Calabanga, Camarines Sur

Infobox Philippine municipality
infoboxtitle = Municipality of Calabanga
sealfile =
locatormapfile = Ph locator camarines sur calabanga.png| caption = Map of Camarines Sur showing the location of Calabanga
region = Bicol Region (Region V)
province = Camarines Sur
districts = 2nd district(Central Bay)
barangays = 48
class = 2nd class municipality; partially urban
mayor = |Alexis San Luisan ddon't forget that the philippines is the best vacations spot in the WORLD!! founded =
areakm2 = 163.84
pop2007 = 73,333

Calabanga is a 2nd class municipality in the province of Camarines Sur, Philippines. It is one of the biggest municipalities in terms of population and land area with an approximate 163.84 km². (16,384 hectares), which constitutes 3.1% of the province’s land area. It is composed of 48 barangays, 14 of which are within the urban area and the remaining 34 barangays are within the rural areas. According to the 2006 census, it has a population of 79,234 people in 12,444 households.Calabanga is located approximately between 13º40” to 13º47” north latitude and 123º07” to123º22” east latitude. It is bounded on the west by the Bicol River and beyond the municipality of Cabusao; on the south by the municipality of Bombon and Naga City; on the east by the vast forest lands of Mt. Isarog, the Tigman River and each tributaries forming the natural boundary and beyond the municipality of Tinambac; on the north by the vast fishing grounds of San Miguel Bay, and beyond, the municipalities of Sipocot and Basud and Mercedes of Camarines Norte province.

Brief History

The origin of the municipality is unfolded from the legends and fables of the old generation. In 1578 when the head Mission of Quipayo was established, Calabanga was only a visita or barrio. At that time, the place had vast forests and swamps and an abundance of wildlife such as monkeys, wild chickens, and forest lizard. Others say, it derived its name from the Bicol word “Calabangan”, the plural term of “labang” or “litag”, meaning a kind of snare for catching wild animals. Another legend says that Calabanga originated from the word “Calagbangan” meaning the wide, long, and straight street spanning from the church through the poblacion, east to west, called locally as “calabaan” or “calacbangan”.

Calabanga became known with 400 tributes. On July 15, 1749, it was separated from Quipayo by virtue of the approval of Don Fray Joan de Arechera, Bishop Elect of Nueva Segovia of the Commissary of the King, in the petition signed & filed by 37 Calabangueños on April 28, 1749 for town to be conveniently administered.

There were 2 visitas, visita de Cagapad and visita de hinarijan and 12 barrios. The barrios were san Antonio, San Vicente, Sta. Catalina, Nuestra Señora de Salud, San Lucas, San Miguel, Sta. Isabel, Nuestra Señora del Carmen, San Roque, San Pablo, San Jose (now Balongay) and Belen.

Calabanga is one of the municipalities of the province of Camarines Sur and a member of the Metro Naga Development Council. With its fishing grounds and the vast agricultural area, it is a major supplier of fish and other marine products and prime agricultural products in the province as well as in Metro Manila.

Demographic Profile

The municipality of Calabanga is composed of 48 barangays, fourteen (14) of which are within the proposed urban area while the remaining 34 barangays belong to the rural areas. It has 11 coastal barangays. As of 2000 NCSO Survey, Calabanga has a total population of 67,408 with 25,159 or 37.32% belong to the urban population and 42,249 or 62.68% belong to the rural population. There was an increase of 8,244 over the 1995 population. The total population is distributed to 12,444 households registering an increase of 1,371 households over the 1995 household of 11,073. The average household size in 2000 survey slightly goes up to 5.4 from 5.3 persons in 1995. With the latest survey, Calabanga grew at the rate of 2.83 (95-2000) higher than the (90-95) rate of 1.63. The municipal population density is 411 persons per km². Of the 48 barangays in the municipality, Barangay San Roque has the largest population of 4,974 composing 7.38% of the total population, followed by Barangay Sabang with a population of 4,516 which is 6.70% while Barangay Punta Tarawal has the lowest population of 294 which only 0.44% of the total population. Despite the influx of various religious sects, a large segment which is 95.28% of the populace is still Roman Catholics. While most of the populace, 95.93% are Bicolano speaking. The projected population reflects the increasing population of the municipality that will have major development implications. Future planning should be geared towards meeting the increasing demands of the growing population.

