Sindangan, officially the Municipality of Sindangan (Cebuano: Lungsod sa Sindangan; Subanen: Benwa Sindangan; Chavacano: Municipalidad de Sindangan; Tagalog: Bayan ng Sindangan), is a 1st class municipality in the province of Zamboanga del Norte, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 103,952 people. [3]
Sindangan | |
---|---|
Municipality | |
Municipality of Sindangan | |
Nicknames:
| |
OpenStreetMap | |
Sindangan Location within the Philippines | |
Coordinates: 8°14′19″N 122°59′55″E | |
Country | Philippines |
Region | Zamboanga Peninsula |
Province | Zamboanga del Norte |
District | 2nd district |
Founded | December 22, 1936 |
Barangays | 52 (see Barangays) |
Government | |
• Type | Sangguniang Bayan |
• Mayor | Rosendo S. Labadlabad |
• Vice Mayor | Nilo Florentino Z. Sy |
• Representative | Glona G. Labadlabad |
• Municipal Council | Members
|
• Electorate | 72,613 voters (2022) |
Area | |
• Total | 451.00 km2 (174.13 sq mi) |
Elevation | 39 m (128 ft) |
Highest elevation | 304 m (997 ft) |
Lowest elevation | 0 m (0 ft) |
Population | |
• Total | 103,952 |
• Rank |
|
• Density | 230/km2 (600/sq mi) |
• Households | 24,895 |
Demonym | Sindanganon |
Economy | |
• Income class | 1st municipal income class |
• Poverty incidence | 37.10% (2018)[4] |
• Revenue | ₱458,961,000.00 (2020) |
• Assets | ₱905,242,000.00 (2020) |
• Expenditure | ₱233,778,000.00 (2020) |
• Liabilities | ₱204,178,000.00 (2020) |
Service provider | |
• Electricity | Zamboanga del Norte Electric Cooperative (ZANECO) |
Time zone | UTC+8 (PST) |
ZIP code | 7112 |
PSGC | |
IDD : area code | +63 (0)65 |
Native languages | Subanon Cebuano Tagalog |
Website | sindangan |
With increasing investor interests, improved infrastructures, and rapid population growth over the last decade, Sindangan is the fastest-growing municipality in the province of Zamboanga del Norte. It is also the second most populous locality after the provincial capital, Dipolog City, and is the top most populous municipality in the entire Zamboanga Peninsula region, followed by the municipalities of Ipil in Zamboanga Sibugay, and Molave in Zamboanga del Sur.
Due to its rapid demographic and economic growth, steps are being taken to convert the status of Sindangan from a municipality to a city in the next coming years. Once approved and ratified, Sindangan will be the third city in Zamboanga del Norte, following the cities of Dipolog and Dapitan.
As to how Sindangan got its name, several stories have been told.
The first version narrates that a native fisherman carrying a basket full of fish was on his way home met a Guardia Civil, military guards during the Spanish regime, who asked this question, "Cuál es el nombre de este lugar, amigo?" (English: What is the name of this place, friend?) And the Subanon fisherman who did not understand the Spanish language answered "Indangan", believing he asked on the kind of fish he caught. The stranger heard this as "Sindangan", thinking that was the exact answer to his inquiry to the fisherman about the name of the fish. From then on, the natives used Sindangan to name the place until it became into a municipality in 1936.[5]
The town appeared in the 1734 Murillo Velarde map which was originally spelled as Sindãgan.
This town sets back its origin during the pre-Spanish colonization of the Philippines. Subanon people or tribe was its first inhabitants. The Subanens, a nomadic tribe of Indo-Malayan stock, were the earliest known settlers who lived along river banks or "suba", from which word they received their present tribal identity as Subanen. They built houses and sanctuaries for their shelter and formed their own 'government' ruled by the Datu.
Over the years the Moros settled also in this place and preached Islam.
During the Spanish reign in the archipelago where towns had already been established, Sindangan was a barrio under the jurisdiction of the then municipality of Dapitan as early as 1598 to 1729, and slowly people from the Visayas islands flocked to Mindanao to find greener pasture. Christianity also propagated on this area through the effort of the Catholic missionaries like the Society of Jesus or the Jesuits, the Augustinians, and the Dominicans. One of its great missionaries was Padre Francesco Palliola, a Jesuit missionary from Nola, Italy who tirelessly preached the Christian message, perform baptisms and sacraments and helped the tribal people in this area of Zamboanga Peninsula. He was assigned in Dapitan and Katipunan, and met his martyrdom in the barrio of Ponot (now Jose Dalman) where he was killed by the Subanen people through the leadership of their chieftain. Later on, the barrio of Sindangan was transferred under the newly established town of Lubungan (now Katipunan, who also was then a barrio of Dapitan) since the 19th century, unconnected by road.
