Ubay, Bohol

Ubay
Municipality
Downtown Ubay
Seal
Motto: Onward Ubay
Map of Bohol with Ubay highlighted
Ubay Location within the Philippines
Coordinates: 10°03′N 124°28′E / 10.05°N 124.47°E / 10.05; 124.47Coordinates: 10°03′N 124°28′E / 10.05°N 124.47°E / 10.05; 124.47
Country	Philippines
Region	Central Visayas (Region VII)
Province	Bohol
District	2nd District of Bohol
Founded Established	15 January 1844 5 October 1877
Barangay	44 (see § Barangays)
Government [1]
• Type	Sangguniang Bayan
• Mayor	Constantino Reyes (NPC)
• Vice mayor	Nelson Uy
• Town Council	Members Efren Tanjay Joan Abad Bebot Bacolod Dodo Boyles Victor Bonghanoy Isidore Besas Quito del Valle Clara Alesna 2016 unofficial result
• Representative	Erico Aristotle Aumentado
Area[2]
• Total	335.06 km2 (129.37 sq mi)
• Land	240.17 km2 (92.73 sq mi)
Population (2015 census)[3]
• Total	73,712
• Density	220/km2 (570/sq mi)
• Voter (2016)[4]	41,792
Demonym(s)	Ubayanon Ubayano
Time zone	PST (UTC+8)
ZIP code	6315
IDD : area code	+63 (0)38
Income class	1st class
PSGC	071246000
Website	elgu.ncc.gov.ph/ecommunity/ubay-bohol/

Ubay is a 1st municipal income class municipality in the province of Bohol, Philippines.^[2] Ubay is in the northeast of the province, and has an area of 335 square kilometres (129 sq mi), with 61 kilometres (38 mi) of coastline.^[2] According to the 2015 census, it has a population of 73,712, making Ubay the largest and most populated municipality in Bohol.^[3] In the 2016 election, it had 41,792 registered voters.^[4]

Etymology

One etymology derivation is that the town's name is a contraction of the term ubay-ubay, meaning "alongside".^[5]

According to Kaufmann's 1934 Visayan-English Dictionary,^[6] the Visayan word "ubay" means:

The flow of seawater between the mainland and the island of Lapinig Grande (now Pres. C.P. Garcia town) could justify the second definition of Ubay. It is a situation that is permanent and the constant reference to the flow of water can make the term ubay be attached as the name of the place.

An alternative derivation is that the term 'ubay-ubay' or 'alongside' became the byword of seafarers who used to travel close to the shorelines of Ubay to avoid the strong current of the Canigao Channel. There was a single path to follow reach the island trading centres. This trail was located alongside (ubay) the sandy beach. Later on the term Ubay became the original name of the community.

History

Before the Spanish regime, Ubay was part of Talibon. On 15 January 1844, it separated from Talibon to become an independent municipality.^[5]

The religious aspect of the town was established much later than the civil aspect of the town. The decree of the Spanish Governor General creating Ubay as a town in the religious aspect is dated 22 October 1877. However, Royal Order No. 695 issued by the Kingdom of Spain has the date 5 October 1877.

The town celebrates its town fiesta every 29th day of January in commemoration and honor of their patron saint, Senior Santo Niño. Ubayanons, now residing elsewhere in the country and abroad, often come home during fiesta to celebrate the affair with their loved ones and share the joy of reviving the beautiful old, old story on the origin of the place.

Geography

The town is situated east of Trinidad, north of Alicia and Mabini, and northeast of San Miguel. It is 124 kilometres (77 mi) northeast of Tagbilaran, 636 kilometres (395 mi) southeast of Manila and 71 kilometres (44 mi) east of Cebu City.

