Daram, officially the Municipality of Daram ( war, Bungto han Daram; tl, Bayan ng Daram), is a 3rd 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 ...

Samar Samar ( ) is the third-largest and seventh-most populous island in the Philippines, with a total population of 1,909,537 as of the 2020 census. It is located in the eastern Visayas, which are in the central Philippines. The island is divided in ...

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 41,608 people.

Etymology

The origin of the name Daram is from a type of bird, called Darangsiyao, that guided the initial settlers to the island. Some time later, a Spaniard inquiring about the name of the island, mistook the name for "Daramsiyao". This was further shortened to the current name of Daram. The original name of Daramsiyao is still in use as the name of the annual festival held in Poblacion 1 on January 15.

History

The Island was originally part of the municipality of

Zumarraga, Samar Zumarraga, officially the Municipality of Zumarraga ( war, Bungto han Zumarraga; tl, Bayan ng Zumarraga), is a 5th class island municipality in the province of , Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 16,279 people. I ...

, and mostly inhabited by a few fisher-folk and travelers from other places whose primary source of income was fishing and farming. As the years passed Daram began to grow in population and economic activities through settlers and travelers who constructed dwelling units sporadically along the coastlines of the islands.

Separation from Zumarraga

On 1 September 1949, President

Elpidio Quirino Elpidio Rivera Quirino (born Elpidio Quirino y Rivera; ; November 16, 1890 – February 29, 1956) was a Filipino lawyer and politician who served as the sixth president of the Philippines from 1948 to 1953. A lawyer by profession, Quirino enter ...

signed Executive Order No. 262. This order ceded the islands of Daram and Parasan from the Municipality of Zumarraga and created the independent Municipality of Daram, with barrio (now barangay) Daram as the municipal seat. On the current list of barangay for the Municipality of Daram, there is no barangay named Daram.

Geography

Daram has a total land area of 14,026 hectares (34,659 acres). The town is composed of two major islands; Daram Island and Parasan Island. Other islands include Poro Island and Danaodanauan Island (uninhabited). The main island features mountainous interiors with very narrow coastal areas. Mountain ranges occupy the major portion of the island municipality. Daram has a combination of warm and cool climatic zones, thus the prevailing climate is ideal for the cultivation of a wide range of agricultural crops. There is no distinct dry season but the heavy wet season generally occurs in December. Daram lies within the western part of Samar Sea and the Zumarraga Channel. The north and western boundary is the Samar Sea; the eastern boundary is the Zumarraga Channel; the southern boundary is Daram Channel. It can be reached by a 30-minute boat ride from the provincial capital of

Catbalogan City Catbalogan, officially the City of Catbalogan ( war, Siyudad han Catbalogan; fil, Lungsod ng Catbalogan), is a 5th class component city and capital of the province of Samar, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 106,44 ...

and Northern Leyte.

Barangays

Daram is politically subdivided into 58

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 ...

Climate

Demographics

Language

The native language of the majority in Daram is Samarnon- Waray-Waray (also known as Waraynon, Samarnon, or Samar-Leyte Visayan) and to a lesser degree Cebuano, both

Visayan languages The Bisayan languages or Visayan languages are a subgroup of the Austronesian languages spoken in the languages of the Philippines, Philippines. They are most closely related to Tagalog language, Tagalog and the Bikol languages, all of which ar ...

. Majority of the residents also speak and understand Tagalog and

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

Religion

Most of the inhabitants of Daram are

Roman Catholics The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

and a small number of

born again Born again, or to experience the new birth, is a phrase, particularly in evangelicalism, that refers to a "spiritual rebirth", or a regeneration of the human spirit. In contrast to one's physical birth, being "born again" is distinctly and sepa ...

. Because of the large number of Catholics, like other places in Philippines, they also celebrate fiesta (

festival A festival is an event ordinarily celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, mela, or eid. A festival c ...

