Isabela, Basilan

Isabela, officially the City of Isabela (Chavacano: Ciudad de Isabela; Tausug: Dāira sin Isabela; Yakan: Siudad Isabelahin; Filipino: Lungsod ng Isabela), is a component city and de facto capital of the province of Basilan in the Philippines. According to the 2024 census, it has a population of 151,297 people making it the most populous city in the province. It is also colloquially known as Isabela de Basilan to differentiate the city's name from the province of Isabela in Luzon. While administratively the island province of Basilan is part of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), Isabela, which previously served as its capital since the province's creation, itself is not part of this region, being placed instead under the Zamboanga Peninsula region. While the city is still regulated by the Basilan provincial government and provincial services are provided by Basilan, regional services are provided by the Zamboanga Peninsula regional government. The Philippine Statistics Authority lists Isabela as statistically independent from Basilan. This prompted the provincial government to transfer the capital to Lamitan. Institutionally, the military has played a major part in Isabela's and Basilan's volatile history, due to the ongoing conflicts borne out of the Moro secessionist wars of the 1970s, and more recently, by Al-Qaeda backed Islamic fundamentalist groups fomenting a running gun-battle with the Armed Forces of the Philippines for more than a decade. Also exerting great influence in everyday life is the Roman Catholic Church and the Islamic mufti and imams, religious scholars and leaders who exercise a moral ascendancy over their respective groups. Trading and commerce are still predominantly in the hands of the East Asian (Hokkien Chinese), aided more so by a recent influx of immigrants from Taiwan and by Koreans as well.