On December 23, 1936, Sindangan was separated from the municipality of Katipunan and became an independent municipality by virtue of Executive Order No. 77 issued by President of the Commonwealth of the Philippines, Manuel L. Quezon. The municipalities of Sindangan, Siocon, Margosatubig, Pagadian, and Kabasalan were created out of the municipal districts of Sindangan, Panganuran, Labangan, Dinas, Sibuko, Sirawai, Margosatubig, Malangas, Kabasalan and Bangaan. The Municipality of Sindangan covered the area of Sindangan and Panganuran.[6]
Bartolome Lira Sr. was appointed to organize the Municipality of Sindangan and was its first Municipal President. As his appointive tenure expired, he was elected as the first Municipal Mayor of Sindangan until 1941.
In 1955, four barrios of were created:
In 1959, the sitios of Gonayen, Gowayan, Domogok, Dinoyak, Mangilay, Pange, Balak, Laclac, Siriac, Macasing and Diongan were constituted into the barrio of Gonayen.[8]
At the time of its creation as an independent municipality, Sindangan had the biggest territory in terms of land area in the then Province of Zamboanga (now the administrative region Zamboanga Peninsula with three separate provinces). It was once comprised of the now municipalities of Sindangan, Siayan, Leon B. Postigo, Salug, Godod, Liloy, Tampilisan, Labason, Gutalac, and Kalawit. With these measurements as evidenced, Sindangan was deemed to be bigger than the present land area of Zamboanga City before its division.
It was during the Third Philippine Republic when Sindangan started to subsequently lost a huge portion of its territories after the creation of its offspring municipalities, namely: Labason (1947), Liloy (1951), Siayan (1967), and Leon B. Postigo (1982). These following municipalities mentioned also went a reduction of their territories later in the years in light of the creation of newer municipalities, making Sindangan their mother and grandmother town.
Since its elevation to a municipality in 1936, people from Luzon and the Visayas continued migrating to Sindangan to settle together with their families and built businesses. That is why aside from the Subanens, there are Sindanganons whose origins are from Bohol, Cebu, Samar, Leyte, Negros, Bicol, Pampanga, and Manila.
The Shinyō Maru incident occurred in the Sindangan Bay, Philippines on September 7, 1944, in the Pacific theater of World War II. In an attack on a Japanese convoy by the American submarine USS Paddle, 668 Allied prisoners of war were massacred by the Japanese or killed when their ship, the SS Shinyō Maru was sunk.[citation needed] Only 82 Americans survived the ordeal and were later rescued.[citation needed]
Sindangan lies on the northwest corridor of Zamboanga del Norte. Its diverse geography ranges from Sulu Sea on the west and southwest, the Municipality of Leon Postigo on the south, the Municipality of Siayan on the east, the Municipality of Bayog, Zamboanga del Sur on the southeast, and the Municipality of Jose Dalman on the north. Ranging from plain, slightly rolling, hilly to mountainous terrains, the Municipality of Sindangan embraces 45,100 hectares of land. Of its 52 barangays, 22 are situated along the seacoast, bountifully blessed with marine resources which gained Sindangan the title “the fishing capital of Zamboanga del Norte.”
It is approximately 86 kilometers away from Dipolog City and 234 kilometers away from Zamboanga City. Hence, the municipality is identified as the trading hub of the province considering, this is a major terminal point for links to Dipolog City down to Ipil and further down south to Zamboanga City.
Climate data for Sindangan, Zamboanga del Norte | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
Average high °C (°F) | 29 (84) |
29 (84) |
30 (86) |
31 (88) |
30 (86) |
29 (84) |
29 (84) |
29 (84) |
30 (86) |
29 (84) |
29 (84) |
29 (84) |
29 (85) |
Average low °C (°F) | 23 (73) |
23 (73) |
23 (73) |
23 (73) |
24 (75) |
24 (75) |
24 (75) |
24 (75) |
24 (75) |
24 (75) |
24 (75) |
23 (73) |
24 (74) |
Average precipitation mm (inches) | 104 (4.1) |
76 (3.0) |
92 (3.6) |
97 (3.8) |
199 (7.8) |
238 (9.4) |
195 (7.7) |
193 (7.6) |
178 (7.0) |
212 (8.3) |
171 (6.7) |
110 (4.3) |
1,865 (73.3) |
Average rainy days | 14.7 | 12.5 | 15.8 | 17.5 | 27.6 | 28.5 | 29.0 | 27.5 | 26.9 | 27.9 | 23.5 | 18.2 | 269.6 |
Source: Meteoblue[9] |
Sindangan is politically subdivided into 52 barangays, the most of the 27 local government units in Zamboanga del Norte.