Economy

Being an island municipality, the main livelihood is fishing and agriculture. Seafood is a local specialty, in fact, many fish are sold in the markets of nearby

Catbalogan Catbalogan, officially the City of Catbalogan ( war, Siyudad han Catbalogan; fil, Lungsod ng Catbalogan), is a 5th class component city and capital of the province of Samar, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 106,44 ...

and

Tacloban Tacloban ( ; ), officially the City of Tacloban ( war, Syudad han Tacloban; fil, Lungsod ng Tacloban), is a first class highly urbanized city in the Eastern Visayas region of the Philippines. The city is autonomous from the province of Leyte, a ...

. The major fishing products caught in the seas around Daram are galonggong, alumahan, tamban,

pompano Pompanos ( ) are marine fishes in the genus ''Trachinotus'' in the family Carangidae (better known as "jacks"). Pompano may also refer to various other, similarly shaped members of the Carangidae, or the order Perciformes. Their appearance is ...

, bisugo (

bream Bream ( ) are species of freshwater and marine fish belonging to a variety of genera including ''Abramis'' (e.g., ''A. brama'', the common bream), ''Acanthopagrus'', '' Argyrops'', ''Blicca'', '' Brama'', ''Chilotilapia'', '' Etelis'', ''Lepo ...

), lapu-lapu,

rabbitfish Rabbitfishes or spinefoots are perciform fishes in the family Siganidae. The 29 species are in a single genus, ''Siganus''. In some now obsolete classifications, the species having prominent face stripes—colloquially called foxfaces– ...

slipmouth Leiognathidae, the ponyfishes, slipmouths or slimys / slimies, are a small family of fishes in the order Perciformes. They inhabit marine and brackish waters in the Indian and West Pacific Oceans. They can be used in the preparation of '' bagoong ...

and assorted. Other fish resources are

seaweed Seaweed, or macroalgae, refers to thousands of species of macroscopic, multicellular, marine algae. The term includes some types of '' Rhodophyta'' (red), ''Phaeophyta'' (brown) and ''Chlorophyta'' (green) macroalgae. Seaweed species such as ...

mussels Mussel () is the common name used for members of several families of bivalve mollusc Mollusca is the second-largest phylum of invertebrate animals after the Arthropoda, the members of which are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 85,0 ...

oysters Oyster is the common name for a number of different families of salt-water bivalve molluscs that live in marine or brackish habitats. In some species, the valves are highly calcified, and many are somewhat irregular in shape. Many, but not al ...

crabs Crabs are decapod crustaceans of the infraorder Brachyura, which typically have a very short projecting "tail" (abdomen) ( el, βραχύς , translit=brachys = short, / = tail), usually hidden entirely under the thorax. They live in all the ...

and shells. Kelp seaweed is also a major harvest and exported worldwide. Agricultural income is derived mostly from

coconuts The coconut tree (''Cocos nucifera'') is a member of the palm tree family ( Arecaceae) and the only living species of the genus ''Cocos''. The term "coconut" (or the archaic "cocoanut") can refer to the whole coconut palm, the seed, or the ...

bananas A banana is an elongated, edible fruit – botanically a berry – produced by several kinds of large herbaceous flowering plants in the genus ''Musa''. In some countries, bananas used for cooking may be called "plantains", distinguis ...

corn Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. Th ...

and other crops such as

sweet potato The sweet potato or sweetpotato (''Ipomoea batatas'') is a dicotyledonous plant that belongs to the Convolvulus, bindweed or morning glory family (biology), family, Convolvulaceae. Its large, starchy, sweet-tasting tuberous roots are used as a r ...

cassava ''Manihot esculenta'', common name, commonly called cassava (), manioc, or yuca (among numerous regional names), is a woody shrub of the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae, native to South America. Although a perennial plant, cassava is extensively ...

, and

legumes A legume () is a plant in the family Fabaceae (or Leguminosae), or the fruit or seed of such a plant. When used as a dry grain, the seed is also called a pulse. Legumes are grown agriculturally, primarily for human consumption, for livestock fo ...

