Santa Barbara, officially the Municipality of Santa Barbara (Hiligaynon: Banwa sang Santa Barbara, Tagalog: Bayan ng Santa Barbara), is a 2nd class municipality in the province of Iloilo, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 67,630 people. [3]
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Santa Barbara | |
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Municipality | |
Municipality of Santa Barbara | |
Santa Barbara Parish Church and Convent | |
![]() Flag ![]() Seal | |
Nickname: Heritage Center of Western Visayas | |
![]() Map of Iloilo with Santa Barbara highlighted | |
OpenStreetMap ![]() | |
![]() ![]() Santa Barbara Location within the Philippines | |
Coordinates: 10°49′23″N 122°32′04″E | |
Country | Philippines |
Region | Western Visayas |
Province | Iloilo |
District | 2nd district |
Barangays | 60 (see Barangays) |
Government | |
• Type | Sangguniang Bayan |
• Mayor | Dennis S. Superficial, M.D. |
• Vice Mayor | Isabelo J. Maquino |
• Representative | Michael B. Gorriceta |
• Municipal Council | Members
|
• Electorate | 39,021 voters (2019) |
Area | |
• Total | 131.96 km2 (50.95 sq mi) |
Elevation | 35 m (115 ft) |
Highest elevation | 134 m (440 ft) |
Lowest elevation | 11 m (36 ft) |
Population | |
• Total | 67,630 |
• Density | 510/km2 (1,300/sq mi) |
• Households | 13,518 |
Economy | |
• Income class | 2nd municipal income class |
• Poverty incidence | 11.38% (2018)[4] |
• Revenue | ₱222,156,666.69 (2020) |
• Assets | ₱732,364,160.23 (2020) |
• Expenditure | ₱167,256,218.08 (2020) |
• Liabilities | ₱274,710,313.42 (2020) |
Service provider | |
• Electricity | Iloilo 1 Electric Cooperative (ILECO 1) |
Time zone | UTC+8 (PST) |
ZIP code | 5002 |
PSGC | |
IDD : area code | +63 (0)33 |
Native languages | Hiligaynon Kinaray-a Ati Tagalog |
Santa Barbara is a part of the Metro Iloilo–Guimaras area, centered on Iloilo City.
Santa Barbara has a land area of 13,196 hectares (32,610 acres), ranks 29th as to size among the 42 municipalities of the province and occupies 1.5% of all lands in the Province of Iloilo. Almost 100% of Santa Barbara's land is cultivated and alienable or disposable.[5] It is 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) from Iloilo City.
The topography of Santa Barbara varies from slightly rolling hills to almost flat or gradually inclined plains, sliced by Tigum River at its centremost, which flows from the north-west to the southeast and the Aganan River in the southern section.
Basically, Santa Barbara is an agricultural town with 84.75% or 6,568.19 hectares (16,230.4 acres) devoted to agriculture. The rolling hills, amounting to 155.99 hectares (385.5 acres), are unsuitable to farming and are utilized as pasture and open grassland. The built-up areas within the poblacion and the barangay areas total 678.98 hectares (1,677.8 acres) or 8.761%. Also included in this category are the areas utilized for commercial, institutional purposes, parks and open space. Agro-industrial area is 101.928 has. or 1.315%, industrial area is .069 % or 5.330 has., utilities or roads comprise 150.853 has. or 1.946% . The area for the cemeteries is 4.720 has. or .061 % and bodies of water is 1.084% or 84 hectares.[5]
Climate data for Santa Barbara, Iloilo | |||||||||||||
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Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
Average high °C (°F) | 30 (86) |
31 (88) |
32 (90) |
33 (91) |
32 (90) |
30 (86) |
29 (84) |
29 (84) |
29 (84) |
29 (84) |
30 (86) |
30 (86) |
30 (87) |
Average low °C (°F) | 21 (70) |
21 (70) |
22 (72) |
23 (73) |
24 (75) |
25 (77) |
24 (75) |
24 (75) |
24 (75) |
24 (75) |
23 (73) |
22 (72) |
23 (74) |
Average precipitation mm (inches) | 19 (0.7) |
17 (0.7) |
26 (1.0) |
37 (1.5) |
119 (4.7) |
191 (7.5) |