Topography and Slope

The topographic landscape of the municipality could be characterized as generally flat with a slope 0-3%, gently sloping (3-8%) towards the direction of the eastern portion and finally rolling up to higher steeps towards the direction of the southeastern part going to Mt. Isarog. The 0-3% slope is a broad area of flat to nearly level land which extends from Barangay Balongay along the Bicol River to Poblacion area and surrounding areas down to Barangay Manguiring. This is the dominant slope of the municipality.

oil and Water Resources

There are six (6) soil types that could be found in the Municipality. These are the (1) Hydrosol which is dominant along the Bicol River covering parts of Barangays Balongay, San Bernardino and Punta Tarawal; (2) Balong Clay; (3) Pili Clay Loam; (4) Tigaon Clay which covers the poblacion; (5) Annan Clay Loam which could be found toward the direction of Tinambac and (6) Mountain Soil in the Mt. Isarog area.

The municipality of Calabanga is endowed with abundant natural resources. The major river systems, the Tigman, Hinaguianan and Inarihan rivers are presently utilized for irrigation purposes. They originate their main tributaries from Mt. Isarog and flow down in the northwestern direction ultimately discharging the flow to San Miguel Bay.

Calabanga is blessed with many natural spring water resources found in the eastern portion of the municipality along the northwestern flanks of Mt. Isarog. Most of these are found to be potential sources for potable water supply of the municipality, aside from the Hamislag and Tawang rivers.

Calabanga is bounded by water bodies, the San Miguel Bay on the northern part and the Bikol River on the western part which are sources of abundant supplies of fish of various species and other marine products.

Land Area and its Uses

The municipality has an approximately 163.84 km². (16,384 has.) land area which constitutes 3.1% of the province land areas. It is composed of 48 barangays, 14 of which are proposed within the urban area and the remaining 34 barangays are within the rural areas.

With its generally flat terrain, the dominant land use existing is agricultural use. While the miscellaneous use comprising of built-up areas and major rivers have the smallest portion compared to the total area. Built-up areas are clustered within the urban barangays. The urban areas expand in an almost linear development or ribbon like development pattern

Proposed land use as embodied in the Comprehensive Land use Plan has delineated the Residential, Commercial, institutional area within the Urban Land Use while the agricultural, Agro-industrial, Special use could be found in the General land use.

ocial Services

The municipality enjoys the benefits of several support facilities and services to meet the social and economic needs of its populace as follows.

For education, the municipality has a high rate literacy which is attributed to the continuing efforts of the government to make education more accessible to the people. This is being maintained and improved through the 34 public elementary schools located in 32 places and 8 public secondary schools throughout the municipality aside from several private schools offering pre-school, grade school and high school. A college education and technical /vocational courses is being offered by two government-owned institutions the Calabanga Community College and CSSAC (Calabanga Campus) and privately owned computer schools.

For those who will pursue colleges courses not offered in the municipality of Calabanga, one has to go to colleges and universities in Naga City or in Metro Manila.The health and medical services of the municipality is provided by three (3) physicians, 5 nurses, 18 midwives and 1 dentist from the government sector aside from private medical and dental practitioners.

Health facilities available are 15 private clinics (Medical & Dental), 3 Main and Rural Health Centers and 5 Pharmacies.

The number of health personnel is sufficient and beyond standard as to the ratio to the population, however, facilities and equipments are lacking which are compounded with the dilapidated main health center.

With the social welfare services devolved to the LGU as mandated under RA 7160, which is the Local Government Code of 1991, the municipality of Calabanga have assumed the responsibility of implementing the various programs such as the Child and Youth Welfare, Family and Community Organizing, Women’s Welfare, Elderly and Disabled persons. Other services include family life education and counseling, Aid to individuals in Crisis Situation and emergency assistance which have the most number of clienteles. The municipality was able to establish and maintain 62-Day Care Centers located at 48 barangays.

