Subic, officially the Municipality of Subic ( ilo, Ili ti Subic; tl, Bayan ng Subic), is a 1st 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 ...

Zambales Zambales, officially the Province of Zambales ( fil, Lalawigan ng Zambales; ilo, Probinsia ti Zambales; Pangasinan: ''Luyag/Probinsia na Zambales''; xsb, Probinsya nin Zambales), is a province in the Philippines located in the Central Luzon re ...

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 111,912 people. It is located along the northern coast of

Subic Bay Subic Bay is a bay on the west coast of the island of Luzon in the Philippines, about northwest of Manila Bay. An extension of the South China Sea, its shores were formerly the site of a major United States Navy facility, U.S. Naval Base Sub ...

. Portions of the town also form part of the

Subic Freeport Zone The Subic Special Economic and Freeport Zone, often shorterned as Subic Bay or Subic, is a special economic zone and freeport area covering portions of the city of Olongapo and the town of Subic in Zambales, and the towns of Morong and Herm ...

. Subic is from Iba, from

Olongapo Olongapo, officially the City of Olongapo ( fil, Lungsod ng Olongapo; ilo, Siudad ti Olongapo; xsb, Siyodad nin Olongapo), is a 1st class highly urbanized city in the Central Luzon region of the Philippines. Located in the province of Zambales ...

, and from

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...

Etymology

The native

inhabitants called the area ''Hubek'', which means "head of a plough"; Spanish missionary priests mispronounced the name as ''Subiq''. By the time of the American occupation, "Subiq" was mispronounced as ''Subig''. Eventually the name reverted to "Subiq", but the letter 'q' was replaced with 'c'.

History

In 1572,

Juan de Salcedo Juan de Salcedo (; 1549 – March 11, 1576) was a Spanish- Novohispanic conquistador. He was born in Mexico in 1549 and he was the grandson of Miguel López de Legazpi and brother of Felipe de Salcedo. Salcedo was one of the soldiers who accompa ...

, the Mexico-born Spanish conquistador and grandson of

Miguel Lopez de Legazpi --> Miguel is a given name and surname, the Portuguese and Spanish form of the Hebrew name Michael. It may refer to: Places * Pedro Miguel, a parish in the municipality of Horta and the island of Faial in the Azores Islands * São Miguel (disa ...

, founded Zambales during his exploration of northern Luzon."Municipalities"
Zambales Now, Official Website of Zambales. Retrieved on 2012-05.24.
** The year of 1542 in the founding of Subic is a misprint and should be the year 1572 like in Botolan, for Salcedo was born in 1549. Subic was founded in late 1607 by Augustinian friars headed by Rev. Fr. Rodrigo de San Miguel, and the natives in Subic were Christianized under Spanish rule.

Spanish period

In September 1762, the British invaded the Philippines and took over the Spanish main naval base in

Manila Bay Manila Bay ( fil, Look ng Maynila) is a natural harbor that serves the Port of Manila (on Luzon), in the Philippines. Strategically located around the capital city of the Philippines, Manila Bay facilitated commerce and trade between the Phi ...

. This prompted the Spanish military to scout for the next promising naval station. The expedition returned with the good news for the naval command - a natural bounty and deep waters at Subic Bay.

King Alfonso XII Alfonso XII (Alfonso Francisco de Asís Fernando Pío Juan María de la Concepción Gregorio Pelayo; 28 November 185725 November 1885), also known as El Pacificador or the Peacemaker, was King of Spain from 29 December 1874 to his death in 1885 ...

issued a decree in 1884 that declared Subic as "a naval port and the property appertaining there to set aside for naval purposes." Construction of an arsenal and ship repair yard ensued March 8 the following year, as ordered by the new settlers' Naval Commission. Subic Bay's potential as naval station was realized by the Americans. Commodore

George Dewey George Dewey (December 26, 1837January 16, 1917) was Admiral of the Navy, the only person in United States history to have attained that rank. He is best known for his victory at the Battle of Manila Bay during the Spanish–American War, with ...

and his men engaged in a battle that destroyed the Spanish Army in 1898, and the Americans took over Subic Bay on December 10, 1899.

American period and World War II

The Americans designated the Subic Bay area as a repair and supply naval base site in 1901. Two years later, US President

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...

declared of land in Subic as a military reservation area; or more than half of Subic's land area at the time. Subic, along with the Olongapo area suffered significant damage during the World War II and was repurposed by the Imperial Japanese Army as their own base during the Japanese occupation.

