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Balangiga

Coordinates: 11°06′33″N 125°23′11″E / 11.1092°N 125.3864°E / 11.1092; 125.3864
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Balangiga
Municipality
Municipality of Balangiga
Balangiga Church
Balangiga Church
Flag of Balangiga
Flag
Map of Eastern Samar with Balangiga highlighted
Map of Eastern Samar with Balangiga highlighted
OpenStreetMap
Map
Balangiga is located in Philippines
Balangiga
Balangiga
Location within the Philippines
Coordinates: 11°06′33″N 125°23′11″E / 11.1092°N 125.3864°E / 11.1092; 125.3864
Country Philippines
RegionEastern Visayas
ProvinceEastern Samar
District Lone district
Barangays13 (see Barangays)
Government
 [2]
 • TypeSangguniang Bayan
 • MayorAtty. Dana Flynch R. de Lira
 • Vice MayorDanny Virgil B. Ablay
 • RepresentativeMaria Fe R. Abunda
 • Councilors
List[1]
 • Electorate10,617 voters (2022)
Area
[3]
 • Total
190.05 km2 (73.38 sq mi)
Highest elevation
281 m (922 ft)
Lowest elevation
0 m (0 ft)
Population
 (2020 census)[4]
 • Total
14,341
 • Density75/km2 (200/sq mi)
 • Households
3,584
Economy
 • Income class4th municipal income class
 • Poverty incidence
35.94
% (2021)[5]
 • Revenue₱ 105 million (2020)
 • Assets₱ 423.9 million (2020)
 • Expenditure₱ 98.69 million (2020)
 • Liabilities₱ 222.6 million (2020)
Service provider
 • ElectricityEastern Samar Electric Cooperative (ESAMELCO)
Time zoneUTC+8 (PST)
ZIP code
6812
PSGC
082602000
IDD : area code +63 (0)55
Native languagesWaray
Tagalog
Websitewww.balangiga-esamar.gov.ph

Balangiga (IPA: [ˌbalaŋˈhɪga]), officially the Municipality of Balangiga (Waray: Bungto han Balangiga; Tagalog: Bayan ng Balangiga), is a 4th class municipality in the province of Eastern Samar, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 14,341 people.[4]

Balangiga is the site of the Balangiga Encounter in 1901, which remains one of the longest-running and most controversial issues of the Philippine–American War.

History

[edit]

Balangiga Encounter and Bells

[edit]
Further information: Balangiga massacre and Balangiga bells

During the Philippine-American War, on September 28, 1901, Eugenio Daza, Area Commander of Southeastern Samar and Valeriano Abanador, the Balangiga's pulahan chief, launched an attack on U.S. Army Company C 9th Infantry Regiment who were occupying Balangiga. With Philippine Revolutionary Army forces and Balangiga villagers, killing 48 and wounding 22 of the 78 men of the unit, with only four escaping unhurt and four missing in action. The villagers captured about 100 rifles and 25,000 rounds of ammunition. An estimated 20 to 25 of them died in the fighting, with a similar number of wounded.[6]

Statue and Historical Market of Valeriano Abanador, Balangiga.
U.S. soldiers of Company C, 9th Infantry Regiment pose with one of the Balangiga bells seized as war trophy. Photo taken in Calbayog, Samar in April 1902.
The signal bell displayed in the Madison Barracks at Sackets Harbor, New York station of the 9th US Infantry Regiment at the turn of the 20th century. This bell was later moved to Camp Red Cloud in Korea.
Two bells exhibited at Fort D.A. Russel (now Francis E. Warren Air Force Base) c. 1910[7]

In reprisal, General Jacob H. Smith ordered that Samar be turned into a "howling wilderness" and that they shoot any Filipino male above ten years of age[6] who was capable of bearing arms. The American soldiers seized three church bells including Bangahon Church bell of old Gandara and from the town church Balangiga and moved them home to the United States as war trophies. The 9th Infantry Regiment maintained that the single bell in their possession was presented to the regiment by villagers when the unit left Balangiga on 9 April 1902. The bell had been actually given to them by the 11th Infantry Regiment, which had taken all three bells when they left Balangiga for Tacloban on 18 October 1901.[8]

