (poblacion of the present Dupax del Norte) from the poblacion (the present poblacion of Dupax del Sur). On November 28, 1931, during the incumbency of Municipal President Tranquilino Orden, the Municipal Council has approved Resolution No. 94 sponsored by Councilor Victoriano Barroga proposing the transfer of the seat of the municipal government from the old poblacion to Malasin. However, it was only in 1956 that the move has succeeded when Congress approved Republic Act 1181 sponsored by Congressman Leonardo B. Perez. Geography Dupax del Norte is located 190.41 kilometers north of Manila and 20.08 kilometers south of Bayombong. Barangays Dupax del Norte is politically subdivided into 15 barangays. These barangays are headed by elected officials: Barangay Captain, Barangay Council, whose members are called Barangay Councilors. All are elected every three years. Mabasa Mabasa (Iloko for "wet") is a barangay of Dupax del Norte in the province of Nueva Vizcaya, Philippines. It was one of the oldest barrio of Dupax (when the town was not yet divided into two, Dupax del Norte and Dupax del Sur). Mabasa was originally called San Roque, named by the parish priest of Dupax after the saint of hunters because the place then was a thick forest where game was abundant such as deer and wild pigs. The first settlers of San Roque were Ilokano migrants from the town of Paoay in Ilocos Norte and from Alcala and San Nicolas towns in Pangasinan. They travelled by foot and by horses and carabaos through San Nicolas, Pangasinan, passing through Imugan, Santa Fe, Nueva Vizcaya because that was the shortest way possible during those times. The migrants settled at Sitio Poonan (later called Puongan). The family of Apolonio Vadil was the first settler in Poungan. Old records from the Roman Catholic Church in Dupax del Sur showed that the daughter of Apolonio Vadil, Tomasa, was baptized on October 10, 1887. More migrants came and settled along the Apean (Apayan) River from Puongan upstream and occupied the western part of the barrio now called Riverside East and Riverside West. The settlers found the place always flowing with abundant water coming from a spring in the eastern part of the barrio, and so they