Masbate City, officially the City of Masbate ( Masbateño: ''Syudad san Masbate''; fil, Lungsod ng Masbate), is a 4th class

component city A city ( fil, lungsod/siyudad) is one of the units of local government in the Philippines. All Philippine cities are chartered cities ( fil, nakakartang lungsod), whose existence as corporate and administrative entities is governed by their own ...

and capital of 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 104,522 people. As the only city in the province, Masbate City serves as the province's main commercial center and chief seaport. The city is more or less situated at the center of Masbate province and

Masbate Island Masbate Island is the largest of three major islands of Masbate Province in the Philippines. The other two major islands are Ticao Island and Burias Island. It is the 11th-largest island in both area and population in the Philippines and the ...

, about 212 aerial miles and 362 nautical miles from Manila. It is noted for its well-protected seaport, with

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 ...

acting as barrier against the effects of inclement weather from the north-east. Being located at the central part of the Philippine archipelago, the city serves as Bicol Region's gateway to the

Visayas The Visayas ( ), or the Visayan Islands (Bisayan languages, Visayan: ''Kabisay-an'', ; tl, Kabisayaan ), are one of the three Island groups of the Philippines, principal geographical divisions of the Philippines, along with Luzon and Mindanao ...

and

Mindanao Mindanao ( ) ( Jawi: مينداناو) is the second-largest island in the Philippines, after Luzon, and seventh-most populous island in the world. Located in the southern region of the archipelago, the island is part of an island group of ...

. It is accessible through sea and air transportation. The term "Masbate" comes from the latin "masbad" which means "a lot of gold" when the spanish landed on the island of masbate in the 1790's the people welcomed the Spaniards into their area. As a sign of friendship with the Spaniards, they presented the Spaniards with gold and some utensils. The Spaniards found several gold mines in the mountains now covered by the town of aroroy.And in the 1850s, there were spanish settlements in masbate. the town of Masbate was first founded in 1864. they later founded the Pueblo de Cervantéz (later named Placer) and the Town of Milagros in 1869 and the town of Malobago (Cataingan) in 1872.

History

The account that "Masbate" was coined after the words "''masa''" and "''bate''" or from another word "''masibat''" remains anecdotal up to the present.

Spanish colonial era and the Philippine Revolution

The islands of

, Ticao and Burias were explored by Captain Luis Enriquez de Guzman in 1569. This exploration work was continued by Captain Andres de Ibarra. Ibalon (

Albay Albay, * Emilio R. Espinosa Jr.: served as Secretary of Labor under President

Ferdinand Marcos Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralin Marcos Sr. ( , , ; September 11, 1917 – September 28, 1989) was a Filipino politician, lawyer, dictator, and kleptocrat who was the 10th president of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986. He ruled under martial ...

. *

Leonardo Quisumbing Leonardo A. Quisumbing (November 6, 1939 – January 20, 2019) was an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines. He was appointed by President Fidel Ramos in 1998 and retired as the most senior Associate Justice of the Court on hi ...

: former Secretary of Labor and Employment and Associate Justice of the Supreme Court. * Bea Rose Santiago:

Miss International 2013 Miss International 2013, the 53rd Miss International pageant, was held on December 17, 2013 at the Shinagawa Prince Hotel Hall in Tokyo, Japan. Alejandra Andreu, Miss International 2008, crowned Bea Santiago of the Philippines at the end of th ...

Jesse Robredo Jesse Manalastas Robredo (born Jesus Manalastas Robredo; ; May 27, 1958 – August 18, 2012) was a Filipino politician who served as Secretary of the Interior and Local Government in the administration of President Benigno Aquino III from 201 ...

: The secretary who died in a plane crash at Masbate islands nearby. *

Kisses Delavin Kirsten Danielle Tan Delavin (; born May 1, 1999), popularly known as Kisses Delavin, is a Filipinos, Filipino former actress, beauty queen, and recording artist. She first gained fame in 2016 as a contestant in the reality television series, ...

: Actress and singer * Hannah Arnold: Binibining Pilipinas International 2021

Sister cities

Local

Legazpi City Legazpi, officially the City of Legazpi ( bcl, Siyudad nin Legazpi; fil, Lungsod ng Legazpi), is a 1st class component city and capital of the province of Albay, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 209,533. Legazpi ...

, Albay *

Daet, Camarines Norte Daet (), officially the Municipality of Daet ( bcl, Banwaan kan Daet; tl, Bayan ng Daet), is a 1st class municipality and capital of the province of Camarines Norte, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 111,700 peo ...

Kalibo Kalibo, officially the Municipality of Kalibo ( Aklanon: ''Banwa it Kalibo''; Hiligaynon: ''Banwa sang Kalibo''; tgl, Bayan ng Kalibo), is a 1st class municipality and capital of the Province of Aklan, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, ...

References

External links