Barangay Mandih, Poblacion, and Siari are the most densely populated areas of Sindangan as of the latest count.
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Source: Philippine Statistics Authority [10] [11] [12][13] |
Sindangan is the first (and currently the only) municipality in Zamboanga Peninsula to reach the 100,000 population mark. As of the 2020 census, the town has a population of 103,952 people, making it the second largest local government unit in the province of Zamboanga del Norte after the provincial capital city of Dipolog. Despite being a municipality, it is 20,000 people ahead of the population of the city of Dapitan and is twice or three times more of the population of every municipality in the province compared, making Sindangan the most populous municipality in Zamboanga del Norte. It is also the most populous municipality in Region IX.
Sindangan is populated by tri-people – the Subanens, Muslims, and the Christian migrants coming from Luzon and Visayan islands.
Community-Based Monitoring System puts the number of Subanens as 24,640 or 27.5 percent of the total population with the greater number of them living in the interior barangays. The Muslims – Maranao and Tausug merchants live and ply their trades in Poblacion and its adjoining barangays.
As of 2019, Sindangan has a stronghold of 62,741 registered voters.
Roman Catholicism strongly dominates Sindangan as shown by their religious festivities and fiestas. Famous to these Catholic Devotion is the Diocesan Shrine of the Divine Mercy in Barangay Siari where thousands of pilgrims flocked from all over the region to pray and visit to the shrine. Other Christian denominations are also present in Sindangan as well as Islam.
The Internal Revenue Allotment of the municipality for Year 2014 is P161,572, 290.00. For the past five years, the IRA has been varying and increasing except for the year 2012 which has decreased by 2.8% from the previous year. This year's IRA has an increase of 12% compared to last year which is P 141,862,067.00.
Income from local sources for 2012 amounted to P 17,457,998.60 which has an increase of about 14.5% from the previous year. In 2009, the local income recorded is P 9,548,248.00 and has an increase of 20% by the following year which amounted to P13,080,838.79. Its major income relies on fishing and agriculture. There is also significant growth in the town's business firms as it rises on the past years.
In 2015, the Gross Sales of registered firms in Sindangan amounted to 1,062,872,781.00 PHP and expects to rise significantly in the next following years. Financial institutions are also growing in the town, as of 2015, it has 42 institutions and banks catering the Sindanganons financially.
The health capacity and services of Sindangan is significantly improving as health workers such as Doctors, Nurses, Midwives, etc., are growing. On 2014, there are 90 health servers in the town both in public and in private.[21]
Mayors of the Municipality of Sindangan |
Bartolome Lira Sr., 1936-1941 |
Emilio Ortuoste, 1942-1945 |
Joaquin Macias, 1946-1953, 1958-1963 |
Abundio Siasico, 1954-1957 |
Filomena Macias, 1964-1967 |
Jose Tan, 1968-1971 |
Mariano S. Macias, 1972-1979 |
Ricardo S. Macias, 1980-1985 |
Crescente Y. Llorente Jr., 1986-1995, July–November 2004 |
Winnie O. Albos, 1995-2004 |
Bert S. Macias, November 2004-June 2010 |
Nilo Florentino Z. Sy, July 2010-June 2019 |
Rosendo S. Labadlabad, July 2019-present |
Sindangan's local government structure is composed of one mayor, one vice mayor and eight councilors, named as Sangguniang Bayan members, all elected through popular vote. Two ex officio members are added to the Sangguniang Bayan with one representing Sindangan's 52 Barangay Captains being the Association of Barangay Councils (ABC) President, and one representing Sindangan's 52 Barangay Youth Council Presidents being the Sangunniang Kabataan (SK) Federation President. Each official, with the exemption of the ABC and SK Presidents, is elected publicly to a 3-year term and can be re-elected up to 3 terms in succession.
Tricycles, 'trisikads' and 'habal-habal' are the common public transport in the town center, both uptown and downtown. Racal Motorcycles are also emerging as public transportation in the town.
The Sindangan Integrated Bus Terminal in Barangay Goleo is served by numerous public land transports such as the RTMI Buses (Rural Transit) via National Highway. It provides daily transport from Dipolog City, Ipil, to Zamboanga City. SUVs or 'van', Ceres Liners and jeepneys are also available for daily transport. Trips to Pagadian City has also been already operational via Sindangan-Siayan-Dumingag-Mahayag road.
