Santa Margarita, officially the Municipality of Santa Margarita (; ), 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 ...

Samar 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 ...

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 26,816 people. Formerly known as Magsohong, it is bounded to the north by the city of

Calbayog Calbayog, officially the City of Calbayog (; ), is a component city in the province of Samar, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 186,960 people. It lies along the coastal region of the province stretching about ...

and to the south by Gandara.

History

The town used to be a barrio in

named Magsohong. On June 29, 1878, the ''

principalía The ''principalía'' or Nobility, noble class was the ruling and usually educated upper class in the ''Municipality, pueblos'' of History of the Philippines (1521–1898), Spanish Philippines, comprising the ''gobernadorcillo'' (later called t ...

'' of Magsohong petitioned the Gobierno Superior to establish Magsohong as an independent

pueblo Pueblo refers to the settlements of the Pueblo peoples, Native American tribes in the Southwestern United States, currently in New Mexico, Arizona, and Texas. The permanent communities, including some of the oldest continually occupied settlement ...

. They argued that Magsohong was four hours away from Calbayog, while it already had a '' casa real'' or a ''Juzgado de Paz'' of nipa, a church with a techada (roof) of nipa; a convent; an escuela also made of wood and nipa; and had more than 300 tributos. The petition was endorsed by the '' cura parroco'', the

Gobernadorcillo The (, literally "little governor") was a municipal judge or governor in the Captaincy General of the Philippines, Philippines during the History of the Philippines (1565–1898), Spanish colonial period, who carried out in a town the combined ...

as well as the principalía of Calbayog. Fourteen years later, Royal Decree No. 25 dated September 25, 1892 approved the establishment of the pueblo of Magsohong renamed Santa Margarita. The new pueblo had three visitas: Balud, San Bernardo, and Londara. However, it remained under the parish of Calbayog.

Geography

Barangays

Santa Margarita is politically subdivided into 36

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 ...

. * Agrupacion * Arapison * Avelino * Bahay * Balud * Bana-ao * Burabod * Cagsumje * Cautod (

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 ...

) * Camperito * Campeig * Can-ipulan * Canmoros * Cinco * Curry * Gajo * Hindang * Ilo * Imelda * Inoraguiao * Jolacao * Lambao * Mabuhay * Mahayag * Matayonas * Monbon (

) * Nabulo * Napuro I * Napuro II * Palale * Panabatan * Panaruan * Roxas * Salvacion * Solsogon * Sundara

Climate

Demographics

Economy

Tourism

*Arapison Falls *Baluarte *Burabod Picnic Grove *Calvary Hill *The Oldest Bell *The Oldest Natural Spring Water *Hell’s Fog Nature Oark *Mamitagaytay *St. James Parish Sta Margarita

Culture

Alimango Festival

July 25 (Alimango Festival) - this dance festival revolves around the courtship between the female ''alimango'' (the mud crab ''

Scylla serrata ''Scylla serrata'' (often called mud crab or mangrove crab, although both terms are highly ambiguous, and black crab) is an ecologically important species of crab found in the estuaries and mangroves of Africa, Australia, and Asia. In their ...

'' found in fishponds) Atabayi and the male Amamakhao. It also depicts the capture of the ''alimango'' with the use of the ''bobo'' and giant ''bentol'' (kinds of traps). Dancers, dressed as alimango, flex their hands as if to bite.

Snare drum The snare drum (or side drum) is a percussion instrument that produces a sharp staccato sound when the head is struck with a drum stick, due to the use of a series of stiff wires held under tension against the lower skin. Snare drums are often u ...

s and talutang highlight the fast rhythm of the dance.

References

External links

Santa Margarita Profile at PhilAtlas.com

Official 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 ...

Philippine Census Information

Local Governance Performance Management System
{{Authority control Municipalities of Samar (province)