Climate

Ubay Average annual temperature in Ubay is 27·2°C Humidity 75–85%
Climate chart (explanation)
J F M A M J J A S O N D     191     30 22     111     30 22     94     31 23     58     32 23     106     33 24     154     32 24     210     32 24     159     32 24     186     32 24     204     31 23     222     31 23     192     30 23 Average max. and min. temperatures in °C Precipitation totals in mm Source: Climate: Ubay
Imperial conversion J F M A M J J A S O N D     7.5     86 72     4.4     86 72     3.7     88 73     2.3     89 74     4.2     91 75     6.1     90 74     8.3     89 75     6.3     89 75     7.3     89 74     8     89 74     8.7     88 74     7.6     87 73 Average max. and min. temperatures in °F Precipitation totals in inches

The climate is typically equatorial – temperature range over the year is less than three degrees Celsius (5.4 deg F), and annual rainfall exceeds 1,500 millimetres (59 in). The dry season starts in February and lasts through April sometimes extending to mid‑May. The climate in Ubay falls within Coronas climate type IV, characterised by not very pronounced maximum rainfall with a short dry season from one to three months and a wet season of nine to ten months.^[7]

Ubay has a tropical climate. Most months of the year are marked by significant precipitation, making agriculture favorable – it supports at least two rice crops per year. The short dry season has little impact. Ubay is classified as Am (Tropical monsoon climate) by Köppen–Geiger climate classification system.

Barangays

Ubay comprises 44 barangays organized into eight urban districts (UD):

PSGC	Barangay	Population			±% p.a.	Area[2]		PD 2015		UD	Date of Fiesta
		2015[3]		2010[8]		ha	acre	/km2	/sq mi
071246001	Achila	1.9%	1,429	1,276	+2.18%	384	949	370	960	IV	15 January
071246002	Bay-ang	2.6%	1,906	1,656	+2.71%	632	1,562	300	780	III	21 May
071246005	Benliw	3.0%	2,193	2,223	−0.26%	589	1,455	370	960	VII	13 May
071246004	Biabas	3.5%	2,599	2,573	+0.19%	2,200	5,436	120	310	VIII	17 May
071246007	Bongbong	1.2%	895	807	+1.99%	161	398	560	1,400	II	8 December
071246008	Bood	3.8%	2,833	2,717	+0.80%	152	376	1,900	4,800	V	16 January
071246009	Buenavista	1.0%	709	688	+0.57%	651	1,609	110	280	I	Last Saturday of April 25 Apr 2015 30 Apr 2016 29 Apr 2017
071246055	Bulilis	2.8%	2,046	1,711	+3.46%	740	1,829	280	720	II	8 December
071246011	Cagting	2.3%	1,712	1,597	+1.33%	1,044	2,580	160	420	VII	24 January
071246027	Calanggaman	2.3%	1,689	1,623	+0.76%	618	1,527	270	710	III	8 December
071246056	California	1.3%	941	801	+3.11%	319	788	290	760	II	13 May
071246012	Camali‑an	0.9%	642	581	+1.92%	532	1,315	120	310	III	26 November
071246013	Camambugan	3.5%	2,591	2,251	+2.71%	547	1,352	470	1,200	IV	15 May
071246015	Casate	3.6%	2,661	2,512	+1.10%	460	1,137	580	1,500	IV	5 April
071246017	Cuya	0.7%	538	516	+0.80%	66	163	820	2,100	VIII	6 February
071246018	Fatima	4.5%	3,340	3,235	+0.61%	66	163	5,100	13,000	V	13 May
071246019	Gabi	1.9%	1,432	1,378	+0.73%	1,646	4,067	87	230	II	9 December
071246020	Governor Boyles	1.2%	885	888	−0.06%	824	2,036	110	280	I	15 May
071246021	Guintabo‑an	0.9%	676	686	−0.28%	66	163	1,000	2,700	VIII	15 January
071246022	Hambabauran	1.6%	1,205	1,106	+1.65%	521	1,287	230	600	III	15 January
071246023	Humayhumay	2.4%	1,802	1,708	+1.03%	815	2,014	220	570	IV	14 February
071246024	Ilihan	1.0%	768	802	−0.82%	683	1,688	110	290	I	15 May
071246025	Imelda	2.5%	1,865	1,761	+1.10%	657	1,624	280	740	VII	8 May & 27 November
071246016	Katarungan	2.3%	1,680	1,524	+1.87%	409	1,011	410	1,100	V	30 May
071246031	Lomangog	3.6%	2,650	2,025	+5.26%	642	1,586	410	1,100	II	15 January
071246030	Los Angeles	0.8%	601	436	+6.30%	274	677	220	570	II	27 April
071246032	Pag‑asa	1.7%	1,273	1,168	+1.65%	378	934	340	870	III	8 December
071246033	Pangpang	1.8%	1,328	1,220	+1.63%	450	1,112	300	760	IV	15 December
071246034	Poblacion	4.5%	3,331	3,633	−1.64%	199	492	1,700	4,300	V	Last Friday of January 30 Jan 2015 29 Jan 2016 27 Jan 2017
071246037	San Francisco	2.3%	1,688	1,677	+0.12%	1,107	2,736	150	390	I	26 June
071246038	San Isidro	1.0%	771	707	+1.66%	262	647	290	760	VI	21 May
071246040	San Pascual	5.1%	3,783	3,127	+3.69%	973	2,404	390	1,000	I	Last Saturday of April 25 Apr 2015 30 Apr 2016 29 Apr 2017
071246041	San Vicente	1.4%	1,056	1,074	−0.32%	966	2,387	110	280	VIII	5 April
071246043	Sentinela	1.3%	939	969	−0.60%	271	670	350	900	VI	29 May
071246044	Sinandigan	2.5%	1,874	2,242	−3.36%	607	1,500	310	800	VII	8 December
071246045	Tapal	2.1%	1,516	1,371	+1.93%	290	717	520	1,400	VI	3 May
071246046	Tapon	3.8%	2,828	2,481	+2.52%	153	378	1,800	4,800	V	29 June
071246047	Tintinan	1.0%	707	623	+2.44%	31	77	2,300	5,900	VIII	29 September
071246048	Tipolo	3.4%	2,526	2,456	+0.54%	655	1,619	390	1,000	VI	5 April
071246049	Tubog	1.3%	983	885	+2.02%	514	1,270	190	500	III	16 May
071246050	Tuboran	1.9%	1,394	1,372	+0.30%	547	1,352	250	660	IV	15 January
071246052	Union	3.2%	2,392	2,332	+0.48%	514	1,270	470	1,200	VI	15 January
071246054	Villa Teresita	2.0%	1,482	1,407	+0.99%	262	647	570	1,500	I	28 November
	Total		73,712	68,578	+1.38%	33,506	82,795	220	570