Post World War II

After World War II,

, a barrio of Subic that forms part of the US Military Reservations in the Subic area, was turned over to the Philippine government. Olongapo was converted to a municipality independent from Subic town through Executive Order No. 366 issued by President

Carlos P. Garcia Carlos Polestico Garcia (November 4, 1896 – June 14, 1971) was a Filipino teacher, poet, orator, lawyer, public official, political economist, guerrilla and Commonwealth military leader who was the eighth president of the Philippines. A l ...

on December 7, 1959.

Geography

Climate

Subic has a

tropical monsoon climate An area of tropical monsoon climate (occasionally known as a sub-equatorial, tropical wet climate or a tropical monsoon and trade-wind littoral climate) is a tropical climate sub-type that corresponds to the Köppen climate classification category ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

''Am''). Subic's climate is no different from the other towns in eastern part of

Luzon Luzon (; ) is the largest and most populous island in the Philippines. Located in the northern portion of the Philippines archipelago, it is the economic and political center of the nation, being home to the country's capital city, Manila, as ...

where rainy season runs from May to October, while the dry season is from November to April. The wettest month of the year is July with average monthly rainfall more than and the driest month is February with average monthly rainfall less than . The highest ever recorded temperature in the area is and the lowest is . The annual average temperature in the city is .

Barangays

Subic is politically subdivided into 16

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. * Aningway-Sacatihan * Asinan (Poblacion) * Asinan Proper * Baraca-Camachile (Poblacion) * Batiawan * Calapacuan * Calapandayan (Poblacion) * Cawag * Ilwas (Poblacion) * Mangan-Vaca * Matain * Naugsol * Pamatawan * San Isidro * Santo Tomas * Wawandue (Poblacion)

Government

Chief executives

This is the complete list of municipal leaders such as

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well ...

and Presidente Municipal since it became a municipality in 1902.

Demographics

In the 2020 census, the population of Subic was 111,912 people, with a density of .

Economy

Part of the town of Subic are within the jurisdiction of the

which is managed by the

Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority The Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (abbreviated as "SBMA", fil, Pangasiwaang Panlungsod ng Subic Bay) is a governmental agency of the Philippines. Sometimes abbreviated as SBMA, the agency has played a significant part in the development of t ...

. The revenue earned by the special economic zone is shared by seven municipalities including Subic town, and the city of Olongapo.

Infrastructure

Transportation

Roads

The primary road that connects Subic to the other parts of the town is the Olongapo-Bugallon Road. Most of the names of Subic's streets are based on the surnames of prominent residents or names of plants. Most of the roads in Subic are made of concrete and asphalt while others are still made of dirt. Bypass roads such as the Govic Highway are also commonly used by motorists to travel from Barangay Matain to Barangay Manggahan. The roads are meant to reduce traffic in the town proper and are used by trucks going north of Castillejos and vice versa. Another main road is the Philseco Road that ends from Barangay Asinan proper down to Keppel Subic Shipyard (formerly Philippine Shipyard and Engineering Corporation). The Govic Highway Extension runs from Castillejos down to Hanjin Shipyard and is exclusively used by its workers.

Public Utilities

Electricity

Electricity services are provided by the cooperative-run Zambales II Electric Cooperative, Inc. (ZAMECO II) which covers an area from Subic all the way to Cabangan since 1972.

Water

Water services are provided by Subic Water District (SWD), not to be confused with Subic Water and Sewerage Company (Subic Water), which is a different water distribution company serving the neighboring city of Olongapo.

Education

High school

;Private *Smart Achievers Academy Subic Incorporated * College of Subic Montessori * St. James School * St. Anthony's School 56Subic, Zambales Highway Barangays 26

;Public * Subic National High School *Kinabuksan Integrated School * Ilwas Integrated School * Josephine F. Khonghun Special Education Center * Nagyantok National High School * Pamatawan Integrated School * Santo Tomas National High School * Calapandayan Integrated School

College

* College of Subic Montessori * Best Freeport College * Metro Subic College * Kolehiyo ng Subic (

Public College A public university or public college is a university or college that is in owned by the state or receives significant public funds through a national or subnational government, as opposed to a private university. Whether a national universit ...

) Most of Private schools are operated by Catholic Institution except for colleges.

References

External links

Subic Profile at PhilAtlas.com
* * Philippine Standard Geographic Code {{Authority control Municipalities of Zambales Port cities and towns in the Philippines Beaches of the Philippines