Smith and his primary subordinate, Major Littleton Waller of the United States Marine Corps, were both court-martialled for illegal vengeance against the civilian population of Samar. Waller was acquitted of the charges. Smith was found guilty, admonished and retired from service, but charges were dropped shortly after. He was later hailed as a war hero.[9]

The bells were returned on December 11, 2018.[10]

Geography

[edit]
The Balangiga Church at night

Balangiga is located on the southern coast of the island of Samar facing Leyte Gulf, and sits at the mouth of the Balangiga River. To the west lies the municipality of Lawaan, to the north is Llorente, and to the east are the municipalities of Quinapondan and Giporlos.

Barangays

[edit]

Balangiga is politically subdivided into 13 barangays. [11] Each barangay consists of puroks and some have sitios.

  • Bacjao
  • Cag-olango
  • Cansumangcay
  • Guinmaayohan
  • Poblacion I
  • Poblacion II
  • Poblacion III
  • Poblacion IV
  • Poblacion V
  • Poblacion VI
  • San Miguel
  • Santa Rosa
  • Maybunga

Climate

[edit]
Climate data for Balangiga, Eastern Samar
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) 28
(82) 		28
(82) 		29
(84) 		30
(86) 		30
(86) 		30
(86) 		29
(84) 		30
(86) 		30
(86) 		29
(84) 		29
(84) 		28
(82) 		29
(84)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) 22
(72) 		22
(72) 		22
(72) 		23
(73) 		24
(75) 		24
(75) 		24
(75) 		24
(75) 		24
(75) 		24
(75) 		23
(73) 		23
(73) 		23
(74)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 90
(3.5) 		67
(2.6) 		82
(3.2) 		70
(2.8) 		97
(3.8) 		145
(5.7) 		152
(6.0) 		127
(5.0) 		132
(5.2) 		152
(6.0) 		169
(6.7) 		144
(5.7) 		1,427
(56.2)
Average rainy days 17.0 13.5 16.0 16.5 20.6 24.3 26.0 25.4 25.2 26.4 23.0 21.1 255
Source: Meteoblue[12]

Demographics

[edit]
Population census of Balangiga
YearPop.±% p.a.
1903 4,914—    
1918 10,125+4.94%
1939 19,858+3.26%
1948 21,621+0.95%
1960 8,215−7.75%
1970 9,538+1.50%
1975 8,474−2.34%
1980 9,559+2.44%
1990 9,565+0.01%
1995 11,100+2.83%
2000 10,662−0.86%
2007 12,428+2.14%
2010 12,756+0.95%
2015 14,085+1.91%
2020 14,341+0.35%
Source: Philippine Statistics Authority[13][14][15][16]

In the 2020 census, the population of Balangiga, Eastern Samar, was 14,341 people,[4] with a density of 75 inhabitants per square kilometre or 190 inhabitants per square mile.

Economy

[edit]

Poverty incidence of Balangiga

10
20
30
40
50
60
2006
36.90
2009
44.16
2012
40.55
2015
39.65
2018
50.07
2021
35.94

Source: Philippine Statistics Authority[17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24]

Transportation

[edit]

Balangiga can be reached through public utility vans and buses from Tacloban City. Pedicabs (potpot), tricycles, and habal-habal by the means of inner town transportation.

Education

[edit]

Balangiga has 9 public elementary schools, namely:

  • Balangiga Central Elementary School
  • Bacjao Elementary School
  • Bangon Elementary School
  • Cag-olango Elementary School
  • Cansumangkay Elementary School
  • Guinmaayohan Elementary School
  • Maybunga Elementary School
  • San Miguel Elementary School
  • Santa Rosa Elementary School

Has 1 public secondary school:

  • Southern Samar National Comprehensive High School

Has 1 private secondary school:

  • MSH Sisters Academy Balangiga

Daughter Towns

[edit]

The municipalities of Lawaan, Giporlos, and Quinapondan were former barangays of the municipality of Balangiga.

