Villareal, officially the Municipality of Villareal (; ), 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 27,394 people.

History

What was called Umauas existed in 1768 as a ''pueblo'' and parish, however, often sharing the priest with Calbiga, where it became its ''

visita Visitas or asistencias were smaller Mission (station), sub-missions of Catholicism, Catholic missions established during the 16th-19th centuries of the Spanish colonization of the Americas and the History of the Philippines (1565–1898), Philipp ...

'' by early 19th century. In 1863, it became a separate entity with its name being changed to Villareal. Villareal was among the ''pueblos'' where the '' Dios-dios'' movement, forerunner of the ''Pulahanism'' and had been accused by the

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...

authorities of

subversion Subversion () refers to a process by which the values and principles of a system in place are contradicted or reversed in an attempt to sabotage the established social order and its structures of Power (philosophy), power, authority, tradition, h ...

, had their followers. There were reports on their existence in the area by 1870s, at the time subversive activities in the

island were being investigated by the Spanish authorities, and 1880s. In the 1870s, four individuals were deported for their activities and secret alliance with Leon Petac, a member of the movement. During the American occupation, the still-undivided Samar was reorganized, so as Villareal. In 1903, part of the then-dissolved municipality of Santa Rita (on the right bank of the Silanga River) was annexed into it (the rest was annexed into

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 Basey); as the jurisdiction of ''

barrio ''Barrio'' () is a Spanish language, Spanish word that means "Quarter (urban subdivision), quarter" or "neighborhood". In the modern Spanish language, it is generally defined as each area of a city delimited by functional (e.g. residential, comm ...

'' Iquiran was transferred to Zumarraga. In 1906, the re-establishment of Santa Rita resulted to Villareal and Basey losing their territories. In early 2005, residents, aided by the municipal government, initiated the construction of eight-kilometer cemented road, which would link the town to the rest of the province, through the "Villareal Bayanihan Road Project"—the country's first of its kind. The

dirt road A dirt road or track is a type of unpaved road not paved with asphalt, concrete, brick, or stone; made from the native material of the land surface through which it passes, known to highway engineers as subgrade material. Terminology Simi ...

, which covers seven ''

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'', remained unchanged since its opening in 1937. The materials were bought from money raised by natives, and the construction reportedly cost less than , compared to about —the supposed cost by the

Department of Public Works and Highways The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH; ) is the executive department of the Philippine government responsible for serving as the country's engineering and construction arm. It is tasked with implementing the government's policy to ...

. By late 2010, majority of the road project has been finished.

Geography

Barangays

Villareal is politically subdivided into 38

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 ...

. * Banquil * Bino-ongan * Burabod * Cambaguio * Canmucat * Villarosa Pob. (Campiatot) * Conant * Guintarcan * Himyangan * Igot * Inarumbacan * Inasudlan * Lam-awan * Lamingao * Lawa-an * Macopa * Mahayag * Malonoy * Mercado (

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 ...

) * Miramar (

) * Nagcaduha * Pacao * Pacoyoy * Pangpang * Plaridel * Central (

) * Polangi * San Andres * San Fernando * San Rafael (Buaya) * San Roque * Santa Rosa * Santo Niño * Soledad (

) * Tayud (

) * Tomabe * Ulayan * Patag

Climate

Demographics

Economy

References

External links

Villareal Profile at PhilAtlas.com
* Philippine Standard Geographic Code
Philippine Census Information

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