Sipalay, officially the City of Sipalay ( hil, Dakbanwa/Syudad sang Sipalay; fil, Lungsod ng Sipalay; ceb, Dakbayan sa Sipalay), 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 ...
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 ...
of
Negros Occidental
Negros Occidental ( hil, Nakatungdang Negros; tl, Kanlurang Negros), officially the Province of Negros Occidental, is a Provinces of the Philippines, province in the Philippines located in the Western Visayas Regions of the Philippines, region. ...
,
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 72,448 people. It is the top tourist destination in the province of Negros Occidental.
Sipalay City allows resorts, hotels to operate at 100% capacity
''Philippine News Agency
Philippine News Agency (PNA) is the official news agency of the Philippine government. PNA is under supervision and control of the News and Information Bureau, an attached agency of the Presidential Communications Operations Office. It was establ ...
''. 2021.
History
Sipalay history can be traced back to the undated time of early settlements of the native ''Tumandok
The Suludnon, also known as the Panay-Bukidnon, Pan-ayanon, or Tumandok, are a culturally indigenous Visayan group of people who reside in the Capiz-Lambunao mountainous area and the Antique-Iloilo mountain area of Panay in the Visayan islands o ...
'' who discovered the lowland plains very fertile, arable and fully vegetated by trees. The areas was well dissected by river tributaries, which accounted for the fertility of the lowland.
During the Spanish era, the area was further discovered and developed by sailing adventurers from the neighboring island of Panay, being the group who resented the Kintos System enacted by the ruling Spaniards by then.
Growth and development flourished as Chinese merchants came to barter their wares with staple food, particularly rice, which was commonly called by the settlers as ''paray'' and by the Chinese, due to the difficulty of pronouncing r, as ''palay'' which was the word to have been popularly associated with the place. Thus the area came to be known as Sipalay.
At the advent of the American regime, Sipalay was a full pledge barrio of the Municipality of Cauayan. In the early 1920s the political structure was already in place.
During the World War II, Sipalay was made an emergency town and after the war. On November 20, 1948, then 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. 185 proclaiming Sipalay as a town. The official inauguration of the town was on December 20, 1948.
Cityhood
The conversion of Sipalay into a component city of the Province of Negros Occidental followed in 2001 after the ratification of ''Republic Act No. 9027''.[Sipalay City Tourism Pamphlet]
Geography
Sipalay's distance from Bacolod
Bacolod, officially the City of Bacolod (; hil, Dakbanwa/Syudad sang Bacolod; fil, Lungsod ng Bacolod), is a 1st class highly urbanized city in the region of Western Visayas, Philippines. It is the capital of the province of Negros Occidenta ...
is , almost a four-hour drive by public utility vehicle and over three hours by private car. Public utility vehicles plying the southern Negros route pass by this city. Those coming from Negros Oriental
Negros Oriental ( ceb, Sidlakang Negros; tl, Silangang Negros), officially the Province of Negros Oriental, is a province in the Philippines located in the Central Visayas region. Its capital is the city of Dumaguete. It occupies the southeaste ...
can either exit through Kabankalan City via Mabinay or through Dumaguete City via Hinoba-an.
Barangays
Sipalay City is politically subdivided into 17 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 ...
s.
* Barangay 1 (Poblacion
''Poblacion'' (literally "town" or "settlement" in Spanish language in the Philippines, Spanish; ) is the common term used for the administrative center, central, downtown, old town or central business district area of a Philippines, Philippi ...
)
* Barangay 2 (Poblacion
''Poblacion'' (literally "town" or "settlement" in Spanish language in the Philippines, Spanish; ) is the common term used for the administrative center, central, downtown, old town or central business district area of a Philippines, Philippi ...
)
* Barangay 3 (Poblacion
''Poblacion'' (literally "town" or "settlement" in Spanish language in the Philippines, Spanish; ) is the common term used for the administrative center, central, downtown, old town or central business district area of a Philippines, Philippi ...
)
* Barangay 4 (Poblacion
''Poblacion'' (literally "town" or "settlement" in Spanish language in the Philippines, Spanish; ) is the common term used for the administrative center, central, downtown, old town or central business district area of a Philippines, Philippi ...
)
* Barangay 5 (Poblacion
''Poblacion'' (literally "town" or "settlement" in Spanish language in the Philippines, Spanish; ) is the common term used for the administrative center, central, downtown, old town or central business district area of a Philippines, Philippi ...
)
* Cabadiangan
* Camindangan
* Canturay
* Cartagena
* Cayhagan
* Gil Montilla
Gil Miranda Montilla (September 11, 1876 – July 20, 1946) was a Filipino politician who served as Speaker of the National Assembly from 1935 to 1938, and a member of the Philippine Senate
from Negros Occidental from 1931 to 1935. Prior to his ...
* Mambaroto
* Manlucahoc
* Maricalum
* Nabulao
* Nauhang
* San Jose
Climate
Demographics
Major languages are Hiligaynon, followed by Cebuano with 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 ...
and Tagalog being used as second languages.
Economy
Infrastructure
Transportation
Airline company Air Juan
Air Juan Aviation, Inc., operating as Air Juan, (IATA Code: AO) is a registered scheduled and non-scheduled domestic airline operating in the Philippines with bases in Manila, Puerto Princesa and Cebu City, Cebu. It is the first commercial seaplan ...
offers services from Cebu
Cebu (; ceb, Sugbo), officially the Province of Cebu ( ceb, Lalawigan sa Sugbo; tl, Lalawigan ng Cebu; hil, Kapuroan sang Sugbo), is a province of the Philippines located in the Central Visayas region, and consists of a main island and 167 ...
, 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 ...
and Puerto Princesa
Puerto Princesa, officially the City of Puerto Princesa (Cuyonon: ''Siyudad i'ang Puerto Princesa''; fil, Lungsod ng Puerto Princesa), is a 1st class highly urbanized city in the Mimaropa region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, ...
via the Sipalay Airport.
Tourism
The city is known for its tourist destinations. An example of it is the now-defunct ''Maricalum Mining Corporation'' which happens to be one of the largest mining companies in the country. It now has a park dedicated for viewing the whole mine from atop.
It also boasts beautiful pristine beaches being a seaside city. Widely dubbed as the uncommercialized ''New Boracay'' of Negros, foreign and local tourists flock its beaches the whole year round not only for swimming but for diving as well.
References
External links
*
* Philippine Standard Geographic Codebr>Philippine Census Information
Local Governance Performance Management System
{{Authority control
Cities in Negros Occidental
Component cities in the Philippines