Demographics

Population census of Ubay
Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1903 7,355 —     1918 8,255 +0.77% 1939 21,213 +4.60% 1948 29,961 +3.91% 1960 34,090 +1.08% 1970 32,717 −0.41% 1975 34,195 +0.89%	Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1980 38,289 +2.29% 1990 48,902 +2.48% 1995 50,745 +0.70% 2000 59,827 +3.59% 2007 65,900 +1.34% 2010 68,578 +1.46% 2015 73,712 +1.38%
Source: Philippine Statistics Office[3][8][9]

When the first national census was held in 1903, the municipality had a population 7,355. It continued to grow until 1960 with 34,090 (annual growth rate of 2.73% over the period). The population markedly decreased in 1970 with the creation of the municipality of President Carlos P. Garcia, formerly a constituent barangay. Since 1970, average annual growth rate (1970–2015) is 1.82%.

The primary language is Cebuano: Filipino and English are understood to a limited degree.

In the 2016 election, it had 41,792 registered voters, meaning that 57% of the population are aged 18 and over.^[4]

Economy

Ubay has a number of business establishments mostly small-scale commercial trading firms engaged in retail and wholesale. A new public market building was completed recently. The regular market day is Monday and local traders from neighboring towns come to sell their merchandise consisting mostly of agricultural products and small consumer items like used clothes, household utensils and other products. Ubay also provides a market for the neighboring island municipality of Pres. Carlos P. Garcia.

Tourism and culture

Ubay's point of interests, destinations, and attractions include:

