Batuan, officially the Municipality of Batuan, is a 5th class

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

in the

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

Masbate Masbate, officially the Province of Masbate ( Masbateño: ''Probinsya san Masbate''; tl, Lalawigan ng Masbate), is an island province in the Philippines located near the midsection of the nation's archipelago. Its provincial capital is Masbate C ...

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 14,610 people. It is located at the southern point of

Ticao Island Ticao Island is an island with a total land area of . It is one of the three major islands of Masbate province in the Philippines. It is separated from the Bicol Peninsula by the Ticao Pass. The other two major islands are Masbate Island () and B ...

. It is the smallest municipality in Masbate, both in land area and population. In 1951, the barrios of Batuan, Burgos, Gibraltar, Costa Rica, Panisihan, and Matabao were separated from

San Fernando San Fernando may refer to: People *Ferdinand III of Castile (c. 1200–1252), called ''San Fernando'' (Spanish) or ''Saint Ferdinand'', King of Castile, León, and Galicia Places Argentina *San Fernando de la Buena Vista, city of Greater Buenos ...

to form the Municipality of Batuan. The municipality is home to the Bongsanglay Natural Park.

Geography

Barangays

Batuan is politically subdivided into 14

barangay A barangay (; abbreviated as Brgy. or Bgy.), historically referred to as barrio (abbreviated as Bo.), is the smallest administrative division in the Philippines and is the native Filipino term for a village, district, or ward. In metropolitan ...

s. * Burgos * Cañares * Camvañez * Costa Rica * Danao * Gibraltar * Mabuhay * Matabao * Nasandig * Panisihan *

Poblacion ''Poblacion'' (literally "town" or "settlement" in Spanish language in the Philippines, Spanish; ) is the common term used for the administrative center, central, downtown, old town or central business district area of a Philippines, Philippi ...

* Rizal * Royroy * Sawang

Climate

Demographics

In the 2020 census, the population of Batuan, Masbate, was 14,610 people, with a density of .

Economy

Archaeological and Ecological Landscape and Seascape of Ticao

The municipality is part of Ticao island, which is known as an ''archaeological landscape'', possessing thousands of pre-colonial artifacts such as the

Baybayin (, ''pre-kudlít'': , ''virama-krus-kudlít'': , ''virama-pamudpod'': ; also formerly commonly incorrectly known as alibata) is a Philippine script. The script is an abugida belonging to the family of the Brahmic scripts. Geographically, it ...

-inscribed Rizal Stone, Ticao gold spike teeth, Burial jars of varying designs and sizes, jade beads, human face rock statues, and the ''Ticao petrographs''. Much of the homes in Ticao island use these archaeological finds to design their interiors. The island is also an ''ecological frontier'' for the conservation of

manta rays Manta rays are large rays belonging to the genus ''Mobula'' (formerly its own genus ''Manta''). The larger species, '' M. birostris'', reaches in width, while the smaller, '' M. alfredi'', reaches . Both have triangular pectoral fins, horn-s ...

. The island also possesses a 'rare subspecies' of

Visayan warty pig The Visayan warty pig (''Sus cebifrons'') is a critically endangered species in the pig genus ('' Sus''). It is endemic to six of the Visayan Islands (Cebu, Negros, Panay, Masbate, Guimaras, and Siquijor) in the central Philippines. It is known ...

, that is almost near extinction.

References

External links

Philippine Standard Geographic Code The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

Philippine Census Information

Local Governance Performance Management System
Municipalities of Masbate {{BicolR-geo-stub