Bien Unido, officially the Municipality of Bien Unido ( ceb, Munisipyo sa Bien Unido; tgl, Bayan ng Bien Unido), 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 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 ...

Bohol Bohol (), officially the Province of Bohol ( ceb, Lalawigan sa Bohol; tl, Lalawigan ng Bohol), is an island province of the Philippines located in the Central Visayas Regions of the Philippines, region, consisting of the island itself and 75 m ...

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 26,666 people. Bien Unido is the youngest municipality in Bohol being founded in 1981 after it was carved out and separated from the municipalities of

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands of Trinidad and Tobago. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is often referred to as the southernmos ...

and

Talibon Talibon, officially the Municipality of Talibon ( ceb, Lungsod sa Talibon; tgl, Bayan ng Talibon), is a 1st class municipality in the province of Bohol, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 71,272 people. It is lo ...

. Among the principal industries in Bien Unido are

rice farming Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly '' Oryza glaberrima'' (African rice). The name wild rice is usually used for species of the genera '' Zizania'' and '' Porteresia'', both wild and domestica ...

seaweed farming Seaweed farming or kelp farming is the practice of cultivating and harvesting seaweed. In its simplest form, it consists of the management of naturally found batches. In its most advanced form, it consists of fully controlling the life cycle of ...

, livestock raising,

algaculture Algaculture is a form of aquaculture involving the farming of species of algae. The majority of algae that are intentionally cultivated fall into the category of microalgae (also referred to as phytoplankton, microphytes, or planktonic algae). M ...

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques inclu ...

, and mat weaving. The town gained the nickname as the de facto ''Seaweeds Capital of the Visayas''. The "Bien Unido Double Barrier Reef Marine Park" is the first underwater pilgrimage in Asia, established in 2012. It is situated along the

Danajon Bank The Danajon Bank is the only double barrier reef in the Philippines, which is a very rare geological formation, which is located in the Camotes Sea. It comprises two sets of large coral reefs that formed offshore on a submarine ridge due to a comb ...

. The town of Bien Unido, Bohol celebrates its feast on December 28, to honor the town patron, the Holy Child.

Accessibility

Bien Unido is (2 hours or more) from

Tagbilaran Tagbilaran, officially the City of Tagbilaran ( ceb, Dakbayan sa Tagbilaran), is a 3rd class component city and capital of the province of Bohol, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 104,976 people. Encompassing a la ...

by road.

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 Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Central Visayas Regions of the P ...

is approximately over 4 hours via the Cebu–

and Cebu–

Tubigon Tubigon, officially the Municipality of Tubigon ( ceb, Munisipyo sa Tubigon; tgl, Bayan ng Tubigon), is a 1st class municipality in the province of Bohol, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 47,886 people. Located ...

RORO Roll-on/roll-off (RORO or ro-ro) ships are cargo ships designed to carry wheeled cargo, such as cars, motorcycles, trucks, semi-trailer trucks, buses, Trailer (vehicle), trailers, and railroad cars, that are driven on and off the ship on their o ...

routes, while it takes 3 hours via the Cebu–Tubigon ferry. Moreover, it takes approximately 2 or 3 hours to reach Bien Unido via the Cebu–

Getafe Getafe () is a municipality and a city in Spain belonging to the Community of Madrid. , it has a population of 180,747, the region's sixth most populated municipality. Getafe is located 13 km south of Madrid's city centre, within a flat ar ...

ferry or motor boat. Bien Unido can also be reached directly from Cebu City through Pasil-Suba fish port via pump boat in more than 3 hours.

History

"Bien Unido" is a

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

phrase translating to "''well united''" in English. In 1935, two

sitio A ''sitio'' (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 barangay if its popul ...

s in northern

were united into one

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 ...

under an executive order and was given the name Bien Unido. Barangay Bien Unido had aspired to become a separate municipality since 1965. On December 24, 1980, Batas Pambansa Blg. 93 was passed, providing for the creation of the municipality of Bien Unido comprising the barangay of Bien Unido and certain surrounding barangays in the municipalities of

and Trinidad. The creation of the municipality was approved by the majority of voters in a plebiscite on April 7, 1981. On June 7, 2017, Gisela Bendong-Boniel, mayor of Bien Unido at that time, was kidnapped and killed, allegedly masterminded by her husband, Board Member Niño Rey Boniel, who was the former mayor of the town. Her body was dumped between the waters of

Olango Island Group The Olango Island Group is a group of islands found in the Central Visayas region of the Philippines. It comprises Olango island and 6 satellite islets namely: Caubian, Camungi, Caohagan, Gilutongan, Nalusuan, Pangan-an, and Sulpa. The island gr ...

and

Mactan Mactan is a densely populated island located a few kilometers (~1 mile) east of Cebu Island in the Philippines. The island is part of Cebu province and it is divided into the city of Lapu-Lapu and the municipality of Cordova. The island is sep ...

. Her body has never been found.

Geography

Barangays

Bien Unido comprises 15 barangays including the island barangays. Of these, only Bilangbilangan Diot and Hingotanan East are classified as rural and the rest are urban. Bien Unido bw-001

Climate

Demographics

The people in the municipality speak Cebuano and the

Boholano dialect Boholano ( ceb, Binol-anon) is a variant of the Cebuano language spoken in the island province of Bohol in the Visayas and a major portion of Southern Leyte, as well as parts of Mindanao, particularly in Northern Mindanao and Caraga. It is somet ...

Filipino Filipino may refer to: * Something from or related to the Philippines ** Filipino language, standardized variety of 'Tagalog', the national language and one of the official languages of the Philippines. ** Filipinos, people who are citizens of th ...

and

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 ...

are generally understood.

Economy

Fishes caught are brought and sold in

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 ...

while mats have markets in

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 ...

Leyte Leyte ( ) is an island in the Visayas group of islands in the Philippines. It is eighth-largest and sixth-most populous island in the Philippines, with a total population of 2,626,970 as of 2020 census. Since the accessibility of land has be ...

and Cebu. Seaweed industry is recently the main livelihood in the municipality. The farmed seaweeds are used as essential ingredient for gel capsules, soap, toothpaste, slippers and other plastic wares.

Education

Health and social services

* Number of Municipal Health Center: 1 * Number of Barangay Health Stations: 7 * Number of Day Care Centers: 15

References

External links

Philippine Standard Geographic Code 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 ...

Bien Unido Profile
{{Authority control Municipalities of Bohol