Alegria, officially the Municipality of Alegria ( ceb, Lungsod sa Alegria; tgl, Bayan ng Alegria), is a 4th 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 ...

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 16 ...

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 25,620 people. It is home of the first onshore oil field in the Philippines, the Alegria Oil Field.

History

Timeline:''Libro de Erecciones de Gobierno'', Philippine National Archives *Pre-1850: Native tribe; then a Spanish-era ''barrio'' called Tuburan after the spring (''tubod'') located at ''sitio'' Tubig (Santa Rosa) in the poblacion. * 31 January 1850: Leaders of Tuburan ask Governor of Cebu to support their petition for civil separation from mother town (''matriz'') Malabuyoc. *4 February: Malabuyoc leaders send letter of support for said petition. Tuburan had a church made of ''tabique de pampango'', a convent and ''tribunal'' of light materials, two rubble watchtowers and 410½ ''tributos'' ( *15 February: Petition goes to the Civil Administrator and Commanding General of the Visayas then sent to Superior Government in Manila. *31 March: Assessor General recommends approval of said petition. *3 April: Captain and Governor-General of the Philippine Islands (Antonio María Blanco) approves establishment of Tuburan as a town. *24 August: Governor of Cebu recommends changing the town's name to avoid confusing it with similarly named ''barrios'' in Balamban and Bogo. *25 September: Captain and Governor-General of the Philippines ( Antonio de Urbistondo y Eguía) issues order changing the town's name to Alegria. Establishment of parish: *9 August 1854: The ''Padre Cura'' of Malabuyoc, Lucas Clavesillas de la Soledad recommends to the Bishop of Cebu (Romualdo Jimeno Ballesteros, O.P.) the creation of Alegria as a parish. *17 September: Governor of Cebu proposes separating ''barrio'' Guiuanon (Madridejos) from Badian and adding it to Alegria to form a new parish territory. *31 October: Bishop of Cebu supports creation of said territory. *10 November: Bishop informs Governor of Cebu that Badian does not object to creation of a new parish and separation of Guiuanon. *21 February 1856: Petition for said separation and the creation of new parish territory received by the Minister of Royal Treasury in Manila. *27 February: Governor of Cebu asks the Captain and Governor-General to create said parish. *3 July: the town of Alegria created as a parish. Tributes: 781 (Poblacion - 521½, Guiuanon - 259½) *13 March 1857: Parish of Alegria Canonically erected. Titular St. Francis Xavier Feast 3 Dec.

Geography

Alegira is bordered to the north by the town of Badian, to the west is the

Tañon Strait The Tañon Strait ( fil, Kipot ng Tañon) is a body of water, separating the islands of Negros and Cebu in the Visayas, Philippines. The strait, which is about long, connects the Visayan Sea in the north to the Bohol Sea in the south. Its widt ...

, to the east are the towns of Dalaguete and

Alcoy Alcoy ( ca-valencia, Alcoi) is an industrial and university city, region and municipality located in the Valencian Community, Spain. The Serpis river crosses the municipal boundary of Alcoy. The local authority reported a population of 61,135 res ...

, and to the south is the town of Malabuyoc. Alegria is from

Cebu City Cebu City, officially the City of Cebu ( ceb, Dakbayan sa Sugbo; fil, Lungsod ng Cebu; hil, Dakbanwa sang Sugbo), is a 1st class highly urbanized city in the Central Visayas region of the Philippines and capital of the Cebu Province. Acc ...

Barangays

Alegria comprises 9 barangays:

Climate

Demographics

Economy

The formal extraction of oil and gas reserves from the Alegria Oil Field Polyard-3 Well in Barangay Montpeller would generate numerous job opportunities and income for residents, neighboring towns and the entire

province. Extracted oil will be sold to power plants at US$70 per barrel with a current production of 200 to 300 barrels per day, as told by Country Manager Edgar Benedict Cutiongco of China International Mining and Petroleum Company Inc. (CIMP), the service contractor of the oil extraction project. The Municipal government will receive an 18% income share coming from the 60% allotted to the National Government, while 14% will go to

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 ...

Montpeller and 8% to the Provincial Government.

Tourism

The municipality of Alegria launched the Kawayan Festival on 2 December 2006, in time for the annual town fiesta. Local contingents paraded the streets, and locally produced kawayan (bamboo) products were on display. Kawayan Festival has been part of the fiesta celebration in honor of Saint Francis Xavier since then. There is also a plan to develop Alegria as the "Organic Vegetable Basket" in Cebu and in the

Visayas The Visayas ( ), or the Visayan Islands (Visayan: ''Kabisay-an'', ; tl, Kabisayaan ), are one of the three principal geographical divisions of the Philippines, along with Luzon and Mindanao. Located in the central part of the archipelago, ...

region by its mayor, Verna Magallon.

References

External links

* * Philippine Standard Geographic Code {{Authority control Municipalities of Cebu