Catarman, Northern Samar
Encyclopedia
Catarman is a first class Municipality
Municipality
A municipality is essentially an urban administrative division having corporate status and usually powers of self-government. It can also be used to mean the governing body of a municipality. A municipality is a general-purpose administrative subdivision, as opposed to a special-purpose district...

 in the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...

. It is the capital and largest town in terms of both land area and population in the province of Northern Samar
Northern Samar
Northern Samar is a province of the Philippines located in the Eastern Visayas region. Its capital is Catarman and is located at the northern portion of the island of Samar. Bordering the province to the south are the provinces of Samar and Eastern Samar...

. According to the 2007 census, it has a population of 81,067 making it the most populous municipality (and more than the cities of Borongan and Maasin) in Eastern Visayas
Eastern Visayas
Eastern Visayas is one of the two regions of the Philippines having no land border with another region, MIMAROPA being the other, and is designated as Region VIII...

. It is the commercial, educational, financial, political, socio-cultural and government center of the province. It lies on the northern part of Samar Island
Samar Island
Samar is an island in the Visayas, within the central Philippines. The island is divided into three provinces: Samar province, Northern Samar, and Eastern Samar. These three provinces, along with the provinces on the nearby islands of Leyte and Biliran are part of the Eastern Visayas region...

 and southeast of the Philippine capital, Manila
Manila
Manila is the capital of the Philippines. It is one of the sixteen cities forming Metro Manila.Manila is located on the eastern shores of Manila Bay and is bordered by Navotas and Caloocan to the north, Quezon City to the northeast, San Juan and Mandaluyong to the east, Makati on the southeast,...

. It is bounded to the east by Mondragon
Mondragon
-Places:* Mondragon, Vaucluse, a town and commune in France.* Mondragon, Northern Samar, a municipality in the Philippines.* Mondragón/Arrasate, a town and municipality in the Basque region of Spain, famous for its cooperative movement....

, to the west by Bobon
Bobon, Northern Samar
Bobon is a 5th class municipality in the province of Northern Samar, Philippines. According to the 2000 census, it has a population of 16,851 people in 3,213 households...

, to the south by Lope de Vega
Lope de Vega, Northern Samar
Lope De Vega is a 3rd class municipality in the province of Northern Samar, Philippines. According to the 2000 census, it has a population of 11,754 people in 2,114 households...

, and to the north by the San Bernardino Strait. At present, there are 55 barangays, 22 of them in the poblacion
Poblacion
A Poblacion or Población, literally "town" or "Population" in Spanish, is the name commonly used for the central barangay or barangays of a Philippine city or municipality. Common features of the poblacion include a town plaza, church, market, school and town hall. It is sometimes shortened to...

. It is in the process of renewing its image as a poor and underdeveloped town in the 1980s.

History

Before the coming of the Spaniards, Catarman was called Ibabao and was part of the extensive Maguindanao
Maguindanao
Maguindanao is a province of the Philippines located in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao . Its capital is Shariff Aguak. It borders Lanao del Sur to the north, Cotabato to the east, and Sultan Kudarat to the south....

 Kingdom, which extended from Mindanao
Mindanao
Mindanao is the second largest and easternmost island in the Philippines. It is also the name of one of the three island groups in the country, which consists of the island of Mindanao and smaller surrounding islands. The other two are Luzon and the Visayas. The island of Mindanao is called The...

 to Bicol
Bicol
Bikol or Bicol may refer to:*Bicol Region, the administrative region in the Philippines*Bikol languages, the languages spoken in the Bicol region*Bikol language, the standard language*Bicolano people, the ethnic group...

. Ibabao extended from the southernmost tip of Samar Island to the territories close to Bobon in the northernmost part of the island. The Spanish Conquistadores freely applied the name Ibabao to the island when it established its civil government. The similarities in the vocabularies and pronunciation of the dialects of these areas traces them to a common root as a people. The word Catarman is derived from the Turkish word attar (oil of the roses) and inman (holy men).

The town was one of the 13 pueblos established by the Spaniards in Samar Island and was one of the settlements in the northern parts of the island. The pueblo was named Calatman and was one of the pueblos in the Samar and Leyte islands, then collectively referred to as Islas de Pintados.

Topography

The municipality is skirt-shaped. On the Pacific coast are flat lowlands with the interior characterized by outlying low hills. Mt. Puyao in Barangay Liberty is the highest peak in the area. The Catarman River, a major provincial river, divides the eastern and the western parts of the town. It is fed by the Paticua, Hibulwangan, Mahangna, Tura, and Danao creeks together with lesser prominent estuaries.

