Ferrol, officially the Municipality of Ferrol, is a 6th 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 state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

Romblon Romblon ( , ), officially the Province of Romblon, is an archipelagic province of the Philippines located in the Mimaropa region. Its main islands include Tablas, the largest, which covers nine municipalities; Sibuyan with its three towns; as w ...

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 8,005 people.

History

Ferrol was established in 1850 as a barrio of

Odiongan Odiongan, officially the Municipality of Odiongan ( Asi: ''Banwa it Odiongan'', Filipino: ''Bayan ng Odiongan'', is a 2nd class municipality in the province of Romblon, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 49,284 pe ...

by the

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

colonial authorities. They discovered the place 10 kilometers south-west after repulsing and chasing a convoy of Muslim pirates that attacked Odiongan. The Spaniards noticed the resemblance of the bay of the vicinity similar to that of

Ferrol, Spain Ferrol () is a city in the Province of A Coruña in Galicia, on the Atlantic coast in north-western Spain, in the vicinity of Strabo's Cape Nerium (modern day Cape Prior). According to the 2021 census, the city has a population of 64,785, mak ...

, which is the home port of Spain's Maritime Department of the North; hence the town's name. In 1978, in order to consolidate the Onhan-speaking

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 metropolita ...

s of Odiongan into one municipality, Assemblyman Nemesio Ganan Jr. authored a bill in the

Congress of the Philippines The Congress of the Philippines ( fil, Kongreso ng Pilipinas, italic=unset) is the legislature of the national government of the Philippines. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, although colloquially the te ...

which created Ferrol, together with the barangays of Agnocnoc, Bunsoran, Hinagoman, Tubigon, and Claro M. Recto into a new municipality. On 11 June 1978, Ferrol formally became the 16th municipality in Romblon by virtue of Presidential Decree No. 1492, signed by President Ferdinand Marcos.

Geography

Ferrol is located on

Tablas Island Tablas is the largest of the islands that comprise the province of Romblon in the Philippines. The name of the island was of Spanish origin. Before the colonization of the Philippines, Tablas was known as the Island of ''Osigan''. At the time of ...

. It is bounded on the north by

, on the west by the

Tablas Strait Tablas Strait ( fil, Kipot ng Tablas), also Tabuas Strait, is a strait in the Philippines separating Mindoro Island from Panay and Romblon islands. The approximate depth of the strait is . The strait is known for being the place where the S ...

, on the east by Santa Maria, and on the south by Looc. It has a total land area of 26.72 km².

Barangays

Ferrol is politically subdivided into 6

s: * Agnonoc * Bunsoran * Claro M. Recto * Poblacion * Hinaguman * Tubigon

Climate

Demographics

According to the 2015 census, it has a population of 6,964 people.

Onhan Onhan is a regional language, regional Bisayan languages, Western Bisayan language spoken, along with the Romblomanon language, Romblomanon and Asi languages, in the province of Romblon, Philippines. The language is also known as ''Inunhan'' an ...

, together with Tagalog, Hiligaynon, 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 ...

, is the medium of communication in business and trade.

Economy

Ferrol has the highest level of vegetable production in Romblon. Livestock and

rice Rice is the seed of the grass species '' Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly ''Oryza glaberrima'' (African rice). The name wild rice is usually used for species of the genera '' Zizania'' and '' Porteresia'', both wild and domesticat ...

farming are also present in the coastal areas which is mostly for home consumption and grown in small scale. Other economic opportunities include

copra Copra (from ) is the dried, white flesh of the coconut from which coconut oil is extracted. Traditionally, the coconuts are sun-dried, especially for export, before the oil, also known as copra oil, is pressed out. The oil extracted from co ...

farming, fish cultivation, agricultural manufacturing and retail, and tourism. The Tablas Island Electric cooperative supplies 41.78% of households in Ferrol with electricity. As for water supply, the town has a Level 3 water supply system and a Level 4 irrigation system with 75 service areas. Landline and cellular phone services from

PLDT PLDT, Inc., formerly known as the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company ( fil, Kompanya ng Teleponong Pangmalayuan ng Pilipinas), is a Philippine telecommunications, internet and digital service holdings company. It is one of the country's ...

