San Remigio, officially called the Municipality of San Remigio (; ), is a

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

in the

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

Cebu Cebu ( ; ), officially the Province of Cebu (; ), is a province of the Philippines located in the Central Visayas region, and consists of a main island and 167 surrounding islands and islets. The coastal zone of Cebu is identified as a ...

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 65,744 people. San Remigio celebrates its annual fiesta on 15 and 16 May in honor of their patron saints, St. Isidore the Farmer and St. John Nepomucene. The parish, which was founded in 1864, celebrated its 150th anniversary in May 2014.

History

San Remigio was formerly known as "Kanghagas", a kind of tree that grew in abundance in the area. When the Spanish conquistadores arrived, they identified a town site by clearing the kanghagas trees. At the time, Kanghagas was part of

barangay The barangay (; abbreviated as Brgy. or Bgy.), historically referred to as ''barrio'', is the smallest Administrative divisions of the Philippines, administrative division in the Philippines. Named after the Precolonial barangay, precolonial po ...

Punta. Initially, the

chapel of ease A chapel of ease (or chapel-of-ease) is a church architecture, church building other than the parish church, built within the bounds of a parish for the attendance of those who cannot reach the parish church conveniently, generally due to trav ...

(''visita'') of Kanghagas was within the jurisdiction of Bantayan. In 1850, the town of Bogo established a parish and took over civil governance of the three barrios of Kanghagas, Lambusan, and Victoria (formerly Maarat). Later, barangay Kanghagas was renamed Isabel after the queen of Spain, but was eventually changed in 1863 to its new and permanent name, San Remigio. The name San Remigio can be found in Florence, Italy called Church of San Remigio, a church building that was built in the 1100s and later rebuilt in the 1300s. In 1864, San Remigio and other barrios established their own parish, San Juan Nepomuceno Parish.

Geography

San Remigio is bordered to the north by Medellin, to the west is Tañon Strait then

Bantayan Island Bantayan Island is an island located in the Visayan Sea, Philippines. It is situated to the west of the northern end of Cebu, across the Tañon Strait. According to the 2015 census, it has a population of . The island is administratively divi ...

, to the east is the City of Bogo and the town of Tabogon, and to the south is Tabuelan. It is from

Cebu City Cebu City, officially the City of Cebu, is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Central Visayas region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 964,169 people, making ...

Barangays

San Remigio is politically subdivided into 27 barangays. Each barangay consists of

purok A ''purok'' () is an informal division within a barangay in the Philippines. While not officially considered a local government unit (LGU), a ''purok'' often serves as a unit for delivering services and administration within a barangay. ''Pur ...

s and some have

sitios A ''sitio'' (Spanish language, Spanish for "site") in the Philippines is a territorial enclave that forms part of a barangay. Typically rural, a ''sitios location is usually far from the center of the barangay itself and could be its own bar ...

Climate

Demographics

Economy

Tourism

San Remigio has the longest shoreline of any municipality in Cebu. There are several beach resorts, as well as public beaches with long stretches of white sand and warm ocean. Beach Resorts in San Remigio include Casa Del Mar Beach Resort, Elegant Beach Resort, San Remigio Beach Club, and Hagnaya Beach Resort. One significant destination in San Remigio is the Replica de Capelinha de Fatima located in Barangay Tacup, 13 kilometers drive from the Poblacion. The first replica in Asia and only in the Philippines. Today, San Remigio has become a swimming and diving destination. There are a few marine sanctuaries, with new dive sites being developed. A PADI dive shop in San Remigio Beach Club caters to beginner and experienced divers who want to enjoy San Remigio's marine life. The port of Hagnaya offers a frequent ferry service to Santa Fe and

as well as

Masbate Masbate, officially the Province of Masbate (Masbateño language, Masbateño: ''Probinsya san Masbate''; ), is an island Provinces of the Philippines, province in the Philippines located near the midsection of the nation's archipelago. Its provi ...

(particularly Cawayan and Placer).

Education

The town of San Remigio has many public and private elementary and secondary schools.

Churches

There are many churches that hold services throughout the week and weekends.

Notable events

Archaeological excavation in 2012 by archaeologist Jojo Bersales and his team. With permission from the archdiocese of Cebu and other authorities, his team conducted an excavation and unearthed a burial site that is believed to date back in the 1500s. Alongside human skeletons were carinated pots. These pots with flat designs and rounded base were a sign of the iron era. They were mainly intended for burial rituals and not for cooking as evidenced by their fragile design and quality. Each burial site with human remains had a carinated pot next to it. Back in the day, people believed that spirits travel through the ocean to their final resting place. These pots were filled with food for use on their travel. The archaeologists also noted that bodies were buried with their feet pointing to the ocean, affirming that ancient people believed that the final resting place was on the other side of the ocean.

References

Sources

* Ereccion de Pueblos: 1818–1887. (This contains the Spanish and original texts of the Creation of Towns: photocopied from the National Archives) * * {{Use dmy dates, date=September 2019, cs1-dates=ss Municipalities of Cebu