Buenavista, officially the Municipality of Buenavista (), 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 ...

Quezon Quezon, officially the Province of Quezon () and historically known as Tayabas, is a Provinces of the Philippines, province in the Philippines located in the Calabarzon Regions of the Philippines, region on Luzon. Lucena, a highly urbanized ci ...

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 31,160 people. It was formerly known as Piris. It is accessible by land via Lopez and Catanauan or by water transportation via Guinayangan from Lucena City.

Etymology

Formerly known as Piris, Buenavista is now its official name from the

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 countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

words ''buena vista'', which translates to ''good view'', ''nice view'', ''fair view'', ''beautiful view'', or ''good sight'' in the

English language English is a West Germanic language that developed in early medieval England and has since become a English as a lingua franca, global lingua franca. The namesake of the language is the Angles (tribe), Angles, one of the Germanic peoples th ...

History

Origin

Its original name was ''Piri'' as engraved in the oldest church bell which was donated by one Don Jose Casal in the year 1866. It used to be located in the Sitio of ''Pinagbayanan'' situated in the western side of the Piris River which is about one a half kilometers away from the present town site. It was a mere hamlet of the

of ''Guinanyagan'', province of

and remained as such for quite a number of years until it finally became a

. This place became the choice of the founders, who were a mixture of Bicolanos and

Visayans Visayans ( Cebuano: ''mga Bisayà'' ) are a Philippine ethnolinguistic family group or metaethnicity native to the Visayas, to the southernmost islands south of Luzon, and to a significant portion of Mindanao. They are composed of numerous d ...

to enable them to easily escape the Moro raids that were prevalent during the olden times. When the raids finally subsided, the barrio of Piris was transferred to its present location. The word ''Piri'' was changed to ''Piris'' and later re-changed to ''Piris''.

Separation as a town

In October 1936, some civic minded residents launched the proposition of making the place a

. They signed a petition for the separation of Piris from the

of ''Guinayangan''. A group of seven members was formed and was commissioned to undertake a delegation to the Office of the Secretary of the Interior for the purpose. The group was composed of Don Feliciano Roldan, Mariano San Jose, Honorio Hutamares, Teodorico Dosto, Ciriaco Parraba, Antonio Pasta and Francisco San Jose. The outbreak of the second global war marked the failure of the offices concerned to convert the place into a regular municipality. After the election of Gaudencio V. Vera as representative for the second district of Quezon Province, Francisco San Jose, a native and public teacher of the place, was instructed by Congressman Vera to help prepare the necessary papers pertaining to the separation of Piris from Guinayangan. When the papers were prepared, House Bill No. 83 was passed by both houses of Congress and became Republic Act No. 495 under Proclamation No. 201 by President

Elpidio Quirino Elpidio Rivera Quirino (; November 16, 1890 – February 29, 1956) was a Philippine nationality law, Filipino lawyer and politician who served as the 6th President of the Philippines from 1948 to 1953. A lawyer by profession, Quirino entered p ...

, the corporate existence of ''Piris'' in the name Buenavista, the 37th municipality of

province, was fixed on August 26, 1950. An inauguration was celebrated by the town people under the leadership of Domingo Reyes and Yao Ching Kio, wealthy businessman of the place, with Congressman Vera as the guest of honor. When the

of Buenavista was inaugurated on August 26, 1950, it belonged to the seventh class. Six months later, duan some increase in revenue, it rose to sixth class. Francisco Falqueza was appointed Municipal Mayor and held office beginning August 26, 1950, up to December 31, 1951, and on November 13, 1951, in a local election, Primitivo Pasta Sr. becoming the first elected mayor.