For protective services, Barangay Tanod and Lupon Tagapamayapa were organized in every barangay and afforded appropriate training to help in keeping and maintaining peace and order and in setting disputes within and among barangay residents.

For sports and recreation, the municipality has a covered court at the poblacion area wherein the municipal-wide annual competitions for various sports activities such as basketball, volleyball and other sports are held. However, almost all barangays have multi-purpose play areas which are usually being utilized by the residents especially the youth, as volleyball and basketball courts. There is also a municipal park at the center of the poblacion area where people could spend their time and relax.

Calabanga has a quite a number of tourism potentials and attractions. Famous among the scenic beauties are the group of small islets/islands of Kawit, Tanglad, and Cabgan which is a few minutes from the shore. These islands are frequently visited by excursionists particularly during summer but these places need more development. Other places that invite picnickers to its cool and clear water are Tigman, Hinaguianan and Inarihan rivers and private commercial resorts.Historical sites worthy to see is the “Ladrillo” or a brick old church and ruins of Quipayo built sometime in 1578, more than four (4) centuries ago, being the seat of the Catholic mission. Another is the “HINULID”, Santo Entiero shrine at Sta. Salud which is an object of Friday devotion and pilgrimage. Thousands of devotees not only from Calabanga but other parts of Bicol Region and the country flock to the shrine during Maundy Thursday and Good Friday.

Economic Services

Calabanga is blessed with rich natural resources. It has big uplands and vast fishing grounds. Agricultural areas are the most extensive areas covering more than half of the total land area in this municipality. It is the dominant land use. Land devoted to crop production is approximately 7,609.79 has. Which include rice, corn and coconut as the major crops and other crops such as abaca, coffee, vegetables, rootcrops and fruit trees.

Side by side with agriculture, fishing and livestock raising constitutes major economic activities. The fish grounds of San Miguel Bay as well as the Bikol River are the rich sources of plentiful fish, shellfish, oysters, capiz shells, prawns, shrimps and other marine species providing various livelihood industries such as fish processing, fish paste and bagoong making and other marine by-product. These marine by-products as well as shrimps, prawn, mudcrabs are supplied to the city of Naga, other neighboring provinces as well as in Manila. Other water sources include Inarihan, Tigman and Hinaguinan river aside from the fishponds for the brackish and freshwater species.

Livestock raising is a thriving industry in the municipality, an inventory of livestock and poultry farms shows that there are 5 commercial piggery and 3 commercial poultry farms operating in the municipality aside from the backyard animal raising which is very common in rural areas.

Next to agriculture and fishing, commerce, trade and industry are important and significant aspects in the economy of the municipality. Commercial and industrial activities are more concentrated in the urban areas that include among others wholesale and retail trade, minor service centers, transport business, community and personal services, drugstores, agri-supplies, gasoline stations while industrial activities include rice milling, fish processing, bamboo craft, furniture making, garments, metal crafts, ice plant, welding and auto repair shops as well as other small enterprises. Nipa shingle production is also one industry predominant at western barangays where nipa swamps could be found. The products are sold not only within the municipality but to nearby towns and Naga City.

The presence of a new Calabanga Public Market which started operation last 1998 finally resolved the demands for a bigger marketing center, while Cooperatives throughout the municipality are gradually developing its enterprises.

Infrastructure Facilities

Calabanga is endowed with abundant water resources. At present, the main source of local water district for potable water supply is from Balombon spring. Its capacity is 10 lps which is able to serve 18 barangays. The areas being served are San Antonio poblacion, Del Carmen, Sta Isabel, San Miguel, San Vicente, Sta. Salud, San Lucas, San Pablo, San Francisco, Sta Cruz Poblacion, Paolbo, Manguiring, Balombon, San Roque, San Isidro, Pagatpat, Sabang and Salvacion Baybay. Most of these are in the poblacion areas and the rest are the barangays traversed by the source from Balombon.

