Barugo

Map of Leyte showing the location of Barugo

Barugo is a 4th class municipality in the province of Leyte, Philippines. According to the 2000 census, it has a population of 26,919 people in 5,108 households.

Elected Municipal Officials (2007 to Present):

Mayor Atty. Alden Avestruz

Vice-Mayor Alvino Aruta

Councilors Jose Benusa, Jose Caneda, Oscar De Guzman, Silvestre Alcober, Bella Tupaz, Virginia Arpon, Josephine Tiu, Artemio Apostol, Salgar "Bugal" Deveyra - ABC President

Barangays

Barugo is politically subdivided into 37 barangays.

• Abango is located in the southwest of Barugo, sharing boundaries with the Leyte municipalities of Carigara and Tunga.
• Amahit, as of May, 2000, has a population of 1,352 in 259 families.
• Balire is in the western portion of Barugo. From the May 2000 census, its population is 438 in 87 families. Balire was previously a sitio of Barangay Bukid named "Bukid Gute" after its many hills. It became an independent barangay in its own right in the 1950s. Balire is an agricultural community with its main crops being rice and copra. It has an elementary school and chapel, which were funded by local efforts..
• Balud , as of May, 2000, has a population of 614 in 124 families. Balud's economy is based on fishing, and it contains the Barugo Fish Sanctuary at Jalaba Point, established in 1991..
• Bukid, as of May, 2000, has a population of 1,000 in 259 families. It is home to Barangay Bukid Elementary School, which was built on land donated by its first chairman, Lorenzo Cabojoc. The baragay's main product is bahalina, a type of coconut wine. It takes its name from the word "bukid", meaning "hill", after the elevated land on which it stands.
• Bulod, as of May, 2000, has a population of 452 in 85 families. Bulod was previously a sitio of Barangay Minuhang but became independent an independent barangay in 1949. It contains the sitios of Cansagaya and Lagkawan. "Bulod" is an archaic Waray-Waray word meaning "field".
• Busay, as of May, 2000, has a population of 663 in 130 families. Apart from the baragay itself it contains the sitios of Bulod Gute, Noro-Poro, Cabalagnan and Paod.
• Cabarasan, as of May, 2000, has a population of 345 in 60 families. It is located east of Barugo, and its northern border is formed by the Baluarte River. Apart from the barangay itself (Cabarasan Proper), Cabarasan also encompass the sitios of Upper Daliran and Lower Daliran. The terrain of Cabarasn Proper is level and suitable for rice growing. In Lower Daliran bananas are grown, as well as rice, while coconuts and root crops are cultivated on the hillier land of Upper Daliran. "Cabarasan" is Waray-Waray for "land of the mystical, harmonious valley" or figuratively translated, Shangri-La. It is synonymous with any earthly paradise — a permanently happy land, isolated from the outside world. Like in the novel Lost Horizon, the people who live in Cabarasan are almost immortal, living years beyond the normal lifespan.
• Cabolo-an, as of May, 2000, has a population of 248 in 49 families. The current Barangay Chairman is Mr. Rufino R. Astorga, Jr.
• Calingcaguing, as of May, 2000, has a population of 1,140 in 197 families. It includes the sitios of Bukid and Cabalagnan and is home to primary and secondary schools. The name "Calingcaguing" derives from a large tree named "kalingkaling" that stood behind a chapel, and was used by native people as a place of concealment during the period of Spanish administration. The name was changed to "Calingcaguing", which was felt to sound better, at the suggestion of the American administration.
• Can-isak, as of May, 2000, has a population of 672 in 129 families.
• Canomantag, as of May, 2000, has a population of 481 in 86 families. The barangay is on the western edge of the town and shares a border with the municipality of Carigara. Within Barugo it neighbors the barangays of Minuswang, San Isidro and Guindaohan. The area was previously inhabited by a forest-dwelling people known as the Tagurabong, believed to be Aetas. These people were displaced by agricultural settlers during the period of Spanish rule.
• Cuta, as of May, 2000, has a population of 496 in 97 families. It was previously a sitio of Barangay Calingcaguing, but became a separate barangay in its own right in 1978. The current Barangay Chairman is Atty. Pantaleon Castroverde. The name "Cuta" derives from a camp on the bank of the Himanglos River where people took shelter during World War II. "Cuta" is a variation of the word "cotta", meaning baked clay.
• Domogdog, as of May, 2000, has a population of 403 in 79 families. Domogdog was previously a sitio of Barangay Minuhang but became an independent barangay on May 17, 1982.
• Duka is a coastal barangay that borders barangay Mawod-pawod, San Miguel, Leyte, to the north; sitio Molan-bolan and barangay Balud to the south; sitio Upper Daliran to the west; and Carigara Bay to the east. As of May 2000, Duka had a population of 321 with 79 families. The residential area of barangay Duka is a flat land surrounded by hills covered by trees. The hills by the shoreline are pocked with many small caves, carved by waves plunging toward the shore over time. When viewed from the sea, this place looks like the head of a lady looking out from a window. The first fishermen settlers called this place Duka, which means dungaw or the act of looking out. Since the mid-1990s, the area has been undergoing development to eventually become the Barugo International Economic Freeport Zone.
• Guindaohan, as of May, 2000, has a population of 481 in 87 families, up from 375 in 1990.
• Hiagsam, as of May, 2000, has a population of 224 in 44 families.
• Hilaba, as of May, 2000, has a population of

