French
DeutschGamu is a town of Isabela. A suburb of the provincial capital Ilagan, it is the pilgrimage center of Isabela, hosting a cathedral, a Marian shrine, and a monastery.
Understand
[edit | edit source]Gamu was established by the Spanish in 1678 along the banks of the Cagayan River. Its name derives from the Irraya word gamut (root).
Gamu is primarily an agricultural town, with additional income coming from Roman Catholic pilgrims who visit the town's multiple religious sites, namely Saint Rose parish, a Spanish era church; Guibang Shrine, which is dedicated to a local apparition of the Virgin Mary; Gamu Cathedral, the actual seat of the Diocese of Ilagan; and Poor Clare Monastery. It is also the site of Camp Melchor F. dela Cruz, a sprawling military garrison. Gamu's northernmost regions are slowly being consumed by urbanization from neighboring Ilagan.
It is home to about 31,000 people (census, 1 July 2024) 
Get in
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Gamu is along the Maharlika Highway to Tuguegarao, and there are buses passing here generally every hour all day. As the highway bypasses downtown Gamu, the main bus stop is at Upi junction, where Gamu-Roxas Road leads to downtown Gamu and the neighboring towns of Burgos and Roxas. A bypass road has been built in Guibang to avoid traffic congestion along Maharlika Highway during the feast day of Our Lady of Guibang on July 2.
Gamu is also serviced by passenger vans plying the Tuguegarao-Santiago City route. It is also along the Ilagan-Cauayan jeepney route. Both modes of transport pass through Maharlika Highway. Downtown Gamu is served by jeepneys plying the Ilagan-Roxas route.
Get around
[edit | edit source]Tricycles are the main form of transportation within town.
See
[edit | edit source]- 1 National Shrine of Our Lady of the Visitation of Guibang (Guibang Shrine), Maharlika Highway, Guibang, ourladyofguibang@gmail.com. A Roman Catholic shrine dedicated to a venerated image of the Virgin Mary found in the barrio in 1905 and believed to be miraculous. The church celebrates its feast day on July 2, during which the highway in front is closed to motor vehicles and non-visitors are directed to use a bypass road skirting the center of Guibang.
- 2 Cathedral of Saint Michael (Upi Cathedral), Maharlika Highway, Upi. The seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Ilagan, built in 2000. It formally replaced a Spanish-era building in neighboring Ilagan that reverted to being Ilagan's parish church in 2003. Formerly dedicated to Saint Ferdinand, its patron saint was changed to Saint Michael the Archangel in 2013.
- 3 Saint Rose of Lima Parish Church (Gamu Church), Real Street, Barangay District III, ☏ +63 936 360 1064, srlgamu@zoho.com. Gamu's Roman Catholic parish church, built in the Baroque style during the Spanish era in the 18th century.
- 4 Poor Clare Monastery, Maharlika Highway, Guibang. A nunnery run by the Order of Saint Clare that opens to pilgrims seeking to fulfill vows to pray in seven to 14 churches as part of the Visita Iglesia ritual during Holy Week.
Do
[edit | edit source]Buy
[edit | edit source]Stores selling military hardware and related items can be found on the stretch of Maharlika Highway lining Camp Melchor dela Cruz.
- 1 Xentro Square Gamu, Upi Junction, Upi. An unfinished mall with a functioning produce market.
Eat
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[edit | edit source]Sleep
[edit | edit source]- 1 Piazza Zicarelli, Maharlika Highway, Upi (in front of Shell gas station), ☏ +63 975 299 3979, piazza.zicarelli@yahoo.com. Hotel with restaurant and bakeshop.
- 2 Hotel Vercida, Maharlika Highway, Guibang (in front of Camp Melchor dela Cruz), ☏ +63 917 766 8040.
- 3 Montañosa Hotel, Maharlika Highway, Upi (in front of Camp Melchor dela Cruz), ☏ +63 956 769 2863, montanosahotel@gmail.com.
Connect
[edit | edit source]Go next
[edit | edit source]| Routes through Gamu |
| Tuguegarao ← Ilagan ← | N  S | → Naguilian → Cauayan |