258 (10.2) |
260 (10.2) |
248 (9.8) |
196 (7.7) |
97 (3.8) |
39 (1.5) |
1,507 (59.3) |
Average rainy days | 7.2 | 5.2 | 8.3 | 11.9 | 22.3 | 26.5 | 28.3 | 28.2 | 27.3 | 26.4 | 18.7 | 11.8 | 222.1 |
Source: Meteoblue[6] |
There is a distinct climate in this municipality, which is ideal for planting of multiple crops. It has a type “C” (moist ) rain sufficiently distributed with almost 4 ½ dry months or first –type climate with two distinct seasons of six months.[5]
The average annual rainfall is 137.47 centimetres (54.12 in). The average temperature is 27.9 °C (82.2 °F). This municipality is not within the country's typhoon belt although tropical storms and occasional typhoons pass through it.[5]
Santa Barbara is politically subdivided into 60 barangays. [7]
The Augustinian Archives, Vol. 17–18, which recorded the missionary achievements of the Augustinian missionaries, mentions that in 1617 the missionaries ministered a community then known as Catmon, a name derived from a fruit tree which was an imposing landmark, which sat on a rich and fertile plain traversed by the Salug (now Tigum) and Aganan rivers, producing rice, corn, sugar, mongo and tobacco. Then Catmon was only a “Visita Catmon” of Jaro vicariate.
In 1760, Catmon was established as an independent parish, whose patron saint was Santa Barbara and the settlement became a “pueblo” named after her. Its total population at the time was 15,094.
In 1845, its population was 19,719 and it covered an area which are now the Municipalities of Maasin, Janiuay, Cabatuan, Alimodian, San Miguel, Zarraga, New Lucena and parts of Leganes and Pavia.
When the Philippine Revolution broke out on Luzon in 1896, it did not spread immediately to Iloilo. The Spanish authorities thought that they could keep the Ilonggos loyal to Spain. Governador–General Basilio Agustin organized the Volunteer Militia in Iloilo to enlist Ilonggos to fight the Tagalog rebels. Being a “mestizo” and having occupied the highest office in his town, Martin Teofilo Delgado was appointed commander of the “voluntaries” in Santa Barbara.
Unknown to the Spaniards, however, Delgado had already become a “revolucionario”. On October 28, 1898, he publicly declared himself for the Revolution and seized the municipal building. The Revolutionary Government of the Visayas was organized and on November 17, 1898, was formally inaugurated at the town plaza of Santa Barbara. A large crowd hailing from many places across Iloilo gathered for the historic occasion. The Philippine flag was raised for the first time outside of Luzon.
The officials of the Revolutionary Government were Roque Lopez, president; Vicente Franco, vice president and secretary of the interior; Venancio Concepcion, secretary of finance; Ramon Avanceňa, secretary of state; Jovito Yusay, secretary of justice; Julio Hernandez, secretary of war; Fernando Salas, secretary general. General Martin T. Delgado was chosen General –in-Chief of the Revolutionary Forces.
Santa Barbara became the headquarters of the Revolutionary Forces and from here, Gen. Delgado launched the campaign to liberate the whole province which culminated in the surrender of Iloilo City by Governor-General de los Rios on December 24, 1898.
The victory against Spain was short-lived as the Philippine–American War followed. Gen. Delgado led the same army against Americans from 1899 to 1901. Delgado was forced to surrender on February 2, 1901.
Upon the establishment of the civil government, Martin Delgado was appointed as the first provincial Governor of Iloilo and was elected to the same position in the first elections held in 1903. Santa Barbara became a town under American regime and was incorporated into a municipality by the Commonwealth Government. The town soon began to progress.