As of May, 2000, its population was 768 in 145 families.

• Hinugayan, as of May, 2000, has a population of 778 in 123 families.
• Ibag, as of May, 2000, has a population of 367 in 61 families.
• Minuhang, as of May, 2000, has a population of 1,768 in 344 families.
• Minuswang, as of May, 2000, has a population of 633 in 122 families.
• Pikas, as of May, 2000, has a population of 1,010 in 192 families.
• Pitogo, as of May, 2000, has a population of 320 in 65 families.
• San Pedro (Poblacion Dist. I)
• Mercado (Poblacion Dist. II)
• Salog (Poblacion Dist. III)
• Sta. Cruz (Poblacion Dist. IV)
• Dagat (Poblacion Dist. V)
• New Road (Poblacion Dist. VI)
• Pongso, as of May, 2000, has a population of 236 in 44 families.
• Roosevelt, as of May, 2000, has a population of 625 in 120 families.
• San Isidro, as of May, 2000, has a population of 831 in 144 families.
• San Roque, as of May, 2000, has a population of 454 in 80 families.
• Santa Rosa, as of May, 2000, has a population of 1,424 in 262 families.
• Santarin, as of May, 2000, has a population of 907 in 173 families.
• Tutug-an, as of May, 2000, has a population of 474 in 82 families.

History of Barugo

Barugo is a town in the northern coastal part of Leyte facing Carigara Bay, 50 kilometers northwest of Tacloban City, whose history dates back to the early days of Spanish occupation.

Early during the Spanish rule, the area was given the status of a pueblo (town) when it was established as an "encomienda." An encomienda was a land estate awarded to deserving Spaniards for services rendered to the Spanish Crown. The grantee of an encomienda, known as encomiendero, was given the right to rule the encomienda in accordance with the Spanish laws and to extract tributes from the natives, part of which went to the Spanish Crown.

Miguel Lopez, the first governor of the Islas Pilipinas, started the practice of designating large landed estates as encomiendas. Only ten months after Cebu and Manila became encomiendas, Barugo was also designated as one on November 3, 1571. Rodrigo de Vargas was the first encomiendero for Barugo.

The education of the natives in Leyte started with the arrival of the Jesuits on July 16, 1595. The mission schools in the beginning concentrated on the basics of Christianity. Barugo initially was only a "vista" of Carigara, meaning that it was under the administrative and spiritual supervision of the curate of Carigara, and was under the care of Fr. Mateo Sanchez, who eventually became its first parish priest after Barugo was declared as an independent parish. It was Fr. Sanchez who established the first church in Barugo.

