New Washington, officially the Municipality of New Washington (
Aklanon: ''Banwa it New Washington'';
Hiligaynon: ''Banwa sang New Washington''; ), 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 ...
of
Aklan
Aklan, officially the Province of Aklan, is a Provinces of the Philippines, province in the Western Visayas region of the Philippines. Its capital and largest town is Kalibo. The province is situated in the northwest portion of Panay, Panay Islan ...
,
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 47,955 people.
New Washington is particularly known for being the home town of Cardinal
Jaime Sin
Jaime Cardinal Lachica Sin, ( zh, t=辛海梅, 辛海棉, poj=Sin Hái-mûi, Sin Hái-mî; August 31, 1928 – June 21, 2005), commonly and also formally known as Cardinal Sin, was the 30th Catholic Archbishop of Manila and the third cardina ...
, former
Archbishop of Manila
The Archdiocese of Manila (; ; ) is the archdiocese of the Latin Church, Latin Rite of the Catholic Church in the Philippines, Catholic Church in Metro Manila, Catholic Church in the Philippines, Philippines, encompassing the cities of Manila, ...
.
Etymology
Established on January 15, 1904, the municipality was named after the first president of the United States,
George Washington
George Washington (, 1799) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot (American Revoluti ...
, as a tribute to the
Thomasites
The Thomasites were a group of 600 American teachers who traveled from the United States to the newly occupied territory of the Philippines on the USAT Thomas, US Army Transport ''Thomas''. The group included 346 men and 180 women, hailing from ...
, a group of American teachers who in the early 1900s established a new public education system in the Philippines, taught basic education, and trained Filipino teachers with English as medium of instruction. The municipality was formerly called ''Fonda Lagatic'', which was derived from Lagatik River that stretches along some of the municipality's barangays at a length of .
Geography
New Washington is located at .
According to the
Philippine Statistics Authority
The Philippine Statistics Authority (; PSA) is the central statistical authority of the Philippine government that collects, compiles, analyzes, and publishes statistical information on economic, social, demographic, political affairs, and gene ...
, the municipality has a land area of constituting of the total area of Aklan.
New Washington is bounded by
Batan in the east,
Kalibo
Kalibo, officially the Municipality of Kalibo (Aklanon language, Aklanon: ''Banwa it Kalibo''; Hiligaynon language, Hiligaynon: ''Banwa sang Kalibo''; ), is a municipality of the Philippines, municipality and capital of the Philippine Province, ...
in the west and the
Sibuyan Sea
The Sibuyan Sea is a small sea in the Philippines separating Luzon and the Visayas.
It is bounded by the island of Panay to the south, Mindoro to the west, Masbate to the east, and to the north Marinduque and the Bicol Peninsula of Luzon.
...
on the north. It is from
Kalibo International Airport, from the province's capital town of Kalibo, and one and a half (1) hours away from
Boracay
Boracay (; sometimes shortened by non-natives as Bora) is a resort island in the Western Visayas region of the Philippines, located off the northwest coast of Panay, Panay Island. It has a total land area of , under the jurisdiction of thre ...
Island.
Climate
The third type of climate predominates in the locality, season not pronounced. It is relatively dry from February to July and wet the rest of the year.
Of note, to deal with water supply along the long peninsula affected by salt water intrusion and related endemic amoebiasis, New Washington was the site of a unique U.S. Peace Corps-sponsored program to build over 200 low-cost circular water wells using locally produced "curved hollow blocks" made locally using custom wooden forms inspired by a local medical doctor and charismatic social activist Andronico "Andrew" Mendoza. Dr. Mendoza organized families to transport individual pre-cast custom hollow blocks to remote areas; the unique design of the locally designed wells obviated the need for expensive and unwieldy steel bar reinforcement. During the early 1980s, each of the 212 water well was dug and constructed throughout this municipality with voluntary community effort ("bayanihan") and are still in use today and exemplifies the spirit of New Washington.
Barangays
New Washington is politically subdivided into 16
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 ...
.
To some locals, the barangays are grouped into two, namely "Eanas" and "Baybay". The barangays that belong to Eanas are those involved in rice farming such as Mabilo, Puis, Jalas, Guinbaliwan, Mataphao, Candelaria, Lawa-an and Jugas. Baybay, on the other hand, covers barangays along or near the coastline, consisting of Tambac, Poblacion, Pinamuk-an, Polo, Cawayan, Ochando, Fatima and Dumaguit.
Common among municipalities in the Philippines, the seat of local government and the center of business are situated in Poblacion. It is also home to the Municipal Auditorium and Sports Complex, where major events of the town are held.
Demographics
In the 2020 census, New Washington had a population of 47,955. The population density was .
In the 2007 census, there were 39,656 residents, an increase by 16.7% since the year 2000 when the official count was 33,981. In the 2010 census, the population had increased to 42,112 persons.