For barangays not reach by the services of the Local Water District (Level III), the sources are shallow wells, deep wells and water peddlers. These serve the daily needs of the household for potable water supply.

All the barangays of the municipality are link by road system. The municipality is easily accessible from the City of Naga, the province’s prime city. Most of the total road networks need improvements and rehabilitation to provide greater access to far- flung barangay residents and facilitate hauling and marketing of farm produce to the poblacion/ marketing centers.For inter-barangay linkages, tricycles abound that could bring one to various barangay while foot pedalled tricycles/ padyak abound within the poblacion areas.For bus and jeepney parking facilities, there is a privately-owned-operated terminal located at San Francisco but the local government has proposed integrated terminal that will be located within the Calabanga Public Market compound that could accommodate almost all jeepneys and tricycles in the municipality.

From Metro Manila, Calabanga is very much accessible via Naga City. First, by a 45-minute plane flight to Pili airport and a car/jeep ride of some 40 minutes to Calabanga. Another choice is a 7-10 hours aircon bus trip direct to Calabanga being provided by three (3) bus lines. The Philippine National Railways (PNR) also provide trips from Manila to Bicol and vice- versa having a station at Naga City, then it takes some 20-30 minutes ride from Naga City to Calabanga.The power supply in the municipality of Calabanga is provided by the NAPOCOR through the Camarines Sur Electric Cooperative II (CASURECO II). At present, all the 48 barangays of the municipality are already served with electricity, however, several sitios of far-flung barangays are still longing for the extension of power lines to their places.

The modern technology on Communications and information has far reached the municipality of Calabanga and has provided the constituents with better access to communication.Calabanga is being served by private telephone companies, the L.M. United Telephone Company (UNITEL) and the BAYANTEL Company which provides individual connections for those at the urban and outlaying barangays. These companies provide local and long distance calls to Metro Manila or any point in the country or any other place where the system can reach. Year 2002, the cellular mobile phone services within the municipality was improved and expanded through the installation of telecommunication facilities such as the cell site by two private telecommunication companies. The Bureau of Telecommunications, a government operated agency having a Telecom Office stationed in the municipality is providing telegraphic services to the residents of Calabanga while Postal services is provided mainly by the Philippine postal corporation.

Naga City TV relay stations as well as the cable TV stations are tuned-in in the municipality while a local cable TV station and a private; local community television station and a newly opened radio station are based in the municipality. Radio broadcasts from several radio stations in Canaman, Naga City and Legaspi are received regularly.Local as well as national newspapers and magazines are available regularly from newsstands and newsboys from Naga City.

Education

The literacy rate in the municipality is high at 98.5%. The NSO survey in year 2000 for household population, 5 years old and over in terms of educational attainment, reflects the following; of the total population, 29,555 are in the elementary grade; 15,037 are in high school; only 2,623 or 0.045% of the population has no grade completed. 4, 446 are college under graduates with 1,057 degree holders and 201 with post baccalaureate degrees.

For education, the municipality has a high rate of literacy which is attributed to the continuing efforts of the government to make education more accessible to the people. This is being maintained and improved through the 38 public elementary schools in the entire municipality; eight high schools; one vocational and some five (5) private schools that offer pre-school, grade school and high school. College education is being offered by two government- owned institutions, the Calabanga Community College and the CSSAC (Calabanga Campus) and privately-owned computer Schools, one of which offer a multi- grade schooling from elementary to college levels (Malayan Computer College).

Politics

* Mayor: Evelyn S. Yu
* Vice-Mayor: Raffy B. Palma

Agriculture

Produces the following products

* Coconut
* Rice
* Abaca
* Corn
* Sugarcane

Most people are farmers and fishermen.

Barangays

Calabanga is politically subdivided into 48 barangays.

External links

* [http://www.gobicol.com/calabanga/ Calabanga Group - goBicol]
* [http://www.nscb.gov.ph/activestats/psgc/default.asp Philippine Standard Geographic Code]
* [http://www.t-macs.com/kiso/local/ 2000 Philippine Census Information]