Cawayan, officially the Municipality of Cawayan, 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 ...

Masbate Masbate, officially the Province of Masbate (Masbateño language, Masbateño: ''Probinsya san Masbate''; ), is an island Provinces of the Philippines, province in the Philippines located near the midsection of the nation's archipelago. Its provi ...

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 69,265 people. Cawayan is from

Masbate City Masbate City, officially the City of Masbate (Masbateño language, Masbateño: ''Syudad san Masbate''; ), is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, component city and capital of the Provinces of the Philippines, province of Masbate, P ...

History

Cawayan was created as a municipality from portions of Milagros through Executive Order No. 244 signed 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 ...

on July 18, 1949.

Geography

Barangays

Cawayan 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. 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 ...

. * Begia * Cabayugan * Cabungahan * Calapayan * Calumpang * Dalipe * Divisoria * Guiom * Gilotongan * Itombato * Libertad * Looc * Mactan * Madbad * R.M. Magbalon (Bebihan) * Mahayahay * Maihao * Malbug * Naro * Pananawan *

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 ...

* Pulot * Recodo * San Jose * San Vicente * Taberna * Talisay * Tuburan * Villahermosa * Chico Island * Lague-lague * Palobandera * Pena Island * Pin-As * Iraya * Punta Batsan * Tubog

Climate

Demographics

In the 2020 census, the population of Cawayan, Masbate, was 69,265 people, with a density of .

Economy

Agriculture

The locals of Cawayan still largely depend on

subsistence farming Subsistence agriculture occurs when farmers grow crops on smallholdings to meet the needs of themselves and their families. Subsistence agriculturalists target farm output for survival and for mostly local requirements. Planting decisions occ ...

despite its topographic advantage to adapt commercial farming. The lack of funding for agriculture and infrastructure and its political insecurity due to the presence and activities of armed groups kept by political families and other subversive elements hinder the town's progress in spite of its geographical benefits. Being primarily plain and flat, Cawayan is conducive to cattle farming. Grasslands are abundant in the plains and in the gentle slopes of the valleys and hills. However,

land grabbing Land grabbing is the large-scale acquisition of land through buying or leasing of large pieces of land by domestic and Multinational corporation, transnational companies, governments, and individuals. While used broadly throughout history, land g ...

issues still prevail as evidenced by hectares of private enclosures locally known as "

ranch A ranch (from /Mexican Spanish) is an area of landscape, land, including various structures, given primarily to ranching, the practice of raising grazing livestock such as cattle and sheep. It is a subtype of farm. These terms are most often ap ...

os" that run miles after miles. Herds of cattle inside the fence barrier are visible from the national road as one travels into the interior making Cawayan a major player in the cattle industry of the province. Cawayan has several outlying islands crucial to its local fishing industries. These islands provide most of the marine resources to cater to the needs in the mainland.

Barter In trade, barter (derived from ''bareter'') is a system of exchange (economics), exchange in which participants in a financial transaction, transaction directly exchange good (economics), goods or service (economics), services for other goods ...

trade is still practiced on Sundays, the town's busiest day.

Copra Copra (from ; ; ; ) is the dried, white flesh of the coconut from which coconut oil is extracted. Traditionally, the coconuts are sun-dried, especially for export, before the oil, also known as copra oil, is pressed out. The oil extracted ...

farming is also popular in Cawayan.

Infrastructure

; Cawayan Port Improvement Project The P42.95-million Cawayan Port Improvement Project in Barangay Mahayahay included the construction of rock causeway, back-up area, RC platform,

RoRo Roll-on/roll-off (RORO or ro-ro) ships are cargo ships designed to carry wheeled cargo, such as cars, motorcycles, trucks, semi-trailer trucks, buses, trailers, and railroad cars, that are driven on and off the ship on their own wheels or usi ...

ramp and breasting dolphin, as well as port lighting system, and mooring and fendering system. The project was completed on January 26, 2009. The construction of this facility has drawn various forms of criticism. Nothing since the road construction project years way back that paved the national highway for a smooth access to other places had the townsfolk witnessed the unveiling of this multi-million project with such warm welcome. However, it was also evident that the materials used were substandard due to its massive damage when a typhoon struck the area months after its completion. Nevertheless, there was no denying of its economic contribution that further flourished open trade in the Visayan nautical radius. ; RoRo Project Other than the local outrigger boat operators, a shipping company provides services to cater to the town's need of reliable vessel to transfer commodities to and from Cawayan for trade. It departs daily from Cawayan usually at 12:00 noon for a six-hour trip and docks at Pulambato Port in Bogo, Cebu. And at around 12:00 midnight it sails back to Cawayan Port. For about two years, the RoRo vessel stopped operating in Cawayan, but on October 10, 2012, RoRo service was restarted. Station of the cross

Industry

A local crab meat processing industry operates in Peña Island owned by Arturo Marcaida Jr. He is considered as the most successful fisherman who made it big in fish culture and fish processing business not only in Masbate but in the entire

Bicol Region The Bicol Region, designated as Region V, is an administrative region of the Philippines. It comprises six Provinces of the Philippines, provinces, four on the Bicol Peninsula (the luzon#Southeastern Luzon, southeastern end of Luzon): Albay, Ca ...

which earned for him the title “Crab King". Another booming industry of the town is the dried fish industry.

Tourism

Cawayan is naturally blessed with beautiful places. Famous hang-outs and tourist spots include the Station of the Cross atop Mount Begia; tropical islets of Naro and Peña; a marine sanctuary across Recodo Bay; and a wide stretch of beaches among others. Tourists can also enjoy visiting downtown during Sundays at Barangay Divisoria which has one of the largest open markets in the Philippines.

Education

Secondary schools: * Western Masbate Roosevelt High School * Naro National High School * Villahermosa National High School * Malbug High School * Madbad National High School Tertiary schools: * Atty. Manuel B. Abinuman Memorial Colleges, Inc.

References

External links

LGU Cawayan Masbate Website
*

Philippine Standard Geographic Code The Philippine Standard Geographic Code (PSGC) is a systematic classification and coding for geographic areas in the Philippines. It classifies areas based on the country's four levels of administrative divisions: regions, provinces, municipalities ...

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{{Authority control Municipalities of Masbate Political divisions established by Philippine executive order