Smart Smart or SMART may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Smart'' (Hey! Say! JUMP album), 2014 * Smart (Hotels.com), former mascot of Hotels.com * ''Smart'' (Sleeper album), 1995 debut album by Sleeper * '' SMart'', a children's television se ...

, and

Globe A globe is a spherical model of Earth, of some other celestial body, or of the celestial sphere. Globes serve purposes similar to maps, but unlike maps, they do not distort the surface that they portray except to scale it down. A model glo ...

are already available in Ferrol. The town is connected to nearby

and other municipalities through the Tablas Circumferential Road. Jeepneys and tricycles are the common form of land transportation. A port in Barangay Agnocnoc caters to intra-provincial travel and fishing vessels.

Tourist attractions and transport

Beaches near Ferrol include Binucot, Atabay and Guin-awayan beaches. Caves the Mabaho and Burobintana caves. The town is accessible via Odiongan by

RORO Roll-on/roll-off (RORO or ro-ro) ships are cargo ships designed to carry wheeled cargo, such as cars, motorcycles, trucks, semi-trailer trucks, buses, trailers, and railroad cars, that are driven on and off the ship on their own wheels or using ...

vessels from

Batangas City Batangas City, officially the City of Batangas ( fil, Lungsod ng Batangas), is a 1st class component city and capital of the province of Batangas, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 351,437 people. Batangas City ...

Roxas, Oriental Mindoro Roxas, officially the Municipality of Roxas, is a 2nd class municipality of the Philippines, municipality in the Philippine Province, province of Oriental Mindoro, Philippines. It has a population of 58,849 according to the 2020 census. History ...

. It is also accessible via Tugdan Airport in Alcantara town, where

Cebu Pacific Cebu Air, Inc., operating as Cebu Pacific (), is a low-cost airline of the Philippines. Founded in 1988, it is Asia's oldest low-cost airline. It offers scheduled flights to both domestic and international destinations. The airline operates fl ...

has flights from Manila four times weekly.

Government

Pursuant to Chapter II, Title II, Book III of Republic Act 7160 or the Local Government Code of 1991, the municipal government is composed of a

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well ...

(alkalde), a

vice mayor The deputy mayor (also known as vice mayor, assistant mayor, or mayor ''pro tem'') is an elective or appointive office of the second-ranking official that is present in many, but not all, local governments. Duties and functions Many elected depu ...

(bise alkalde) and

members Member may refer to: * Military jury, referred to as "Members" in military jargon * Element (mathematics), an object that belongs to a mathematical set * In object-oriented programming, a member of a class ** Field (computer science), entries in ...

(kagawad) of the legislative branch

Sangguniang Bayan The Sangguniang Bayan () is the local legislative branch of the municipal governments in the Philippines. It is responsible for passing ordinances and resolutions for the administration of a municipality. Its powers are defined by the Local Gov ...

alongside a secretary to the said legislature, all of which are elected to a three-year term and are eligible to run for three consecutive terms. Jovencio "Jun" Mayor, Jr. and Antonio Compas of the

PDP–Laban Partido Demokratiko Pilipino–Lakas ng Bayan (), abbreviated as PDP–Laban, is a democratic socialist political party in the Philippines founded in 1982. It was part of the country's ruling party alliance from 1986 to 1992 under the administrat ...

, are the incumbent mayor and vice mayor of Ferrol as of 30 June 2019.

References

External links

Ferrol Profile at PhilAtlas.comFerrol Profile - Cities and Municipalities Competitive Index
* Philippine Standard Geographic Codebr>Philippine Census InformationLocal Governance Performance Management System
{{Authority control Municipalities of Romblon