Tapaz, officially the Municipality of Tapaz (; ; ; ; ), 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
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 ...
,
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 54,423 people.
The festival in Tapaz are the Patabang Festival in September honoring Patron Saint Jerome, and Sirinadya Festival in January honoring Sr. Santo Niño. Other local festival is Tinuom Festival in Barangay San Nicolas celebrated in the Month of December honoring Patron Saint Nicholas of Myra.
The town is known for a small community of indigenous Panay-Bukidnon in Barangay Tacayan. The community is home to Feliza, a ''binukot'' who has expertise in chanting the ''suguidanon'', one of the most significant epic chants of the Western Visayas region. Feliza is the last known person who can speak the ''Ligbok language'' in her community, making her the last bastion for the thousand-year old language in Tapaz. Her death would translate to the death of the language in Tapaz itself and the ''suguidanon'' epic chant as well. Also, Feliza has traditional tattoos on her skin which were inscribed when she was chosen as a ''binukot''. In 2016, after reports came out on the dying ''Ligbok'' language and ''suguidanon'' epic chant, the government began documenting the language and epic chant and teaching the language to younger generations of Panay-Bukidnon in Tapaz.
Marugo lake in Barangay San Antonio barangay is most popular tourist destination.
History
The first people who arrived and settled in what is now Tapaz are the Panay-Bukidnon people who speak the indigenous ''Ligbok'' language.
When the Spanish arrived in Panay, they established Dumalag town. Eventually, Tapaz was founded in 1835 but it continued being a part of Dumalag town for many years. In 1862 and 1863 two letters were made to declare parish under the patronage of St. Jerome. Both were signed by Governor General Lemery, but they were never executed. Finally, in 1874, Tapaz was declared an independent parish by Jaro Bishop Mariano Cuartero.
In 2016, the ''Ligbok'' language of the Panay-Bukidnon of Tapaz was confirmed to be dying out. This triggered a massive conservation program for the language and the epic chant spoken by the Panay-Bukidnon.
Geography
Tapaz lies within the latitude 11° 09’ to 11° 09’ 42" and the longitude of 121° 11’ to 122° 34’ 45". It is from
Roxas City
Roxas (, ), officially the City of Roxas (Capiznon language, Capiznon/; ), is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, component city and capital of the Provinces of the Philippines, province of Capiz, Philippines. According to the 2 ...
.
Climate
Barangays
Tapaz is politically subdivided into 58
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.However, there are boundaries issues with neighboring municipalities of Jamindan, Capiz and Libacao, Aklan. The Sitio Maytaraw which is bordered to Calinog, Iloilo is occupied by Libacao, Aklan but within the territory of Tapaz, while the four Barangays, the Brgy Hilwan, Brgy Rizal Sur, Brgy Rizal Norte, and Brgy Maliao are within the Territorial Jurisdiction of Jamindan. Each barangay consists of
puroks 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 ...
.
There are 36
lowlands barangays and the rest of the 22 are
upland barangays.
* Abangay
* Acuña
* Agcococ
* Aglinab
* Aglupacan
* Agpalali
* Apero
* Artuz
* Bag-Ong Barrio
* Bato-bato
* Buri
* Camburanan
* Candelaria
* Carida
* Cristina
* Da-an Banwa
* Da-an Norte
* Da-an Sur
* Garcia
* Gebio-an
* Hilwan
* Initan
* Katipunan
* Lagdungan
* Lahug
* Libertad
* Mabini
* Maliao
* Malitbog
* Minan
* Nayawan
*
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 ...
* Rizal Norte
* Rizal Sur
* Roosevelt
* Roxas
* Salong
* San Antonio
* San Francisco
* San Jose
* San Julian
* San Miguel Ilawod
* San Miguel Ilaya
* San Nicolas
* San Pedro
* San Roque
* San Vicente
* Santa Ana
* Santa Petronila
* Senonod
* Siya
* Switch
* Tabon
* Tacayan
* Taft
* Taganghin
* Taslan
* Wright
Demographics
In the 2020 census, the population of Tapaz was 54,423 people, with a density of .
The natives of Tapaz are mixture of several ethnic groups as the Malays, Spaniards, Indonesians, and the Aetas or Negritos who are the aborigines of Panay. In the recent years the residents are distincts group as the "Baludnons" those in lowland and "Bukidnons" those in upland.
Religion
As a Catholic Dominant Municipality. Tapaz has two parishes and three mission stations and many churches.
Parishes:
*St. Jerome Parish (Poblacion, Tapaz)
*St. Nicholas of Myra Parish (San Nicolas, Tapaz)
Mission Stations:
*St. Andre Besette Mission Station (Taft, Tapaz)
*St. Juan Diego Mission Station (Cristina, Tapaz)
*St. Julian of Cuenca Mission Station (San Julian, Tapaz)
Economy
Healthcare
Hospital
A hospital is a healthcare institution providing patient treatment with specialized Medical Science, health science and auxiliary healthcare staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which typically ...
in Tapaz:
*Tapaz District Hospital
Education
The increasing population of school children made the
District
A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municip ...
of Tapaz into two districts. The Tapaz East District with 22 complete Elementary Schools and 14 Primary Schools. The Tapaz West District with 19 complete Elementary Schools and 3 Primary Schools. It has 8 Secondary Schools and one University Satellite Campus that caters the tertiary education of every Tapaznon.
High schools
High Schools
A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...
in Tapaz:
*Bag-ong Barrio National High School
*Camburanan National High School
*Candelaria National High School
*Col. Patrociño Artuz National High School
*Rev. Tomas Conejar National High School
*Roxas National High School
*San Nicolas National High School
*Tapaz National High School
College
College
A college (Latin: ''collegium'') may be a tertiary educational institution (sometimes awarding degrees), part of a collegiate university, an institution offering vocational education, a further education institution, or a secondary sc ...
in Tapaz:
*Capiz State University -Tapaz Satellite Campus
References
External links
*
Philippine Standard Geographic Codebr>
Philippine Census Information
{{Authority control
Municipalities of Capiz
1835 establishments in the Spanish Empire