MUNICIPALITY OF VALDERRAMA
(Reprinted from the Binirayan 2000 Souvenir Magazine)
To
become one nation, a people must be able to claim a shared history. They must
value what they have experienced together, cherishing a past that has made
them one.
History
forges a national spirit and character. It documents how religion and cultural
forces shape a society and give rise to the development of villages, towns and
cities, how landscape and climate affect human response and influence custom
and tradition. The circumstances that bring about these changes differ in
intensity and ethos. For this reason, we find all over the
When
Filipinos turn to the past, what do they see?
HISTORY
Valderrama is among the barrios in the
Municipality of Bugasong. Formerly, it was called Caberi-an due to the
abundance of beri shrubs in the place. According to the history, a settlement
of some thirty (30) families, settled along the coast of Bugasong, moved
eastward following the river bank of Cangaranan River until they reached the
Kaberi-an. The place is favorable; they cleared and tilled the soil to
establish residence.
Flourishing
from the humble beginnings, the settlement grew to be self-sufficient, until
finally it became necessary for them to have their own new sets of officials to
govern themselves. Many years passed, the Spaniards came to the Philippines.
Some of them sailed to the northern part of the country until they reached the
island of Panay, where some of them settled in the Municipality of settlement
in Bugasong. This period of rediscovery began when the head of the Spanish
settlement in Bugasong noted that there was an area settled by the natives
who were fast growing. The natives, through the influence of the Spaniards,
moved for the separation of Kaberi-an from the Municipality of Bugasong
through the representation of the Spanish officials. The separation was
granted. The settlement attained progress. Because of new system of government
under the control of the Spaniard, they began thinking to change the name of
Kaberi-an.
One
day, a Spanish official came to visit the place. As he entered the town, he
met a young lady with a pail. The Spanish official asked her in Spanish
language about the name of the place. The lady did not understand Spanish and
thought that she ask what she was carrying and she smilingly answered “BALDE”.
The Spanish official nodded and from that time on the place was called Valde.
However,
to name a place without any significance, RAMA was added to the word VALDE
making it VALDERRAMA, in honor of the priest who held the first mass in
Limasawa.
PROFILE
Valderrama
is a 5th class Municipality located in the interior of the Eastern portion
of the Province of Antique. It is bounded by the Municipality of Bugasong in
the southwest and by the
Municipality of Lambunao, lIoiIo, in the West. It has a total land
area of two hundred ninety- three and four tenths square kilometers (293.4
sq. km.) or twenty-nine thousand three hundred forty hectares (29,340 ha.),
two thousand nine hundred sixty-three hectares (2,963 has.) of which are
purely devoted to agriculture, seven hundred hectares (700 has.) are
irrigated, one thousand three hundred forty-six hectares (1,346 has.) are
rainfed and nine hundred twelve
hectares (912 has.) are upland. The rest are intended for housing, commercial
centers, infrastructures and other business establishments.
As
the cropping pattern of the irrigated areas, it has rice, rice, rice (RRR) with
some vegetables along the rice paddies; in rainfed rice, peanut, mongo,
(R-P-M) and upland rice, corn and root crops (R-C-RC)
The
main source of water supply for the Municipality is the Cangaranan river which
supplies more or less the one thousand five hundred hectares (1,500 has.) of
agricultural land, whereas, a number of creeks/brooks and permanent Spring
water supply the remaining areas.
The
rural electrification project of the President has contributed a lot to the
socio-economic development of the Municipality by speeding up government
transactions and making public service fast,
responsible, and reliable.
Today,
Valderrama has improved a lot in transportation facilities with the completion
of the Valderrama Bailey Bridge which has a length of one hundred eighty meters (180
m.). It links Valderrama to Bugasong.
Valderrama
draws the interest of tourists and excursionists because of the cool and
comfort its wonderful scenic spots could give, like the refreshing Villa
Valderrama Mountain Resort, Mt. Igcoron, and Mt. Baloy, one of the last
rainforests of the Philippines which is a haven to hundreds of endangered
species of flora and fauna.
Political
development of the Municipality was undertaken by its duty-bound leaders:
Federico Rivero,
The
local officials and employees, with the collaboration of the elements of the
central government, people’s organization, non-governmental organizations, private sectors and
community members, are seemingly reaching the goals of Philippines 2000.
The present
population of the Municipality has reached fifteen
Valderrama can now look back and be proud and thankful for its accomplishments and at the same time, hopeful for the future.