Balamban, officially the Municipality of Balamban (; ; ), is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

in the

province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

Cebu Cebu ( ; ), officially the Province of Cebu (; ), is a province of the Philippines located in the Central Visayas region, and consists of a main island and 167 surrounding islands and islets. The coastal zone of Cebu is identified as a ...

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 95,136 people. Balamban is known for its shipbuilding industry.

History

There is no exact date which can be ascertained as the establishment date for the settlement of Balamban. According to oral history, a polity called Balambang was part of a pre-Hispanic monarchy called Hinulawan located in the present Balamban barangay of Nangka. A Spanish document attests that the community was recognized as a town during Spanish colonial period. The first administrator of the ''pueblo'' was Ciriaco Gutierrez, a Spanish captain who was appointed in 1857. The first native Filipino to hold the position was Macario Montejo which was followed by other natives including Fermin Ricafort. As per a document dated May 2, 1878 from the Archive Division, Bureau of Records Management, the ''pueblo'' (now municipality) of

Asturias Asturias (; ; ) officially the Principality of Asturias, is an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in northwest Spain. It is coextensive with the provinces of Spain, province of Asturias and contains some of the territory t ...

was created from the ''pueblos'' of Balamban and Tuburan. According to oral history, the construction of the St. Francis of Assisi Parish was initiated by a priest in 1875. He oversaw the parish until 1909. On March 17, 1957, the

Douglas C-47 The Douglas C-47 Skytrain or Dakota ( RAF designation) is a military transport aircraft developed from the civilian Douglas DC-3 airliner. It was used extensively by the Allies during World War II. During the war the C-47 was used for troo ...

which carried then-president

Ramon Magsaysay Ramon del Fierro Magsaysay Sr. (August 31, 1907 – March 17, 1957) was a Filipino statesman who served as the seventh President of the Philippines, from December 30, 1953, until his death in an 1957 Cebu Douglas C-47 crash, aircraft disast ...

crashed in

Mount Manunggal Mount Manunggal is the third-highest peak in the island of Cebu after Osmena Peak and Lugsangan Peak. It is located in Barangay Magsaysay in Balamban, Cebu province, rising above sea level. It is the site of the crash of the presidential plane ...

. A monument was erected at the site which is now considered historical site ever since. The Cebu Transcentral Highway was constructed in the 1990s improving the accessibility of Balamban with

Cebu City Cebu City, officially the City of Cebu, is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Central Visayas region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 964,169 people, making ...

Geography

Balamban is bordered to the north by the town of

, to the west is the Tañon Strait, to the east is

, and to the south is the City of Toledo. It is from Cebu City.

Barangays

Balamban is politically subdivided into 28 barangays. Each barangay consists of

purok A ''purok'' () is an informal division within a barangay in the Philippines. While not officially considered a local government unit (LGU), a ''purok'' often serves as a unit for delivering services and administration within a barangay. ''Pur ...

s and some have

sitios A ''sitio'' (Spanish language, 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 bar ...

Climate

Demographics

Economy

Shipbuilding Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and other Watercraft, floating vessels. In modern times, it normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation th ...

is a major industry of the town of Balamban since the 1990s. Among the prominent firms with shipyards in the town is Austal Philippines, Tsuneishi and Metaphil at the West Cebu Industrial Park. Farming is another source of livelihood for residents with corn, crops and vegetables among the important crops. The municipality is also the only source of abaca fibers in

produced in a plantation in Mount Manunggal in barangay Magsaysay. With the elevation of above sea level, Magsaysay is ideal for abaca cultivation.

Cannabis ''Cannabis'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cannabaceae that is widely accepted as being indigenous to and originating from the continent of Asia. However, the number of species is disputed, with as many as three species be ...

has also been illicitly cultivated in Magsaysay and other mountainous barangays of Balamban which is discouraged by the government and has encouraged farmers to grow alternative crops including abaca.

Government

The following were the mayors of Balamban: *Eufracio Yntig (1945–1946) *Rizalina Migallos (1947–1955) *Exasperanza Sanchez-Binghay (1955 – 1967) *Socrates Gonzalez (1967–1986) *Vicenta Dumdum ( OIC; 1986–1987) *Jose Narvios Jr. (March–June 1998) *Alex Binghay (1988–1998) *Marcelo Ike Pilapil (1998–2001) *Alex Binghay (2001–2010) *Ace Stefan Binghay (2010–2019) *Alex Binghay (2019–2022) *Ace Stefan Binghay (2022–present)

References

External links

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