Carrascal, officially the Municipality of Carrascal ( Surigaonon: ''Lungsod nan Carrascal''; ), 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 ...

Surigao del Sur Surigao del Sur (Surigaonon language, Surigaonon: ''Probinsya nan Surigao del Sur''; ; ), officially the Province of Surigao del Sur, is a Provinces of the Philippines, province in the Philippines located in the Caraga Regions of the Philippines ...

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 24,586 people.

Geography

Unique physical features of Carrascal are the uneven distribution of its lowlands and rolling hills. Carrascal is the boundary town of Surigao del Sur with Surigao del Norte.

Barangays

Carrascal is politically subdivided into 14

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. 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 while 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 ...

. Babuyan, Dahican and Caglayag were converted into a barrio in 1956. * Adlay * Babuyan * Bacolod * Baybay (

Poblacion ''Poblacion'' (from Spanish '' población'', meaning "population"), sometimes abbreviated as Pob., is a term used in the Philippines to refer to the administrative center, downtown, old town, or commercial area of a city or municipality. It ...

) * Bon-ot * Caglayag * Dahican * Doyos (

) * Embarcadero (

) * Gamuton * Panikian * Pantukan * Saca (

) * Tag-Anito

Climate

Carrascal has a

tropical rainforest climate A tropical rainforest climate or equatorial climate is a tropical climate sub-type usually found within 10 to 15 degrees latitude of the equator. There are some other areas at higher latitudes, such as the coast of southeast Florida, United States ...

(Af) with heavy to very heavy rainfall year-round and with extremely heavy rainfall from December to February. With over 5000 mm of rain, it is the wettest place in the Philippines.

Demographics

Economy

Mining industry

Carrascal, known for its mining economy, is home to a number of large-scale mining firms. In early 2017, CTP Construction and Mining Corporation and Carrascal Nickel Corporation that operated near coastal areas while Marcventures Mining and Development Corporation in a declared watershed were found violating the

Department of Environment and Natural Resources The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR; ) is the Executive Departments of the Philippines, executive department of the Philippine government responsible for the conservation, management, development, and proper use of the cou ...

(DENR) policy, thus sanctioned for closure. Economic pressures felt immediately by its local stakeholders; controversially and concurrently, the Philippine political machinery intervened at the national stage. Short-lived environmental court sanctions was then rescinded later that same year due to an injunctive relief from "filed motions and appeal for reconsideration" allowing mining re-operations that environmental group Caraga Watch vehemently contested as "inutile and bankrupt mining law and policies;" further prompting for pre-emptive, sensible environmental watch and on-going national/local discussions before waking-up to extractive gas drill operations in its shorelines.

Special areas of economic considerations

The ideal candidate site of proposed wind power projects is located approximately 300 meter masl in the mining area near Carrascal. It is accessible from a highway under perpetual reconstruction and further made accessible by exploration roads constructed by mining companies. The terrain is mostly flat, with minimal vegetation, causing minimal turbulence to wind flow in the area. It overlooks the Philippine Sea from the southeast and the north-west directions. Some permanent deformations of small trees indicate that the wind typically comes from the north-east direction. Ground measurements yielded wind speeds of 8–11 m/s, which, by industry standards has excellent wind power potential. However, further validation studies of at least one year of wind data gathered from the site is nonexistent. Transmission lines of the local cooperative pass through this wind power candidate site, making it more attractive for wind and/ solar energy development to alleviate badly needed energy infrastructure to sustain large scale industrialization and its lofty bid to become the northernmost "city" of Surigao del Sur.

References

External links

Carrascal Profile at the DTI Cities and Municipalities Competitive Index
* Philippine Standard Geographic Code
Philippine Census Information

Local Governance Performance Management System
* {{Authority control Municipalities of Surigao del Sur Mining communities in the Philippines