Claveria, officially the Municipality of Claveria, 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 42,142 people. Ranked 592nd among 1,488 municipalities in the Philippines. It is located on the southern portion of Burias Island, southeast of the nation's capital of

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 ...

Etymology

The municipality was named after the Spanish governor-general Narciso Clavería y Zaldúa, who in 1844 anchored at Punduhan Paloha, the present site of Recodo (Poblacion District II), while in pursuit of Moro pirates, and named the place after himself.

History

Bicolanos from

Albay Albay (IPA: ), officially the Province of Albay (; ; Baybayin, ᜎᜎᜏᜒᜄᜈ᜔ ᜈᜅ᜔ ᜀᜎ᜔ᜊᜌ᜔), is a Provinces of the Philippines, province in the Bicol Region of the Philippines, mostly on the southeastern part of the isla ...

Sorsogon Sorsogon, officially the Province of Sorsogon ( Bikol: ''Probinsya kan Sorsogon''; Waray: ''Probinsya han Sorsogon''; ), is a province in the Philippines located in the Bicol Region. It is the southernmost province in the island of Luzon and ...

and nearby provinces and Tagalogs from the Bondoc Peninsula are considered as the first settlers of Burias Island. Their original settlement, called Matandang Nayon ("Old Village"), was founded near the bank of the Siargao River. In the 19th century, when the Spaniards were fighting the

Moros In Greek mythology, Moros /ˈmɔːrɒs/ or Morus /ˈmɔːrəs/ (Ancient Greek: Μόρος means 'doom, fate') is the personified spirit of impending doom, who drives mortals to their deadly fate. It was also said that Moros gave people the abi ...

in many parts of

Mindanao Mindanao ( ) is the List of islands of the Philippines, second-largest island in the Philippines, after Luzon, and List of islands by population, seventh-most populous island in the world. Located in the southern region of the archipelago, the ...

, Burias Island became a refuge for retreating Moros due to its relatively isolated location and deep safe harbors. After Governor General Claveria's visit, it became the first

sitio A ''sitio'' ( 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 barangay if its popu ...

called “Visita”, a spanished term for visit. In 1898 during the

Philippine Revolution The Philippine Revolution ( or ; or ) was a war of independence waged by the revolutionary organization Katipunan against the Spanish Empire from 1896 to 1898. It was the culmination of the 333-year History of the Philippines (1565–1898), ...

, Barrio Visita became a town and officially adopted the name Claveria, with Arcadio Sabaulan as ''Presidente Municipal''. The first Justice of the Peace was Estanislao Abetria and the first priest was Padre Rebeya. Three years later, in 1901, a

cholera Cholera () is an infection of the small intestine by some Strain (biology), strains of the Bacteria, bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea last ...

epidemic severely affected the municipality, resulting in a large population decrease. Consequently, the municipality was reverted to a barrio by virtue of a Municipal Council resolution, with Marcelo del Rosario as appointed ''Cabesa de Barangay''. In the middle of the 20th century, residents of Claveria began the initiative to reestablish Claveria into a municipality, especially spearheaded by Eleuterio C. Ombao, then head teacher of Claveria Elementary School. Despite strong opposition from the Municipal Council of San Pascual, Bill RA 2187 creating Claveria into a municipality was approved in the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

on May 7, 1959. September 5, 1959, was inauguration day, and Councilor Alfredo Alim was appointed Municipal mayor, also winning this position during the first local election in November of that year.

Geography

Barangays

Claveria is politically subdivided into 22

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 ...

. * Albasan * Boca Engaño * Buyo * Calpi * Canomay * Cawayan *

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 ...

District I (Town Proper) * Poblacion District II (Town Proper) * Imelda * Mababang Baybay * Mabiton * Manapao * Nabasagan * Nonoc * Osmeña * Pasig * Peñafrancia * Quezon * San Isidro * San Ramon * San Vicente * Taguilid

Climate

Demographics

In the 2020 census, the population of Claveria, Masbate, was 42,142 people, with a density of .

Economy

References

External links

* Philippine Standard Geographic Codebr>Philippine Census InformationLocal Governance Performance Management System
* {{Authority control Municipalities of Masbate