• Ubay Stock Farm (USF): Started in 1921 and occupying 4,500 hectares (11,120 acres), it is the largest and oldest government livestock facility in the Philippines. The place was chosen as one of the accredited livestock technology training facilities for Visayas and Mindanao. It is located in Lomangog.^[10]
• Bohol Experimental Station: The Integrated Agricultural Research Center of Department of Agriculture in Central Visayas PhilRice's national lead agency for the planning, coordination, implementation, and monitoring of all rice research and development activities in the Philippines. It is located in Gabi.
• Capayas Dam (or Kapayas)(sometimes known as Banana Dam): One of the largest dams in the province and located alongside the main Ubay—Alicia—Guindulman highway. The southern end is in Lumangog, the remainder in Imelda. Completed in December 1991, it irrigates 750 hectares (1,900 acres) and serves 688 farm households. In 2011, the Department of Agriculture seeded the dam with 30,000 tilapia fingerlings, as part of their sustainable food security program.^[11]
• Ubay Agri-Park: The first of its kind in the Visayan region was recently launched to boost the agriculture and tourism industries in the area. A 100-hectare (250-acre) area situated along the national highway in Lomangog, Ubay Agri-Park helps to promote agri-tourism or "farm tourism," and is a showcase of Bohol's advances in farm technology.
• Sinandigan Multi-Species Hatchery: It is the biggest multi-species hatchery farm in the Philippines.^[12] A fishery infrastructure and mariculture park established to enable the fish farmers to become totally independent from wild stocks and to promote a more stable food security for the province. The facility is producing fingerlings of various fisheries products such as, but not limited to, milkfish (bangus), groupers (lapulapu), and siganids (kitong, danggit). It also houses a seaweed tissue culture laboratory which aims to rehabilitate quality seagrass planting materials using tissue branch culture, spore shredding and callus cell culture. It is supervised by the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) and inaugurated in April 2011.^[13]
• The Gaviola Ancestral House: Located at Poblacion near the church plaza, this Filipino-Spanish house was the residence of Don Ruperto Gaviola (former mayor of Ubay). The two-storey house has a traditional cut stone ground and a wooden painted ceiling made by Cebuano artist Ray Francia.^[14][15]

Delicacies

• Ube Calamay: It is a purple rice cake, (Calamay) with Ube. This sweet and delightful delicacy is said to be originated from this town because of its large plantations of Ube (purple yam).
• Fried Ube bread: Another mouthwatering delicacy made of ube. It is bread deep‑fried then filled with purple yam.

Ubay-ubay Festival

Like the Sinulog of Cebu, the Ubay-ubay Festival is the town's own version in celebration and honor of the patron saint, Sr. Santo Niño. This colorful and fascinating festivity is a well-attended event where devotees and tourists flock the town's major roads and venues to view the exciting grand street parade and the festival dance-competition. This celebration often held between 28 and 30 January, every year.^[16]

Local government

Ubay is governed by the municipal mayor as head of the municipality. The vice mayor is the next highest position and acts as the presiding officer of municipal council.

List of former Chief Executives of Ubay

Term	Title	Name
1844	Gobernadorcillo	Toribio Reyes
1912 – 1924	Presidente Municipal	Ruperto Gaviola
1925 – 1930	Presidente Municipal	Jose Garces
1931 – 1935	Presidente Municipal	Carlos Boiser
1936 – 1940	Presidente Municipal	Ruperto Gaviola
1941 – 1942	Presidente Municipal	Lucio Cutanda
1942 – 1943	Military Mayor	Samson Sabalones
1944 – 1945	Military Mayor	Frank Lombardo
1946 – 1948	Municipal Mayor	Lucio Cutanda
1949 –	OIC Municipal Mayor	Marcelo Cuyno
1949 – 1952	Municipal Mayor	Lucio Cutanda
1953 – 1964	Municipal Mayor	Ricardo Boyles
1965 – 1968	Municipal Mayor	Sabiniano Cuyno
1969 – 1978	Municipal Mayor	Rufina Delima
1979 – 1980	OIC Municipal Mayor	Eutiquio Bernales[17]
1981 – 1984	Municipal Mayor	Eutiquio Bernales
1985 – 1986	OIC Municipal Mayor	Pedro Sarabosing
1986 – 1987	OIC Municipal Mayor	Agapito Valleser
1987 – 1992	Municipal Mayor	Eliseo Boyles[18]
1992 – 1998	Municipal Mayor	Eutiquio Bernales
1998 – 2004	Municipal Mayor	Manuel Alesna
2004 – 2013	Municipal Mayor	Eutiquio Bernales
2013 – 2016	Municipal Mayor	Galicano Atup
2016 – present	Municipal Mayor	Constantino Reyes

Infrastructure

Transport

The most common form of local transportation is the tricycle for nearer barangays. For far barangays, the motorcycle is the most common. All barangays are connected by roads and the only places without roads are the steep slopes of the central mountains.

