Basay, officially the Municipality of Basay, is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

in the

province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

Negros Oriental Negros Oriental (; ), officially the Province of Negros Oriental (; ), is a province in the Philippines located in the Negros Island. Its capital is the city of Dumaguete, one of the two regional centers of Negros Island Region, with the other b ...

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 28,531 people.

Etymology

The name stems from the abundance of natural springs in the area, which are locally called "busay." The name was later changed from "Busay" to "Basay" during the Spanish era for unknown reasons.

History

Basay was created under the Republic Act No. 5491, which was signed in 1968. Upon its separation from

Bayawan Bayawan, officially the City of Bayawan (), is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, component city in the Provinces of the Philippines, province of Negros Oriental, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population o ...

in 1971, Basay became Oriental Negros’ westernmost town, with Negros Occidental at its rear. Diocesan chronicles reveal that it was already a far-flung outpost in the nineteenth century. It perked up in the 70s when CDCP and INKO arrived to mine its copper and iron magnetite. Basay is agricultural, with sugar cane, rice, corn and copra as major crops. Fringing its shoreline is the Mindanao Sea, considered the richest fishing waters in the country. Three major rivers running parallel from north to south traverse the town. Balatong Point, also known as Punta Tambongon, was the landing site of a submarine bearing the biggest shipment of WWII ammunition for Negros Oriental. The party was headed by Col Jesus Villamor, acting on the personal direction of Gen Douglas MacArthur who was then in Australia. The coves and shallow caves on the shoreline of Nagbo-alao are said to be enchanted. The Negros cave frog is endemic to Basay. Its Pagatban River is home to the alligator. Bal-os and Cabcaban springs are important sources of potable water as well as sunny picnic sites. Yardahan is a fishing village with fine swimming areas and game-fishing activities.

Geography

Basay is located in the south of

Negros Island Negros (, , ) is the fourth largest and third most populous island in the Philippines, with a total land area of . The coastal zone of the southern part of Negros is identified as a site of highest marine biodiversity importance in the Coral T ...

on the coast of the

Sulu Sea The Sulu Sea (; Tausug: ''Dagat sin Sūg''; ; ) is a body of water in the southwestern area of the Philippines, separated from the South China Sea in the northwest by Palawan and from the Celebes Sea in the southeast by the Sulu Archipela ...

. Basay is from

Dumaguete Dumaguete, officially the City of Dumaguete (; ; ), is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, component city and capital of the Provinces of the Philippines, province of Negros Oriental, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it h ...

and from

Bacolod Bacolod, officially the City of Bacolod (; ; ; ), is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Negros Island Region in the Philippines. With a total of 600,783 inhabitants as of the 2020 census, it is th ...

. It is approximately a two-hour-and-a-half drive from

.About , Cities & Towns
", Negros Oriental Tourism Office. Retrieved 2013-05-28.

Barangays

Basay is politically subdivided into 10

barangay The barangay (; abbreviated as Brgy. or Bgy.), historically referred to as ''barrio'', is the smallest Administrative divisions of the Philippines, administrative division in the Philippines. Named after the Precolonial barangay, precolonial po ...

s. Each barangay consists of

purok A ''purok'' () is an informal division within a barangay in the Philippines. While not officially considered a local government unit (LGU), a ''purok'' often serves as a unit for delivering services and administration within a barangay. ''Pur ...

s and some have

sitios A ''sitio'' (Spanish language, Spanish for "site") in the Philippines is a territorial enclave that forms part of a barangay. Typically rural, a ''sitios location is usually far from the center of the barangay itself and could be its own bar ...

Climate

Demographics

Languages

Cebuano is the dominant dialect of Basay, followed by Hiligaynon. The town is home to the highly significant ''

Magahat language Magahat, also called Southern Binukidnon or Buglas Bukidnon, is a Central Philippine language of the mountains of Negros in the Philippines that has been strongly influenced by Cebuano and Hiligaynon. It is similar to Karolanos; Lobel (2013) s ...

'', the indigenous language of Southern Negros as listed by the

Komisyon ng Wikang Filipino The Commission on the Filipino Language (CFL), also referred to as the (KWF), is the official regulating body of the Filipino language and the official government institution tasked with developing, preserving, and promoting the various local ...

. The language is vital to the culture and arts of the people.

Economy

Education

The public schools in the town of Basay are administered by one school district under th
Schools Division of Bayawan City
Elementary schools: * Basay Central School — Burgos Street, Poblacion * Bongalonan Elementary School — Bongalonan * Cabalayongan Elementary School — Sitio Cansan-a, Cabalayongan * Cabatuanan Elementary School — Cabatuanan * Cabigti-an Elementary School — Sitio Cabigti-an, Maglinao * Cleomenes Consolacion Fortugaleza Memorial Elementary School (formerly ''Actin ES'') — Actin * Datag Elementary School — Sitio Datag, Maglinao * Don Pablo Carmen Blanco Utzurrum Memorial Elementary School — Nagbo-alao * Linantayan Elementary School — Linantayan * Maglinao Elementary School — Maglinao * Monsale Elementary School — Bal-os * Olandao Elementary School — Olandao * Tiabanan Valley Elementary School — Sitio Sandig, Bongalonan High schools: * Andres V. Fortugaleza National High School (formerly ''Actin NHS'') — Actin * Bal-os National High School — Bal-os * Basay National High School — Sitio Daro, Nagbo-alao * Maglinao National High School — Maglinao

References

External links

Philippine Standard Geographic Code The Philippine Standard Geographic Code (PSGC) is a systematic classification and coding for geographic areas in the Philippines. It classifies areas based on the country's four levels of administrative divisions: regions, provinces, municipalities ...

br>Philippine Census InformationLocal Governance Performance Management System
{{Authority control Municipalities of Negros Oriental