Santa Elena, officially the Municipality of Santa Elena (), 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 ...

Camarines Norte Camarines Norte (; ), officially the Province of Camarines Norte (; ), is a Provinces of the Philippines, province in the Philippines located in the Bicol Region in Luzon. Its capital is Daet, Camarines Norte, Daet, the most populous town in the ...

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 43,582 people. Santa Elena is from

Daet Daet (), officially the Municipality of Daet (; ), is a municipality and capital of the province of Camarines Norte, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 111,700 people making it the most populous in the province ...

and from

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 ...

History

Santa Elena, formerly known as Ilayang Santol, was then a sitio of barrio Pulonguit-guit, Capalonga. In 1948, through the efforts of local leaders, it became an independent barrio. Santa Elena became a municipality with ten barangays out of Capalonga by virtue of Republic Act No. 5480 on June 21, 1969.

Territorial dispute with Calauag, Quezon

Santa Elena and Calauag in Quezon province were involved in a decade-long boundary dispute, leading to a

Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

case and presidential intervention. The dispute involved nine barangays: Don Tomas, Guitol, Kabuluan, Kagtalaba, Maulawin, Plaridel, Patag Ibaba, Patag Iraya, and Tabugon. In 1991, the Provincial Government of Quezon and Municipal Government of Calauag ordered the demolition of a boundary marker installed by 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 ...

. In 1995, President

Fidel V. Ramos Fidel Valdez Ramos (; March 18, 1928 – July 31, 2022), popularly known as FVR, was a Filipino general and politician who served as the 12th president of the Philippines from 1992 to 1998. He was the only career military officer to reached ...

intervened during his visit to Calauag, initially allowing Calauag to retain jurisdiction. However, the Supreme Court ultimately ruled in favor of Camarines Norte, transferring these barangays from Calauag’s jurisdiction.

Geography

Barangays

Santa Elena is politically subdivided into 19

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 ...

. * Basiad * Bulala * Don Tomas * Guitol * Kabuluan * Kagtalaba * Maulawin * Patag Ibaba * Patag Ilaya * Plaridel * Polungguitguit * Rizal * Salvacion * San Lorenzo * San Pedro * San Vicente * Santa Elena (Poblacion) * Tabugon * Villa San Isidro The indicated barangays (‡) were formerly disputed with

Calauag Calauag, officially the Municipality of Calauag (; ), is a municipality in the province of Quezon, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 71,809 people. History According to the writings of Valentin Martin in his " ...

Quezon Quezon, officially the Province of Quezon () and historically known as Tayabas, is a Provinces of the Philippines, province in the Philippines located in the Calabarzon Regions of the Philippines, region on Luzon. Lucena, a highly urbanized ci ...

, due to boundary realignment from Macahadok River to Tabugon Stream adjoining Quezon Canal in Barangay Tabansak in Calauag. In 2001, the case was elevated to the Supreme Court. The Case of Province of Quezon vs. Province of Camarines Norte eventually ruled in favor of Camarines Norte and Santa Elena was granted the said barangays.

Climate

Demographics

In the 2020 census, the population of Santa Elena, Camarines Norte was 43,582 people with a density of .

Economy

References

External links

* Philippine Standard Geographic Codebr>Philippine Census Information
{{Authority control Municipalities of Camarines Norte 1969 establishments in the Philippines Populated places established in 1969