The improvement of the Bohol circumferential road and the port facilities helped Ubay to become the trading and transportation hub of northeastern Bohol, connecting it to the neighboring island of Leyte and the rest of Bohol province. Passenger and cargo traffic to these destinations has noticeably increased over the years indicating an increasing volume of trade between these points.

Land transportation is provided by various short and long-distance buses, jeeps and vans, connecting Ubay to the rest of the towns in the province. Tagbilaran can be reached from Ubay in two to three hours by bus or van. There are also daily combined road/ferry services to Metro Manila (Pasay City / Cubao, Quezon City).

Ubay seaport is considered the province's principal gateway to Leyte, and Samar.^[19] Its improved port area is linked to the major port destinations of neighboring provinces such as Bato and Hilongos in Leyte, Maasin City in Southern Leyte, and Cebu City, the regional capital.^[20] Four vessels travels to and from Cebu City daily,^[19] and routes to and from Bato, Hilongos and Maasin City are also served daily. The journey time for each destination is 4–5 hours.^[21]

Ubay is home to one of only two airports in Bohol (the other being Tagbilaran Airport), but Ubay Airport is completely undeveloped and has no scheduled service, nor any facilities. The runway is only about 400 metres (1,310 ft) but couldn't extend at the southwestern end becomes it is close to hills, and the northeastern end reaches housing and the sea.

Health

For health services, the town has two public health units staffed by doctors, nurses, midwives, dentists, medical technologists and sanitary inspectors. A small government hospital was established to provide outpatient services to local residents. A private 15-bed hospital (in Fatima) also provides services for emergencies. A pediatrics and OB-gynae clinic complements the health services available in town.

Barangay Health Workers (BHW) from each barangay provide direct health care assistance to barangay residents.

Public order and safety

The local police force is 37 police officers. Police–population ratio is 1:1,992, less favourable than the standard ratio of 1:1,000. The police are augmented by 492 Barangay Tanod volunteers. It is reported that crime rate in Ubay is relatively low. The local Fire Department is staffed by eight fire fighters with two fire trucks. Incidence of fires is reportedly low in the municipality.

Utilities

Bohol was linked to the major source of geothermal power in Leyte through the underwater connection between Maasin City, Southern Leyte and Ubay. Presently, only three of the 44 barangays have no electricity, yet only 34.97 percent of the total households in the municipality have electricity compared to the province, which was 58.3 percent energized in 2000.

The town proper and seven other barangays was served by the Ubay Water and Sanitation Cooperative. The cooperative planned to expand their service to eight other barangays in the near future. Due to consumer demand and the limited size of the supply, water service became difficult during dry months. Bohol province reported that 23.71 percent of its households had their own faucets from a community system while Ubay reported only 8.97 percent.

For the province, 21.68 percent of households had access to shared faucets while Ubay only had 8.86 percent. In Ubay, slightly more than half (51.83%) of the households had access to dug wells.

Education

Elementary schools

There are 44 public elementary schools in the municipality – one in each barangay except Cuya, and one on Tres Reyes island.^[22]

There are 7 private elementary schools.^[23]

Secondary and high schools

There are 16 public and private secondary and high schools in the municipality.^[24]

Higher education

To meet the increasing demands Bohol Northeastern College was founded in 1996 by Ubayano political leaders, Erico B. Aumentado and former governor David B. Tirol. The name was changed to Bohol Northern Star Colleges in January 2007.

Notable Ubayanos

• Eutiquio Boyles – who served as the fifth provincial governor of Bohol from 16 October 1916 – 15 October 1919. Barangay Governor Boyles was named after him.^[25]
• Erico B. Aumentado – the only Bohol governor who served three consecutive terms (2001–2010), former deputy speaker of the Philippine House of Representatives, former congressman of Bohol's 2nd District, former provincial vice-governor and Board Member.^[26]

References

Sources

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ubay.

External links

• Municipality of Ubay official site
• Municipality of Ubay, Bohol

	Bien Unido	Camotes Sea	President Carlos P. Garcia
	Trinidad		Bohol Sea
		Ubay
	San Miguel	Alicia	Mabini