Miagao


', officially the ', is a of the Philippines| in the province of,. According to the, it has a population of people.
Miagao is considered as the "Onion Capital of the Visayas". The town center of the municipality lies on the western bank of the Tumagbok River, the largest river in the municipality. The poblacion is made up of eight barangays.
The town holds their patronal fiesta in honor of St. Thomas of Villanova every September 22 that lasts several days. The town is also the location of one of the Baroque Churches of the Philippines, the Miagao Church, which was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The entire town of Miagao was later inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage City and became a member of the Organization of World Heritage Cities.

Etymology

The name of Miagao has many disputed etymologies. One of the most popular, and probably the most widely accepted version is that the name of the town was derived from a plant named Miagos. Miagos or Osmoxylon lineare is a flowering plant from the family Araliaceae that used to grow abundantly in the area when the Spaniards came. Because of its abundance in the area, the Spaniards named the place Miagos which later became Miagao. Another version, according to Rev. Fr. Lorenzo Torres of Igbaras, is that a native named "Miyagaw" was asked by the Spaniards for the name of the place but gave his name instead.

History

A settlement in Damilisan were recorded by Spanish Map early in 1700 with 13,493 people and 2,974 houses. Miagao gained its independence as a municipality in 1716. Prior to that, it used to be a part of an arrabal of four different towns in southern Iloilo. Until 1580, Miagao was an arrabal of Oton. From 1580 until 1652, it was an arrabal of Tigbauan. It was an arrabal of Suaraga from 1652 to 1703 and before becoming independent, it became an arrabal of Guimbal from 1703 to 1716. In 1731, Miagao had its first capitan and teniente mayor after an election was held in Guimbal under the supervision of Victorino C. Ma., an authorized representative of the governor.

Geography

Topography

Miagao is a coastal town with a hilly to mountainous terrain. Most of the flat areas in the municipality are found either in coasts or along the town's major rivers which include the Naulid, Tumagbok, Oyaoy, Bacauan, Tabunacan, Oyungan, Lanutan, and San Rafael rivers. A mountain range forms a natural boundary between Miagao and the province of Antique to the north.

Climate

The municipality has a type I climate based on PAGASA's climate classification chart. The climate of Miagao is greatly affected by north-east and south-west monsoons. The town experiences a pronounced wet season from May to October and a dry season from November to April. The coolest months are the months of December to February while the hottest months are the months of April and May.
'' found in the mountainous barangays of Miagao.

Administration

Local Government (2016-2019)

As with other municipal/city level political administration in the country, Miagao is governed by popularly elected Mayor, Vice Mayor, and eight Sangguniang Bayan Members. The current government officials of the municipality are listed below.
Miagao is politically subdivided into 119 barangays. It has more barangays than any other municipality in the Philippines. The municipality has 22 coastal barangays and 97 landlocked barangays.
NameArea
Population
PSG Code
Agdum-345063030001
Aguiauan-460063030002
Alimodias-764063030003
Awang-156063030004
Bacauan-611063030006
Bacolod-471063030007
Bagumbayan-939063030008
Banbanan-485063030009
Banga-222063030010
Bangladan-348063030011
Banuyao-898063030012
Baraclayan-400063030013
Bariri-133063030014
Baybay Norte -2932063030015
Baybay Sur -998063030016
Belen-191063030017
Bolho -457063030018
Bolocaue-195063030019
Buenavista Norte-385063030020
Buenavista Sur-291063030021
Bugtong Lumangan-327063030022
Bugtong Naulid-203063030023
Cabalaunan-252063030024
Cabangcalan-137063030025
Cabunotan-306063030026
Cadoldolan-151063030027
Cagbang-310063030028
Caitib-634063030029
Calagtangan-423063030030
Calampitao-798063030031
Cavite-209063030032
Cawayanan-261063030033
Cubay-753063030034
Cubay Ubos-162063030035
Dalije-1809063030036
Damilisan-1305063030037
Dawog-826063030038
Diday-760063030039
Dingle-379063030040
Durog-1064063030041
Frantilla-162063030042
Fundacion-339063030043
Gines-685063030044
Guibongan-977063030045
Igbita-324063030046
Igbugo-505063030047
Igcabidio-300063030048
Igcabito-on-344063030050
Igcatambor-312063030051
Igdalaquit-205063030052
Igdulaca-706063030053
Igpajo-380063030054
Igpandan-303063030055
Igpuro-468063030056
Igpuro-Bariri-304063030057
Igsoligue-460063030058
Igtuba-1157063030059
Ilog-ilog-233063030060
Indag-an-694063030061
Kirayan Norte-1727063030062
Kirayan Sur-1440063030063
Kirayan Tacas-1087063030064
La Consolacion-451063030065
Lacadon-682063030066
Lanutan-470063030067
Lumangan-796063030068
Mabayan-213063030069
Maduyo-169063030070
Malagyan-1409063030071
Mambatad-939063030072
Maninila-1063063030073
Maricolcol-339063030074
Maringyan-674063030075
Mat-y -2346063030076
Matalngon-161063030077
Naclub-647063030078
Nam-o Sur-217063030079
Nam-o Norte-291063030080
Narat-an-591063030082
Narorogan-226063030083
Naulid-800063030084
Olango-335063030085
Ongyod-176063030086
Onop-291063030087
Oya-oy-297063030005
Oyungan-1417063030088
Palaca-2142063030089
Paro-on-299063030090
Potrido-403063030091
Pudpud-514063030092
Pungtod Monteclaro-302063030093
Pungtod Naulid-171063030094
Sag-on-390063030095
San Fernando-428063030096
San Jose-466063030097
San Rafael-1303063030098
Sapa -822063030099
Saring-416063030100
Sibucao-338063030101
Taal-197063030102
Tabunacan-514063030103
Tacas -759063030104
Tambong-205063030105
Tan-agan-556063030106
Tatoy-605063030107
Ticdalan-425063030108
Tig-amaga-252063030109
Tig-Apog-Apog-281063030110
Tigbagacay-274063030111
Tiglawa-183063030112
Tigmalapad-528063030113
Tigmarabo-451063030114
To-og-157063030115
Tugura-ao-314063030116
Tumagboc-415063030117
Ubos Ilawod -1003063030118
Ubos Ilaya -896063030119
Valencia-465063030120
Wayang-229063030121

