Igbaras, officially the Municipality of Igbaras ( krj, Banwa kang Igbaras; hil, Banwa sang Igbaras, tgl, Bayan ng Igbaras), 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 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 ...

Iloilo Iloilo (), officially the Province of Iloilo ( hil, Kapuoran sang Iloilo; krj, Kapuoran kang Iloilo; tl, Lalawigan ng Iloilo), is a province in the Philippines located in the Western Visayas region. Its capital is the City of Iloilo, the ...

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 32,197 people. Igbaras celebrates its town fiesta annually on May 22 in honor of Santa Rita de Cascia. The town has many points of interest including the ruins of the church belfry, Mount Napulak, Bahi-Bahi, Nadsadjan Falls, Lagsakan Falls, Timapok Falls, Guiritsan Falls, Sampanan Falls, Bat Cave, Igcabugao Cave, Bais Cave and the Pakuyang sa Tangyan Festival. A species of

Rafflesia ''Rafflesia'' () is a genus of parasitic flowering plants in the family Rafflesiaceae. The species have enormous flowers, the buds rising from the ground or directly from the lower stems of their host plants; one species has the largest flowers i ...

, the world's largest flower, can also be found here.

Etymology

The name Igbaras comes from a combination of two words, "''ig''" or "''tig''" which means "plenty of" or "season of", and "''baras''" which means "sand". Thus Igbaras means "plenty of sand" which alludes to the nearby sandy river. Igbaras is most commonly mistaken with the similar-sounding and more widely known province of

Guimaras Guimaras , officially the Province of Guimaras ( hil, Kapuoran sang Guimaras; tl, Lalawigan ng Guimaras), is an island province in the Philippines located in the Western Visayas region. Its capital is Jordan while its largest local government ...

History

As a result of the implementation of Spanish Governor-General Narciso Claveria's decree on giving Filipinos with Spanish surnames in 1849, inhabitants of Igbaras during that time were apportioned with surnames starting mostly with the letter E. Igbaras was fused with

Guimbal Guimbal, officially the Municipality of Guimbal ( krj, Banwa kang Guimbal; hil, Banwa sang Guimbal; tl, Bayan ng Guimbal), is a 4th class municipality in the province of Iloilo, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population o ...

in 1902 until the American regime made it a separate town on January 1, 1919. Don Flor Evidente became the first municipal mayor. American soldiers water tortured Igbaras leaders then burned the village to the ground during the Philippine–American War Igbaras has the distinction of having the first congressman elected to Congress in 1925–1928 in the person of Don Eugenio Ealdama, and the delegate to the 1935 Constitutional Convention, Don Mariano Ezpeleta who later served as Consul-General and ambassador to several countries.

Geography

Igbaras is located at the south-western part of

. It is situated between the coordinates of 122.2650’ longitude, and 10.7167’ latitude. It is from

Iloilo City Iloilo City, officially the City of Iloilo ( hil, Siyudad/Dakbanwa sang Iloilo; fil, Lungsod ng Iloilo), is a 1st class Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Western Visayas region of the Philippines on t ...

Barangays

Igbaras is politically subdivided into 46

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. Alameda was formerly known as Bukaw.

Climate

Demographics

In the 2020 census, the population of Igbaras was 32,197 people, with a density of . People from Igbaras speak

Kinaray-a The Karay-a language ( krj, label=none, Kinaray-a, krj, label=none, Binisayâ nga Kinaray-a or krj, label=none, Hinaraya; en, Harayan) is an Austronesian regional language in the Philippines spoken by the Karay-a people, mainly in Antique, I ...

, a language associated with Antique province. However, Hiligaynon, a vernacular commonly used in Iloilo City is understood by everyone and used mostly by students or those staying in the city.

Economy

Education

Secondary: * Igbaras National High School * Igtalongon National High School * Alameda National High School Elementary and Primary:

Government

The Mayor is the chief executive of the town. He is elected to serve a three-year term, with a maximum of three terms. The incumbent Municipal Mayor is Atty. Vicente E. Escorpion Jr. The Vice Mayor is the Presiding Officer of the Sangguniang Bayan. He is also the chief executive of the town whenever the mayor is out of the town. He is elected to serve a three-year term, with a maximum of three terms. The incumbent vice mayor is Atty. Sherwin Paul E. Quidato. The Sangguniang Bayan of Igbaras is composed of 8 members with 2 ex-officio members which are the town's Liga ng mga Barangay President and Sangguniang Kabataan Federation President. The municipal councilors are elected to serve a three-year term, with a maximum of three terms. The town officials from June 30, 2022, to June 30, 2025. They were elected last May 9, 2022 Philippine General Elections

List of former chief executive

*Don Flor Evidente (1919–1922) *Lucas Gentica (1922–1925) *Julian Bucoy Saavedra (1925–1931) *Justo Estrella (1931–1938) *Gerardo Escala (1938–1941) *Toribio Melliza (1941–1945, 1961–1964) *Perfecto Saavedra (1945–1955) *Ricardo Ealdama (1955–1961) *Atty. Daniel Esmeralda (1964–1977) *Vicente E. Perez (1977–1985) *Wilfredo C. Uy (1986–1992) *Fruto J. Saavedra (1992–2001) *Jaime Esmeralda, MD (2001–2010) *Atty. Vicente E. Escorpion Jr. (2010–2019) *Jaime Esmeralda, MD (2019–2022) *Atty. Vicente E. Escorpion Jr. (2022–Present)

References

External links

Igbaras Website
* Philippine Standard Geographic Code
Philippine Census Information

Local Governance Performance Management System
{{Authority control Municipalities of Iloilo