Geography

Buenavista is located in the eastern part of Quezon at the base of the Bondoc Peninsula. It is bounded on the northern part by Guinayangan, on the south by the town of San Narciso, on the western part by Lopez and Catanauan, and on the east by Ragay Gulf facing Bicol Region. The municipality is southeast of

Metro Manila Metropolitan Manila ( ), commonly shortened to Metro Manila and formally the National Capital Region (NCR; ), is the capital region and largest List of metropolitan areas in the Philippines, metropolitan area of the Philippines. Located ...

and southeast of provincial capital

Lucena Lucena (, American Spanish: , European Spanish: ), officially known as the City of Lucena (), is a highly urbanized city situated in the Calabarzon region (Region IV-A) of the Philippines. The city is the largest urban center and capital of ...

Barangays

Buenavista is politically subdivided into 37

barangay The barangay (; abbreviated as Brgy. or Bgy.), historically referred to as ''barrio'', is the smallest Administrative divisions of the Philippines, administrative division in the Philippines. Named after the Precolonial barangay, precolonial po ...

s, as indicated below. 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 ...

. * Bagong Silang * Batabat Norte * Batabat Sur * Buenavista * Bukal * Bulo * Cabong * Cadlit * Catulin * Cawa * De La Paz * Del Rosario * Hagonghong * Ibabang Wasay * Ilayang Wasay * Lilukin * Mabini * Mabutag * Magallanes * Maligaya (Esperanza) * Manlana * Masaya * Poblacion * Rizal * Sabang Pinamasagan * Sabang Piris * San Diego * San Isidro Ibaba * San Isidro Ilaya * San Pablo * San Pedro (Villa Rodrigo) * San Vicente * Siain * Villa Aurora * Villa Batabat * Villa Magsaysay * Villa Veronica

Topography

Buenavista is primarily upland municipality characterized by ragged terrain, generally hilly or mountainous with high plains, valleys and swamps. It lies on different slopes from 0-15% and above. There are three types of soil that covers the municipality. These are Faraon Clay, Catanauan Clay loam and Bolinao Clay loam. This is the most extensive upland soil of the province mostly found in Bondoc Peninsula. Faraon Clay loam covers about 13,133.75 hectares which is 85% of the total land area of the municipality, 10%is said to be catanauan Clay loam and 5% of the total land area in Bolinao Clay loam. The greater portion of the soil types is used for grazing. The low-lying hills are planted to coconut and seasonal crops like corn, root crops, and fruit bearing trees. Catanauan Clay loam is found in the valley is used mostly on paddy rice field, while Bolinao Clay loam is devoted to coconut, bananas and other crops and some part has a mineral deposit like in Barangay Bulo and Cadlit.

Climate

Its climate is classified as type 3 which means the rainfall is evenly distributed throughout the year.

Demographics

Languages

The main language is Tagalog, although the Bicolanos, Visayan and Ilocano languages are commonly used in the barangays.

Religions

There religious organizations in the town such as: Roman Catholic, Iglesia Ni Cristo, Church of God, Seventh-Day Adventist, Born Again, Baptist, Islam, and Jehovah's Witnesses.

Economy

Government

Elected officials

List of former chief executives

*Francisco Falqueza (appointed) Aug.26, 1950–Dec.31, 1951 *Primitivo Pasta Sr. (first elected Mayor) 1951–1955 *Eustaquio Cawa 1955–1963 *Domingo Reyes 1963-1986 *Edgardo San Juan (elected Vice Mayor acted as OIC-mayor early 1982–1986) *Alex Ang (OIC-Mayor) 1986-1987 *Vicente Cawa 1988-1995 *Florencio Villamater 1995-2001 *Ramon Reyes 2001-2007 *Ma. Remedios Rivera 2007-2016 *Alexander Rivera 2016–2019 *Ma. Remedious Rivera 2019–2022

Churches

*San Lorenzo Diácono Parish - Poblacion (est.1955)

Notable personalities

* Alice Dixson - actress & model

References

External links

Official Websites

Sulong Buenavista! - Official Web Site of Municipality of Buenavista, Quezon

General information

* Philippine Standard Geographic Codebr>Philippine Census InformationLocal Governance Performance Management System
{{Authority control Municipalities of Quezon 1950 establishments in the Philippines