Saint Bernard, officially the Municipality of Saint Bernard ( Kabalian: ''Lungsod san Saint Bernard''; ceb, Lungsod sa Saint Bernard; tl, Bayan ng Saint Bernard), 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 ...

Southern Leyte Southern Leyte ( ceb, Habagatang Leyte; Kabalian language, Kabalian: ''Habagatan nga Leyte''; war, Salatan nga Leyte; tl, Timog Leyte), officially the Province of Southern Leyte, is a Provinces of the Philippines, province in the Philippines loc ...

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 28,414 people.

History

This town was formerly the largest barrio of San Juan, then known as "Himatagon". On December 9, 1954, President Ramon Magsaysay issued Executive Order No. 84, converting the barrio as a municipality of Saint Bernard. It was through the efforts of Leyte Governor Bernardo Torres that the conversion was made possible in response to the lingering clamour of the inhabitants for an independent and separate municipality from San Juan. As a gratitude to Governor Bernardo Torres, the people unanimously renamed Himatagon as Saint Bernard, with the honorific title "Saint" being a translation of the vernacular honorific "San" which is given to persons of virtue, wisdom or generosity and the name Bernard being the English version of the name Bernardo. On February 17, 2006, a tragic series of mudslides killed over 1100 residents in Barangay Guinsaugon. Affected families were treated by the Philippine government and other non-government organizations from all over the world. New houses were built, and the people chose New Guinsaugon as the name of their village located near the town proper.

Geography

It is situated on the

Pacific 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 contine ...

coast and the first town form the mountain road from the eastern side of

Sogod Bay Sogod Bay is a large bay in the southern part of Leyte Island in the Philippines. An extension of the Bohol Sea, the bay is surrounded by the province of Southern Leyte, and the namesake municipality of Sogod is located at the head of the bay. P ...

Barangays

Saint Bernard is politically subdivided into 30

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 but only 28 are considered truly functioning barangays.

Climate

Demographics

Economy

Saint Bernard's economy are based in agriculture and marine culture. The municipality is considered among the fastest growing economy in the pacific area of Southern Leyte. Saint Bernard is a peninsula and therefore it is almost entirely surrounded by water. The majority of the people who live in the flat lands engage in fishing as their main mode of livelihood. Those who live in the mountain barangays, live through farming. The common mode of transportation is by bicycles with side cars, known locally as Potpot or pedicabs or, depending on the distance, tricycles with side cars, called trisikads or center cab. The LGU established the Saint Bernard Town Center for economic activities of some Small to Medium Entrepreneurs.

Tourism

*Hindag An Falls- Barangay Hindag-an *Tinago Beach- Barangay Magbagacay *Tinago Spring Falls- Barangay Ayahag *Lipanto Marine Sanctuary- Barangay Lipanto *Himbangan Bird Sanctuary- Barangay Himbangan *Sangat Cave and Beach- Barangay Hindag-an *Saub Beach- Barangay Lipanto *Ground Zero Memorial Park & Lawigan River- Lawigan River, access at Brgy Tambis 1 *Libas River- Barangay Libas *Kissbone Cove and Resort- Barangay Magbagacay *Santo Nino Shrine - Sitio Cansi, Barangay Himatagon *Mun. Disaster Management Office - LGU Compound, Municipal Building, Barangay Himatagon

Education

There are accessible Elementary Schools in every Barangay in the Municipality of Saint Bernard as of 2019 census. List of Secondary Schools in the Municipality of Saint Bernard. *Tambis National High School- Barangay Tambis 1 *Himbangan National High School- Barangay Himbangan *Cristo Rey Regional High School- BarangayMalibago *New Guinsaugon National High School - Relocation area of New Guinsaugon, Magbagacay

References

External links

* * Philippine Standard Geographic Codebr>Local Governance Performance Management System
{{Authority control Municipalities of Southern Leyte