In 1948, Barangay Tuburan-Solbud was transferred to Zarraga, Iloilo.[8]
Migration occurred in the 20th century to Mindanao in the 1940s under Manuel Roxas who was from Panay. Thousands migrated throughout the 1940s and 1950s as part of a resettlement movement sponsored by the government. Today, many Santa Barbaranon are now living in Mindanao, with a huge presence in:
Year | Pop. | ±% p.a. |
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1903 | 15,149 | — |
1918 | 28,467 | +4.30% |
1939 | 35,406 | +1.04% |
1948 | 21,951 | −5.17% |
1960 | 23,458 | +0.55% |
1970 | 27,858 | +1.73% |
1975 | 30,662 | +1.94% |
1980 | 32,693 | +1.29% |
1990 | 37,730 | +1.44% |
1995 | 39,667 | +0.94% |
2000 | 46,076 | +3.26% |
2007 | 51,075 | +1.43% |
2010 | 55,472 | +3.05% |
2015 | 60,215 | +1.57% |
2020 | 67,630 | +2.31% |
Source: Philippine Statistics Authority [9] [10] [11][12] |
In the 2020 census, the population of Santa Barbara, Iloilo, was 67,630 people, [3] with a density of 510 inhabitants per square kilometre or 1,300 inhabitants per square mile.
The population of Santa Barbara speaks both Hiligaynon and Kinaray-a interchangeably. Tagalog and English are also spoken.
Santa Barbara is one of the major municipalities with the highest income annually within Metro Iloilo, along with Pavia and Oton. It serves as the gateway to Iloilo City as it hosts the access road to Iloilo International Airport. The newly opened Wilcon Depot, SUVIL Town Center, SM Savemore, etc. are among the large commercial establishments in the municipality. Santa Barbara Heights, a 173-hectare (430-acre) mixed-use development, is currently being developed by Megaworld’s Global-Estate Resorts, Inc.[20] The development consists of residential, commercial, and office buildings; an international school; residential villages; etc.
Several provincial and regional government offices are expected to be transferred to the new Iloilo Province Government Center in Barangay Bolong Oeste, including the Department of Health (DOH), Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), Office of Civil Defense (OCD), and PhilHealth, among others. The new government center will also house commercial areas such as BPOs and hotels. As a result, there has been a proposal to transfer the provincial capital from Iloilo City to Santa Barbara, a more strategic location for the whole province. This effort, according to the governor, is to speed up further development in the metropolitan area outside Iloilo City.[21]
The total road network is 159.60 kilometres (99.17 mi); 117.20 kilometres (72.82 mi) of which are barangay roads, 25.49 kilometres (15.84 mi) provincial roads, 9.06 kilometres (5.63 mi) municipal streets and 7.85 kilometres (4.88 mi) national highways.
In July 2007, the new Iloilo International Airport, located in Cabatuan and Santa Barbara, Iloilo was opened to the public. As a result, access to air transportation has significantly improved. Before, the plying of taxis in the municipality is an uncommon sight to most Santa Barbaranhon's but with the construction and operation of the New Iloilo Airport the town started progressing economically more and more every year.
In the past few years, there have been proposals for the revival of the defunct Panay Railways, which would include a train station in Santa Barbara. It will re-connect the town to Iloilo City, Roxas City, and Malay, Aklan.[22]
The Santa Barbara plaza is one of the finest, and most beautiful plazas in the Philippines. It is also where the Seat of the Republic of the Visayas was declared on November 17, 1898, headed by president Roque Lopez. The plaza was also the site where the first Philippine flag was raised outside Luzon on December 25, 1898 followed by the plaza libertad in Metro Iloilo also in the same date. The plaza was also declared as a Historical Landmark in 2015.
Places adjacent to Santa Barbara, Iloilo | ||||||||||||||||
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Iloilo | |
Guimaras |
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Iloilo City (capital) | |
Municipalities |
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Component city | |
Highly urbanized city |
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