Majority of the ''New Washingtonian''s, as the municipality's residents are sometimes called, are of
Aklanon origin. Immigration, generally, is due to marriage and employment.
Languages
New Washingtonians speak in
Aklanon,
Hiligaynon,
Tagalog, and English; the former being their primary medium. Aklanon, as a language, is often described as a cross between Bisaya, Hiligaynon, and Karay-a making it quite complex for local and foreign tourists to speak and comprehend. This is not seen as a problem, considering that residents can speak fluent Hiligaynon, Tagalog, and English.
Religion
The people of New Washington are predominantly
Christians
A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the world. The words '' Christ'' and ''C ...
. Religious denominations in the municipality include
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
,
Philippine Independent Church
The Philippine Independent Church (; ), officially referred to by its Philippine Spanish name (IFI) and colloquially called the Aglipayan Church, is an independent catholic Christian denomination, in the form of a nationalist church, in the ...
,
Baptist
Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...
churches,
Iglesia ni Cristo
The (INC; ; ) is an independent Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, church founded in 1913 and registered by Felix Manalo, Félix Manalo in 1914 as a corporation sole, sole religious corporation ...
,
Seventh-day Adventist Church
The Seventh-day Adventist Church (SDA) is an Adventist Protestant Christian denomination which is distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the seventh day of the week in the Christian (Gregorian) and the Hebrew calendar, as the Sa ...
,
Jehovah's Witnesses
Jehovah's Witnesses is a Christian denomination that is an outgrowth of the Bible Student movement founded by Charles Taze Russell in the nineteenth century. The denomination is nontrinitarian, millenarian, and restorationist. Russell co-fou ...
and
the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Restorationism, restorationist Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, denomination and the ...
, among others.
Economy
As New Washington is surrounded by bodies of water such as Sibuyan Sea and Lagatik River. Fishing has been the leading livelihood among the people, alongside rice farming. The town has the largest area of ricefields among the municipalities in Aklan.
The municipality operates two ports: one in Dumaguit and the other in Poblacion. The port in Dumaguit caters to passenger and commercial boats, while the port in Poblacion is only for the latter. Both ports serve as major trade routes between the province of Aklan and Manila.
Education
All the barangays have either an elementary or primary school. There are four secondary schools: ''New Washington National Comprehensive High School'' and ''Montfort Technical Institute'' (MTI) in Poblacion, ''Candelaria National High School'' in Candelaria and ''Ochando National High School'' in Ochando. ''Montessori de Aklan'' (MDA),a primary school,is a branch of ''Montessori de Zamboanga Schools'' which is an affiliate of AMS or ''American Montessori Society'' in Polo, Tertiary education is centered at
Aklan State University
Aklan State University (ASU; ) is a provincial state university in Aklan province, Philippines. Its seat of governance is in ASU - Banga, with four other campuses across the province. ASU focuses on agriculture, fishery, arts and sciences, eng ...
- College of Fisheries and Marine Sciences, which is located in Poblacion. Vocational courses are also offered at MTI. Some families send their children to schools in Kalibo,
Capiz
Capiz (), officially the Province of Capiz (Capiznon language, Capiznon/Hiligaynon language, Hiligaynon: ''Kapuoran sang Capiz''; ), is a Provinces of the Philippines, province in the central part of the Western Visayas Regions of the Philippines ...
,
Iloilo
Iloilo ( ; ), officially the Province of Iloilo (; ; ; ), is a province in the Philippines located in the Western Visayas region. Its capital and largest city is Iloilo City, the regional center of Western Visayas and politically independen ...
and Manila, among others.
Holidays
New Washington observes two annual fiestas as a town. One is a patronal fiesta in honor of
Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary
Our Lady of the Rosary (), also known as Our Lady of the Holy Rosary, is a Marian title.
The Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, formerly known as Feast of Our Lady of Victory and Feast of the Holy Rosary is celebrated on 7 October in the General ...
, which is held on the second Saturday of October and the other is a civic fiesta commemorating the heroes of ''Pacto de Sangre'', which is held from March 1 to 3. The Pacto de Sangre, or blood compact, took place in the then Sitio Kuntang (now Barangay Ochando) on March 3, 1897.
Tourism
The municipality has numerous beach resorts located near the shores from Mabilo to Dumaguit. Civic attractions include the Jaime Cardinal L. Sin Park, the Rizal Park, the Municipal Children's Park and the Municipal Auditorium and Sports Complex.
The town also hosts the Museo Kardinal, a museum dedicated to the life of Cardinal
Jaime Sin
Jaime Cardinal Lachica Sin, ( zh, t=辛海梅, 辛海棉, poj=Sin Hái-mûi, Sin Hái-mî; August 31, 1928 – June 21, 2005), commonly and also formally known as Cardinal Sin, was the 30th Catholic Archbishop of Manila and the third cardina ...
established inside his former residence.
References
External links
*
Philippine Standard Geographic Code
{{Authority control
Municipalities of Aklan