Municipality of San Remigio

ANTIQUE TOWNS: SAN REMIGIO

MUNICIPALITY OF SAN REMIGIO

(Reprinted from the Binirayan 2000 Souvenir Magazine)

Oral tradition has it that a settlement called TIGBAGACAY was founded by a famous warrior and hunter named JUAN ARANGOTE. He and his family constituted the first settlers in this place. The passage of time saw the influx of other settlers and the transformation of the place into the Village. In 1797, TIGBAGACAY was politically established as a barrio and consequently appeared in the map as part of the Municipality of Sibalom. It adopted San Vicente Ferrer as its patron saint.

On July 1, 1864 TIGBAGACAY was elevated to municipality and was given the name SAN REMIGIO after a Spanish Officer named REMIGIO MULTO. The village, now a town, was divided into two barrios called BALADJAY and VILVAR in honor of Agustin Baladjay and Basilio Vilvar who worked for the separation of the town from Sibalom.

Located at the alluvial valley of the big Sibalom River, the young municipality waged a long and losing battle against the relentless onslaught of this merciless river whose seasonal encroachment usually brought grave destruction to infrastructure and private property. Therefore, the move to transfer the site of the Poblacion was initiated. The various resolutions adopted by the Municipal Council recommending the transfer of the town site were officially approved by Hon. Francis Burton Harrison, Governor General of the Philippines at that time, through Executive Order No. 74. Series of 1919. Thus on October 13, 1931, the township was transferred to Calag-itan, its present site. The former site, officially the barrios of Baladjay and Vilvar, is now referred to as Old Town.

San Remigio is a mountainous municipality. Almost 70% of the total land area is mountainous and the remaining 30% is low flat lands and rolling hills. It is one of the three interior towns in the province of Antique. It is bounded in the north by the municipality of Sibalom, in the west by the municipality of Patnoñgon and in the east by the Province of Iloilo. It is about 21 kilometers away from the capital town of San Jose.

Based on the Census of Population and Housing, there are 21,682 inhabitants in this municipality as of May 1990; the total number of households is 3,925. This represents 5.34% of the population of Antique. The average family size in 5.5 and a population density is 64 persons per square kilometer.

The Department of Education, Culture and Sports handles formal education. Of the 44 schools in the municipality, 29 offer primary education and 12 complete elementary courses, There are three secondary schools: a newly- nationalized high school in Baran₉bang, a national school in Bugo and a privately run secondary school, the Saint Vincent’s High School in the Poblacion. Two school districts exist. The Department of Education, Culture and Sports, the Local Government Unit (Agricultural and Social Welfare and Development Services) and other non-government agencies conduct non-formal education. Eight health centers remain operational and seventeen (17) Day Care Centers for 2 to 5 year-old pre-schoolers.

The survey on household members (based on 20% Household Survey) by major occupation shows that 30.75% are engaged in housekeeping followed closely by farming with 30.48% and 14.56% unemployed (15 years old and above). As to income, 38.44% of the household members earns below 5,000.00 Pesos; 95.31% lives below poverty level.

Rice and corn are the main products of the municipality. Latest results provided by the Agricultural Services in this municipality show that 3,902 hectares have been planted to palay (unhusked rice) with a total production output of 8,962 metric tons. Aside from these, the municipality also produces mangoes, beans, peanuts, copra (unprocessed coconut meat), coffee, banana, root crops like gabi (purple yam) and cassava, and high-valued crops like sweet potatoes, carrots, sayote, cabbage, onions and garlic.

Livestock totals 21,697 heads broken down as follows: 2,470 cattle, 2,695 carabaos (water buffalos), 3,105 hogs, and 1,065 goats. Poultry counts 17,115 birds, 15,955 chicken, 980 ducks and others like geese, turkey, etc.

Of the many potential tourist attractions in this town, Aningalan, dubbed as “the little Baguio of Antique", stands out from the rest. Here, the climate is refreshingly cool even at the height of summer. Strategically located on the plateau of the mountain ranges that bounded San Remigio and Leon (town in Iloilo), its surrounding rolling hills and plains, and the dense forest is close to the national road. It is expected that once the national road is completed, communities, retreat facilities, and resorts will be sprouting. The nearby jungle is a repository of various species of flora and fauna waiting to be explored through hiking and horse riding. Of interest to spelunkers and outdoor ‘freaks’, is the craggy lgbaclag Rock which has numerous caverns all shrouded in mystery for a spine-tingling, hair raising adventure. Also, before reaching Aningalan from town proper is the Bato Kuweba in barangay La Union, which has nearly similar features as lgbaclag but offers a different level of thrill and excitement.

Updated information on the current municipal government officials and other announcements are unavailable at this time.

NO OTHER KNOWN WEB SITE LINKS.