The Port of Sindangan is a seaport located in Barangay Calatunan, facing the Sindangan Bay. It is currently managed under the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) and is considered as the main gateway of the town's economy. Recently, since June 2022, the port is already operating regular RORO trips to and from the cities of Dumaguete and Cebu.
Sports life and social recreation are active in the life of the Sindanganons. They have a lot of sports activities to offer. The town was also energized as the Sindangan Cultural and Sports Complex, one of the biggest in the province, was made into a reality. The complex consists of an outdoor basketball and tennis court, an olympic-size swimming pool, diving board, musical and dancing fountain, and a coliseum-type sports center, known as the SinDome, that is capable of handling concerts, pageants, seminars, and other related events.
Today, the sports complex can already be used for big events such as provincial meets, regional meets, and during the annual celebration of the Linggo ng Sindangan.
In addition, each barangay in Sindangan is equipped woth a covered court that is capable of handling barangay events and community gatherings.
These are only some of its places of interest and recreation.
The Sindangan River Boardwalk Esplanade, more commonly referred to as the Sindangan Sunset Boulevard, is an under-construction esplanade on the bank of the Sindangan River, initially spanning from the national highway of Barangay Goleo to the southern portion of Barangay Lawis. It is now on its completing stage of its phase 1 development and will soon serve as a recreation site for tourists and local Sindanganons. When completed, it will span at an approximate total of 8 kilometers from the northern end of the Piao Bridge in Barangay Goleo to the eastern portion of the Port of Sindangan in Barangay Calatunan, which will then be an ideal site for street festivals and sporting events like marathons and triathlons.
Saint Joseph the Worker church became a parish on December 29, 1935 under the Archdiocese of Zamboanga; separating its administration to St. Francis Xavier Parish in Katipunan, Zamboanga del Norte. The first church building was first erected at Saint Joseph School (College), then it was moved to its present spot. The parish is now under the Roman Catholic Diocese of Dipolog.
Sindangan is known as a melting pot of businesses and investors due to its strategic and promising location. It is the second commercial hub of the province next to Dipolog City.
There are 42 financial institutions as of 2015.
Education is widely distributed in Sindangan.
Sindangan has two college institutions, both religious, the St. Joseph College of Sindangan Incorporated (SJCSI) and the Philippine Advent College (PAC). Both offer courses in education, liberal arts, and computer sciences. PAC consistently produces nurses passing the board.
The town has fifty-seven (57) elementary schools, ten (10) secondary schools. Five are situated in the outlying barangays and four (4) in the urban barangays.
A TESDA training center in Barangay Goleo offers technical courses and training to qualified students.
In 2021, an extension campus of the Mindanao State University was formally opened in Sindangan.
Saint Joseph College of Sindangan, Inc. was founded on March 19, 1968, as Saint Joseph High School and eventually became the first college institution in Sindangan. The college was owned and supervised by The Roman Catholic Diocese of Dipolog until now together with its other institutions like Saint Vincent's College in Dipolog City, and Saint Estanislaus Kostka College in Manukan, Zamboanga del Norte.
Philippine Advent College, Sindangan, formerly known as Hillside View College, a Christian college founded in Sindangan on 1975. Its current president is Mr. Pio M. Cernal.
Honors the Primary Patron Saint of the town, Saint Joseph the Worker, Husband of the Virgin Mary and the foster father of Jesus Christ. He is entitled as "El Obrero" or "the Worker" because he is a modest carpenter who works hard to earn a living for the Holy Family and a role model and patron saint for all Fathers and Labor Workers. He is fit to become the town's patron saint because the people of Sindangan are known as hard-worker laborers since the pre-second world war.
In honor of the Santo Nino de Cebu, a grand fluvial procession at the eve of the fiesta is celebrated in Barangay Siari. On the day of the fiesta, a street dance procession is held and a Sinulog Dance Competition follows at the end of the procession.
One of Sindangan's grand festival in honor of the school and the town's patron saint itself - Saint Joseph the Worker. Saint Joseph College's Founding Anniversary happens on March 19 during the Solemnity of Saint Joseph, the Husband of Mary.
An annual celebration that commemorates the municipal charter day of Sindangan. The celebration usually starts on December 17 and ends on December 22. During the course of the week-long event, competitions and shows are usually held such as trade fairs, boxing, singing competitions, beauty pageants, firework shows, and more.
Province of Zamboanga del Norte | |
---|---|
Dipolog (capital) | |
Municipalities | |
Component cities | |
Islands |
|