The Jesuits stayed in Leyte from 1595 to 1767. During that time they expanded their influence starting from Carigara and Barugo, in the hinterlands of Ogmuc (Ormoc), Dulac (Dulag), Palo, Alangalang, Malibago (?) and the entire island of Cibabaw (Samar). When Carlos III of Spain ordered the expulsion of the Jesuits from all Spanish dominions in 1767, the Jesuit mission on Leyte was handed over to the Augustinian Fathers. And later in 1843, the same missions were taken over by the Franciscan Friars. Fray Timoteo Calderon was the first Franciscan curate assigned to Barugo. At that time in 1843, Barugo already had 1,744 taxpayers and 8,381 residents. The towns of Alangalang, Jaro, Babatngon, Malibago (?) and San Miguel were once only "vistas" of Barugo.

In Barugo there is a legend which was being taught to elementary pupils during the 1950s and 1960s regarding how the town got its name. The legend goes like this - "Once upon a time there was a man named Cassadok. One day while he was resting by the river bank under the shade of a giant tree, a Spaniard came along and asked him the name of the place. Cassadok did not understand Spanish and thinking the Spaniard was asking the name of the big shady tree, answered "Balugo." From that time on, the place came to be known as "Balugo." When the Americans came, they changed the letter "L" to "R" and thus to this day the town is called Barugo." This story has no basis in fact and is simply a legend. For the early Spanish historians and chroniclers have always referred to the town by the name it carries today, Barugo.

Today Barugo nestles by the coast of Carigara Bay. But the original settlement of Barugo was way upstream by the banks of the Himanglos River, which during the time of the conquistadores was called Barugo River.

It is highly probable that the first Barugo settlement was in the place which is now known as Nasunogan, meaning a place burned down. This assumption is born by the fact that the old Spanish road leading to the towns of Tunga and Jaro starts at this place and the ruins of an old Spanish stone church is found there. This assumption is also collaborated, firstly, by the writings of Fr. Chirino wherein he described their travels by foot to Barugo and of a settlement by "la orilla," meaning by the bank of a river and by the mouth of the river. Secondly, the story of Fr. Mateo Sanchez, regarding their attempt to reach a seriously sick man, tells of their travel from the town of Barugo by "a small boat in which we sailed to seek our sick man, who was living in horon, far from the town and near the coast."

From Nasunogan, after the old settlement was burned, the people moved to another place which is now called Binongto-an, meaning a place abandoned as a town, now a sitio of Barangay Pikas. The settlers did not stay there long and moved eventually to the present site of the town. This conclusion stems from the fact that lasting structures can be found in Binongto-an.

When was the old town burned and why? Why was Binongto-an selected as the new settlement area after Nasunogan? When did the settlers finally transfer to the present site? The answers to these questions and many more remain to be searched. Doubtless there are written accounts about Barugo that still remain to be uncovered. The archives of the various religious congregations which successively presided over the Christianization of Barugo and its people should contain many interesting and authoritative data about Barugo, for the Friars of old were religious chroniclers of their undertakings and achievements.

Today, Barugo comprises 37 barangays and has a population of about 27,000. It remains an agricultural town producing rice, corn and copra. Residents of a few coastal barangays are engaged in small-scale fishing and aquaculture. Its cottage industry consists of tuba, wine made from the coconut tree; and roscas, delicious pastry made of flour, sugar, eggs and shortening. Not unlike the rest of the country, its economy is partly driven by dollar remittances from overseas workers.

(Excerpts from the research Barugo - Its Fabled History, conducted by the late Joel V. Aruta; excerpts edited and embellished by JC Himanglos. For the young Baruguenos of today, the challenge is to search for the answers.)

External links

• Official Website of the Municipality of Barugo
• Philippine Standard Geographic Code
• 2000 Philippine Census Information