Demographics

In the, the population of Miagao was people, with a density of.
As of the 2015 census by the Philippine Statistics Authority Census of Population, the ten most populous barangays of Miagao are shown in the table below:
BarangayPopulation
Baybay Norte2932
Mat-y2346
Palaca2142
Dalije1809
Kirayan Norte1727
Kirayan Sur1440
Oyungan1417
Malagyan1409
Damilisan1305
San Rafael1303

Almost all people in Miagao speak Kinaray-a as it is the primary language of the municipality. Hiligaynon is spoken as a second language by many and is especially useful when going to Iloilo City where Hiligaynon is the dominant language.

Economy

Agriculture

The municipality of Miagao is a largely agricultural town. Around 52% of the municipal land area is classified as agricultural and around 40% of the total land area is planted. Rice is the primary crop of the town while corn is considered as a secondary crop. Miagao is hailed as the "Onion Capital of the Visayas" because it is the largest producer of bulb onion not only in Western Visayas but in the whole Visayas and Mindanao. Other crops produced by the municipality include eggplants, peanuts, monggo, tomatoes, root crops, and bamboo.

Banks

Miagao is a financial center in southern Iloilo. The town has a total of five banks.
The instance of these ATMs being offline is quite high due to poor maintenance, overuse, and faulty Internet and power connections. Avoid withdrawing near and after the 15th and 30th days of the month because people will drain the machines with cash because it is payday, also avoid the Land Bank ATM during the 2nd-3rd week of the month because of 4Ps beneficiaries claiming their monthly government dole out. If it is a real necessity to use ATMs at these times, prepare for queues that may last for hours, people holding "reservations" in their spot, people cutting in line, and the tinge of disappointment when the machine suddenly switches offline after the business day either because it ran out of cash or overused.

Infrastructure

Public Transport

Miagao is strategically located along the Iloilo-Antique road. Because of this, transportation is not a big problem in the municipality.
The town proper is from Iloilo City and from San Jose de Buenavista, the capital of Antique.

Buses

Several bus companies operate in Miagao. Buses that ply the Iloilo-Antique, Iloilo-Caticlan via San Jose, and Iloilo-Manila routes pass by the municipality every day. Ceres Liner by Vallacar Transit passes by Miagao almost every 30 minutes on its way to Iloilo from Antique and vice versa.
Manila bound buses also pass by Miagao. Dimple Star Transport, Gasat/Valisno Transport, and Ceres Liner pass by Miagao every morning on their way to Manila. In addition, RM Liner also heads to Manila everyday but passes by Miagao early in the evening.

