San Policarpo, officially the Municipality of San Policarpo ( war, Bungto han San Policarpo; tl, Bayan ng San Policarpo), is a 5th 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 ...

of Eastern Samar,

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 15,365 people. In the north-west, it is bounded by Arteche, in the north-east by the vast

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contin ...

and in the south by Oras.

History

San Policarpo was established as a barrio in 1837. The Municipality of San Policarpo was created from the barrios of San Policarpo, Bahay, Alugan, Pangpang, Japunan, Tabo, Binogawan and Cajagwayan of the municipality of Oras, then in the province of

Samar Samar ( ) is the third-largest and seventh-most populous island in the Philippines, with a total population of 1,909,537 as of the 2020 census. It is located in the eastern Visayas, which are in the central Philippines. The island is divided in ...

, by virtue of Republic Act No. 281 signed on June 16, 1948 and inaugurated on February 5, 1949. In 1952, the barrio of Santa Monica was transferred from Oras to San Policarpo. On June 19, 1965, the municipality was annexed to the newly-established province of Eastern Samar through a plebiscite and the sitios of Santa Cruz, Tan-awan, Bangon, Guin-osokan, Barras, Lipata and Libas were converted into barrios. The town was formerly named "Bunga", derived from the plant called ''bunga'' which was very abundant in the present site of the town. "''Bunga''" means fruit, thus the name indicates the fruit of the toils of its founders.

Geography

Barangays

San Policarpo 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 metropolita ...

s. Each barangay consists of puroks and some have

sitios 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 ...

. * Alugan * Bahay * Bangon * Baras (Lipata) * Binogawan * Cajagwayan * Japunan * Natividad * Pangpang * Barangay No. 1 (

Poblacion ''Poblacion'' (literally "town" or "settlement" in Spanish; ) is the common term used for the administrative center, central, downtown, old town or central business district area of a Philippine city or municipality, which may take up the ...

) * Barangay No. 2 (

) * Barangay No. 3 (

) * Barangay No. 4 (

) * Barangay No. 5 (

) * Santa Cruz * Tabo * Tan-awan

Climate

Demographics

The population of San Policarpo, Eastern Samar, in the 2020 census was 15,365 people, with a density of .

Economy

The local economy of San Policarpo, one of the country's poorest towns, is dependent on fishing and farming.

References

External links

* Philippine Standard Geographic Code
Philippine Census Information

Local Governance Performance Management System
{{Authority control Municipalities of Eastern Samar