Catarman, officially the Municipality of Catarman ( Waray inorte Samarnon ''Bungto san Catarman''; ), 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' ...

and capital of 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 ...

of Northern Samar,

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 97,879 people. It is the commercial, educational, financial, and political center of the province. It is the most populous municipality in .

History

Before the coming of the Spaniards, Catarman (also known as Calatman or Cataruman) was a settlement by the mouth of the river of the same name in the region called Ibabao. The Spanish Conquistadors applied the term Ibabao to the northern part of Samar island when it established its civil government. The similarities in the vocabularies and pronunciation of the dialects of these areas traces them to a common root as a people. The town was one of the 13 villages and settlements and adopted as pueblos by the Spaniards in Samar Island and was one of the settlements in the northern parts of the island. The pueblo was named Calatman and was one of the pueblos in the Visayan islands, then collectively referred to as ''Islas de Pintados sland of the Painted Ones'. In 1974, Catarman was made the center of the episcopal see of the then newly established Roman Catholic Diocese of Catarman comprising the Northern Samar province, with the Our Lady of the Annunciation Parish Church as the designated

cathedral A cathedral is a church (building), church that contains the of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, Annual conferences within Methodism, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually s ...

Geography

Catarman lies on the northern part of

Samar Island Samar ( ) is the third-largest and seventh-most populous island in the Philippines, with a total population of 1,909,537 as of the 2020 census. It is located in the eastern Visayas, which are in the central Philippines. The island is divided in ...

, bounded to the east by Mondragon, to the west by Bobon, to the south by

Lope de Vega Félix Lope de Vega y Carpio (; 25 November 156227 August 1635) was a Spanish playwright, poet, and novelist who was a key figure in the Spanish Golden Age (1492–1659) of Spanish Baroque literature, Baroque literature. In the literature of ...

, to the southwest by Calbayog City, and to the north by the

Philippine Sea The Philippine Sea is a List of seas#Marginal seas by ocean, marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean, Western Pacific Ocean east of the list of islands of the Philippines, Philippine Archipelago (hence the name) and the List of seas#Largest seas ...

. On the Pacific coast are flat lowlands with the interior characterized by outlying low hills. Mount Puyao in Barangay Liberty is the highest peak in the area. The Catarman River, a major provincial river, divides the eastern and the western parts of the town. It is fed by the Paticua, Hibulwangan, Mahangna, Tura, and Danao creeks together with less prominent estuaries.

Barangays

Catarman is politically subdivided into 55

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 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 ...

. *Acacia (pob.) *Aguinaldo *Airport Village (pob.) *Bangkerohan *Baybay (pob.) *Bocsol *Cabayhan *Cag-abaca *Cal-igang *Calachuchi (pob.) *Casoy (pob.) *Cawayan *Cervantes *Cularima *Daganas *Dalakit *Doña Pulqueria *Galutan *Gebalagnan *Gibulwangan *Guba *Hinatad *Imelda *Ipil-ipil (pob.) *Jose Abad Santos (pob.) *Jose P. Rizal (pob.) *Lapu-lapu (pob.) *Liberty *Libjo *Mabini *Mabolo (pob.) *Macagtas *Malvar *McKinley *Molave (pob.) *Narra (pob.) *New Rizal *Old Rizal *Paticua *Polangi *Quezon *Salvacion *Sampaguita (pob.) *San Julian *San Pascual *Santol (pob.) *Somoge *Talisay (pob.) *Tinowaran *Trangue * UEP Zone I * UEP Zone II * UEP Zone III *Washington *Yakal (pob.)

Climate

Demographics

Economy

Transportation

PAL Express is the only airline operating through the Catarman National Airport, with flights between Manila and Catarman four times weekly and recently a 3x per week flight from Catarman to Cebu City . Flights are frequently booked well in advance due to ticket costs. Pedicabs and motorized tricycles are the means of transportation within the town. Jeepneys, vans, and buses are the means of transportation between Catarman and neighboring towns. Several vans and

bus A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a motor vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van, but fewer than the average rail transport. It is most commonly used ...

companies also operate to serve travelers between the town and

Manila Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the Capital of the Philippines, capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on ...

Education

Catarman is home to the University of Eastern Philippines, the first state university in the Visayas and the largest university by student population and curriculum in

Eastern Visayas Eastern Visayas (; ; ; ) is an administrative region in the Philippines, designated as Region VIII. It consists of three main islands: Samar, Leyte, and Biliran. The region has six provinces: Biliran, Leyte, Northern Samar, Samar, Easte ...

. The university has satellite campuses in the province, one in Laoang and the other in Catubig (officially known the Pedro Rebadulla Memorial Campus), and has several extension programs offered across satellite campuses in the region. Other prominent public and private educational institutions: Elementary: *Catarman Chinese Chamber Elementary School *Catarman II Central School *Catarman III Central School *Baybay Elementary School *Catarman SpEd Center *Cawayan Integrated School *Colegio de San Lorenzo Ruiz de Manila *Northern Samar Colleges *University of Eastern Philippines Laboratory Elementary School High School: *University of Eastern Philippines Laboratory High School *Colegio de San Lorenzo Ruiz de Manila *Northern Samar Colleges * Saint Michael Academy (Catarman) * Catarman National High School *Eastern Visayas Central Colleges College/Vocational:

University of Eastern Philippines NHCP Marker Site

* University of Eastern Philippines *Eastern Visayas Central Colleges *Colegio De San Lorenzo Ruiz De Manila * Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) *Global School for Technological Studies *East Pacific Computer College *Northern Samar Colleges

Notable personalities

* Narciso Abuke - Lt. Col. and Area Commander of Northern Samar during the Philippine-American War. Killed Pulahan leader Pedro de la Cruz in 1906. Mayor of Catarman 1912–1916 *Pablo Rebadulla - lawyer and Waray-language poet and musician

References

External links

Philippine Standard Geographic CodeLocal Governance Performance Management System
{{Authority control Catarman, Northern Samar Provincial capitals of the Philippines Municipalities of Northern Samar