Barangays

The Municipality of Catarman is politically subdivided into 55 barangay
Barangay
A barangay is the smallest administrative division in the Philippines and is the native Filipino term for a village, district or ward...

s.


  • Acacia
  • Airport Village
  • Bangkerohan
  • Baybay
  • Calachuchi
  • Casoy
  • Cawayan
  • Dalakit
  • Ipil-ipil
  • Jose Abad Santos
  • Jose P. Rizal
  • Lapu-lapu
  • Mabolo
  • Molave
  • Narra
  • Sampaguita
  • Santol
  • Talisay
  • Yakal
  • UEP
    UEP
    UEP may refer to:* Unique-event polymorphism, a class of genetic markers used to define haplogroups* United Egg Producers, an agricultural cooperative in the Midwestern United States which represents the interests of regional egg producers...

     Zone I
  • UEP
    UEP
    UEP may refer to:* Unique-event polymorphism, a class of genetic markers used to define haplogroups* United Egg Producers, an agricultural cooperative in the Midwestern United States which represents the interests of regional egg producers...

     Zone II
  • UEP
    UEP
    UEP may refer to:* Unique-event polymorphism, a class of genetic markers used to define haplogroups* United Egg Producers, an agricultural cooperative in the Midwestern United States which represents the interests of regional egg producers...

     Zone III

  • Aguinaldo
  • Bocsol
  • Cabayhan
  • Cag-abaca
  • Cal-igang
  • Cervantes
  • Cularima
  • Daganas
  • Doña Pulqueria
  • Galutan
  • Gebalagnan
  • Gebulwangan
  • Guba
  • Hinatad
  • Imelda
  • Liberty
  • Libjo
  • Mabini
  • Macagtas
  • Malvar
  • McKinley
  • New Rizal

  • Old Rizal
  • Paticua
  • Polangi
  • Quezon
  • Salvacion
  • San Julian
  • San Pascual
  • Somoge
  • Tinowaran
  • Trangue
  • Washington



Transportation

There are three airline companies operating through the Catarman National Airport coming from and going to Manila. They are Cebu Pacific, Zest Airways and AirPhil Express. An average of 2 to 3 flights daily. Pedicabs, commonly known as "padyak" and tricycles are the main means of transportation within the town, while multicabs and jeepneys are the main means of transportation to neighboring and distant towns within the province. Several bus companies are also operating from the town going to Manila or to Tacloban City and vice-versa.

Education

Catarman is home to the University of Eastern Philippines
University of Eastern Philippines
The University of Eastern Philippines is a public university in the Philippines. The University is the only comprehensive state university in Eastern Visayas, offering the largest number of programs in undergraduate, graduate, and postgraduate education among the universities in the region...

, the largest university
University
A university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects. A university is an organisation that provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education...

 by size and curriculum in the Eastern Visayas
Eastern Visayas
Eastern Visayas is one of the two regions of the Philippines having no land border with another region, MIMAROPA being the other, and is designated as Region VIII...

 region. The University has satellite campuses in the province, one in Laoang and the other in Catubig (officially known the Pedro Rebadulla Memorial Campus), and has several extension programs offered across satellite campuses in the region.

Other public and private schools:


  • Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA)
  • Colegio de San Lorenzo Ruiz de Manila
  • Northern Samar Colleges
  • Eastern Visayas Central Colleges
  • Gobal School for Technological Studies
  • East Pacific Computer Colleges
  • University of Eastern Philippines Laboratory High School
  • Saint Michael Academy
  • Catarman National High School
  • Several other public and private secondary, elementary, primary schools.

Health


  • Northern Samar Provincial Hospital
  • Municipal Health Center
  • Uy Memorial Medical Hospital
  • Our Lady of Peace Medical Clinc
  • Catarman Doctors Hospital
  • Bluver's Medical Clinic
  • Catarman Polyclinic and Diagnostic Center
  • Catarman Children's Medical Clinic
  • Our Lady of La Leche Clinic
  • Suremed Diagnostic and Specialty Clinic
  • Oserraos Pediatric Clinic
  • Lyonnaise Pharmacy and Polyclinic
  • Divine Rays Diagnostic and Medical Supplies
  • Novaks Diagnostic and Specialist Clinic

Banking and Finance


  • Land Bank of the Philippines
  • Philippine National Bank
  • Development Bank of the Philippines
  • Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation
  • Metrobank
  • Chinabank
  • Security Bank
  • Veterans Bank
  • City Savings Bank
  • Greenbank
  • Northern Samar Development Workers Credit Cooperative
  • Northern Samar Coalition Against Poverty Foundation

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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