. Recently, there is a surge in tourism activity in Daram with the rise in popularity of Kandiwata islet, a rock formation that has become a popular tourist destination. Nearby Monbon beach is also a popular recreation site for beach campers and overnight stay for Kandiwata tourists.

Government

Like all other municipalities in the Philippines, Daram is governed from the Municipal Hall by a Mayor and the

Sangguniang Panlungsod The Sangguniang Panlungsod (SP) is the local legislative body of a city governments in the Philippines. The name of the legislative body comes from the Tagalog words "''sanggunian''" ("council") – ultimately from the rootword "''sangguni''" ...

which is composed of the city (municipality) Vice Mayor as Presiding Officer, regular Sanggunian members (Councilors), the President of the Daram Chapter of the

League of Barangays of the Philippines The Liga ng mga Barangay sa Pilipinas (League of Barangays in the Philippines) and the Asosasyon ng mga Kapitan ng Barangay (Association of Barangay Captains) or ABC are formal organizations of all the barangays in the Philippines. Presently, al ...

and the President of the Daram Chapter of the

Sangguniang Kabataan Sangguniang Kabataan (abbreviated as SK; ) is a council meant to represent the youth in each barangay in the Philippines. It was put "on hold", but not quite abolished, prior to the 2013 barangay elections. In January 2016, the Sangguniang ...

(Student Leaders). These elected officials are entitled to three-year terms. These political leaders exercise and perform the legislative powers and duties as provided for under Republic Act No. 7160, otherwise known as the Local Government Code of 1991. They are empowered to consider and conduct thorough study all matters brought to their attention and consequently pass resolutions, enact ordinances and introduce recommendations. In 2010, it has a budgetary allocation of PHP 19.8 million from the Philippine government.

Elected officials (2016-2019)

;Mayor *Philip Astorga (Nationalist People's Coalition) ;Vice mayor *Lucia Astorga (Nationalist People's Coalition) ;Municipal councilors *Ben Amistoso (Nationalist People's Coalition) *Boboy Dacallos (Nationalist People's Coalition) *Jimmy Barrantes (Nationalist People's Coalition) *Edgar Danday (Nationalist People's Coalition) *Florentino Carcellar Jr. (Nationalist People's Coalition) *Joan Astorga (Independent) *Reden Lepasana (Nationalist People's Coalition) *Danedave Cariño (Nationalist People's Coalition)

Elected officials (2013-2016)

;Mayor *Lo Astorga (Liberal Party) ;Vice mayor *Ben Amistoso (Independent) ;Municipal councilors *Boboy Dacallos (Nationalist People's Coalition) *Henry Astorga (Independent) *Buddy Astorga (Nationalist People's Coalition) *Jimmy Barrantes (Independent) *Reden Lepasana (Nationalist People's Coalition) *Danilo Carino (Independent) *Edgar Danday Sr. (Independent) *Baby Carcellar (Independent)

Elected officials (2010-2013)

;Mayor *Lucia Latorre Astorga ;Vice mayor *Arthur Zamora Losa ;Municipal councilors *Benjamin Sauro Amistoso *Florentino Paragas Carcellar Jr. *Ronnie Quitalig Casiano *Jimmy Achaso Barrantes *Henry Verzosa Astorga *Dante Bulan Gososo *Danilo Pajares Cariño *Edgar Redaja Danday Sr.

Infrastructure

Daram offers limited urban and extensive basic rural infrastructure that includes water-based transportation, a plentiful public water supply, electrical supply from SAMELCO II, cellular and cable communication facilities, sports and recreational facilities, tourist spots, and common service establishments.

Education

Primary schools

Daram has 58 primary schools.

Secondary schools

Daram has 8 secondary schools. *Bagacay NHS *Bakhaw NHS *Birawan NHS *Cabiton-an Integrated School *Daram NHS *Parasan NHS *Rizal Integrated School *Sua NHS

References

External links

Daram Profile at PhilAtlas.com
*

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
{{Authority control Municipalities of Samar (province) Island municipalities in the Philippines