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ DILG Masterlist of Officials
  2. ^  Municipality of Balangiga | (DILG)
  3. ^ "2015 Census of Population, Report No. 3 – Population, Land Area, and Population Density" (PDF). Philippine Statistics Authority. Quezon City, Philippines. August 2016. ISSN 0117-1453. Archived (PDF) from the original on May 25, 2021. Retrieved July 16, 2021.
  4. ^ a b c Census of Population (2020). "Region VIII (Eastern Visayas)". Total Population by Province, City, Municipality and Barangay. Philippine Statistics Authority. Retrieved 8 July 2021.
  5. ^ "PSA Releases the 2021 City and Municipal Level Poverty Estimates". Philippine Statistics Authority. 2 April 2024. Retrieved 28 April 2024.
  6. ^ a b Bautista, Veltisezar. "The Balangiga, Samar, Massacre". Archived from the original on 26 February 2008. Retrieved 20 March 2008.
  7. ^ Dobson, G. B. "Fort D. A. Russell Photos". Retrieved 16 December 2018.
  8. ^ Robson, Seth (7 July 2004). "Book casts doubt on bell's history". Stars and Stripes. Archived from the original on 7 September 2020. Retrieved 21 March 2008.
  9. ^ "Philippine Insurrection, 1899-1902: A Working Bibliography". Ibiblio.org. Retrieved 20 March 2008.
  10. ^ "US returns looted Balangiga church bells to Philippines". BBC. 15 December 2018.
  11. ^ "Province: Eastern Samar". PSGC Interactive. Quezon City, Philippines: Philippine Statistics Authority. Retrieved 12 November 2016.
  12. ^ "Balangiga, Eastern Samar : Average Temperatures and Rainfall". Meteoblue. Retrieved 30 December 2018.
  13. ^ Census of Population (2015). "Region VIII (Eastern Visayas)". Total Population by Province, City, Municipality and Barangay. Philippine Statistics Authority. Retrieved 20 June 2016.
  14. ^ Census of Population and Housing (2010). "Region VIII (Eastern Visayas)" (PDF). Total Population by Province, City, Municipality and Barangay. National Statistics Office. Retrieved 29 June 2016.
  15. ^ Censuses of Population (1903–2007). "Region VIII (Eastern Visayas)". Table 1. Population Enumerated in Various Censuses by Province/Highly Urbanized City: 1903 to 2007. National Statistics Office.
  16. ^ "Province of Eastern Samar". Municipality Population Data. Local Water Utilities Administration Research Division. Retrieved 17 December 2016.
  17. ^ "Poverty incidence (PI):". Philippine Statistics Authority. Retrieved December 28, 2020.
  18. ^ "Estimation of Local Poverty in the Philippines" (PDF). Philippine Statistics Authority. 29 November 2005.
  19. ^ "2003 City and Municipal Level Poverty Estimates" (PDF). Philippine Statistics Authority. 23 March 2009.
  20. ^ "City and Municipal Level Poverty Estimates; 2006 and 2009" (PDF). Philippine Statistics Authority. 3 August 2012.
  21. ^ "2012 Municipal and City Level Poverty Estimates" (PDF). Philippine Statistics Authority. 31 May 2016.
  22. ^ "Municipal and City Level Small Area Poverty Estimates; 2009, 2012 and 2015". Philippine Statistics Authority. 10 July 2019.
  23. ^ "PSA Releases the 2018 Municipal and City Level Poverty Estimates". Philippine Statistics Authority. 15 December 2021. Retrieved 22 January 2022.
  24. ^ "PSA Releases the 2021 City and Municipal Level Poverty Estimates". Philippine Statistics Authority. 2 April 2024. Retrieved 28 April 2024.
[edit]
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