Jeepneys

s serve the Miagao-Iloilo City route more frequently than buses. The typical jeepney can contain around 22 to as many as 34 or more passengers. The town is mainly served by Miagao-Iloilo City bound jeepneys but San Joaquin-Iloilo City bound jeepneys also serve the area. These jeepneys generally pass by every 10–20 minutes so catching a jeepney bound for Iloilo City is not a problem.
Several mountain barangays of Miagao are also served by jeepneys because smaller modes of transportation aren't usually strong enough to climb steep and unpaved roads. In that case, habal-habal or plain motocycles can also be used.

Tricycles

s are the most common form transportation in the municipality. These are the Philippines' version of tuk-tuk in other Asian countries. Tricycles are often limited to operate within the municipality but special and private trips to other places are allowed.
Miagao has established several tricycle routes in the municipality. Tricycles are color-coded to indicate the route assigned to them. Yellow ones are northbound while blue ones are southbound. Green tricycles are bound to the mountain barangays of the town passing through barangay Mat-y. Tricycles assigned to operate within the town proper are colored red. The following table shows the routes of all tricycles-for-hire within the municipality of Miagao.
FromToFromToFromToFromTo
MiagaoUbos AreaMiagaoDamilisanMiagaoBanbananMiagaoCalampitao
MiagaoBaybay AreaMiagaoNarat-anMiagaoIgbitaMiagaoDurog/Kirayan Tacas
MiagaoSapa and UPV AreaMiagaoCalagtanganTan-aganMiagaoValencia/Naulid
MiagaoMalagyanMiagaoTugura-ao/Gines PalacaMiagaoCaitib
MiagaoBagumbayanMiagaoIgbugo/CawayananMiagaoIgpuro
MiagaoIlog-ilog
MiagaoIgdulaca

Highlights

Miag-ao Church

The Miagao Church, or the Church of Santo Tomas de Villanueva, was built in 1786 by Spanish Augustinian missionaries and was declared as part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site "Baroque Churches of the Philippines" in 1993. On the front facade, which is flanked by two watchtower belfries, one can see the unique blending of Spanish and native influences.
The central feature of the bas-relief facade is a large coconut tree which reaches almost to the apex. While an integral part of the Philippine landscape, the coconut tree is also the subject of lore. According to an old Philippine legend, the coconut tree was the only bequest from a loving mother to her two children, a tree which sustained them for life. On the church's facade the coconut tree appears as the "tree of life" to which St. Christopher carrying the Child Jesus on his shoulder is clinging to. The lesser facades feature the daily life of Miagaowanons during the time. Also depicted are other native flora and fauna, as well as native dress.
The church and its watchtowers were also built to defend the town and its people against raids by the Moros. It therefore has thick walls and, reportedly, secret passages. Indeed, stretching along the Iloilo coast are defensive towers, but none that equal the size of the Miagao. It is because of this defensive purpose that it is sometimes referred to as the Miag-ao Fortress Church.

Education

The primary and secondary education in the municipality of Miagao is under the jurisdiction of the Division of Iloilo under the Department of Education, Region 6. Miagao is subdivided into two school districts namely, Miagao East and Miagao West. The schools under each district as well as private, secondary, and tertiary schools in the municipality are listed below.

Primary education

Miagao East primary schools:
Miagao West primary schools:
Private primary schools:
Secondary schools:
Private secondary schools:
;University of the Philippines Visayas
The Miagao campus of the University of the Philippines Visayas spreads out over 12 km² on the outskirts of the town proper. This is the main campus of UPV which is composed of the UPV Tacloban College in Tacloban City, UPV College of Management in Iloilo City, UPV High School in Iloilo in Iloilo City, UPV College of Arts and Sciences, UPV School of Technology, and the flagship college of this campus, the UPV College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences which focuses on marine science, aquaculture, fish processing, natural products development, and post-harvest/food science. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Thailand and Cambodia sent exchange students to the school to study fish and rice production, and after graduating returned home where they began out-producing and out-exporting the Philippines in these commodities.
;WVCST/ISATU Southern Iloilo Polytechnic College
The Iloilo Science and Technology University Southern Iloilo Polytechnic College Miagao Campus is one of the two tertiary institutions present in the municipality of Miagao. This school started as Miagao Regional High School in 1945 and became the Miagao Vocational School in 1958. In 1984, Miagao Vocational School was converted to Southern Iloilo Polytechnic College to meet the demands of the changing times and for expansion purposes. SIPC was then integrated with the Western Visayas College of Science and Technology on November 24, 2000 by virtue of the Republic Act No. 7722, otherwise known as the “Higher Education Act of 1994 and RA No. 8292". Currently, the school offers courses in the fields of electronics and technology, hospitality, and primary and secondary education.

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