Loreto is a municipality in the province of Dinagat Islands, 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...

. As of the 2007 census, it had a population of 9,030.

The town became a part of the province of Dinagat Islands in December 2006, when the province was created from Surigao del Norte

Surigao del Norte

Surigao del Norte is a province of the Philippines located in the Caraga region in Mindanao. Its capital is Surigao City. The province consists of two major islands—Siargao Island and Bucas Grande Island—in the Philippine Sea, and a small region at the northernmost tip of the island of...

 by Republic Act No. 9355. However, in February 2010, the Supreme Court ruled that the law was unconstitutional, as the necessary requirements for provincial land area and population were not met. The town reverted back to Surigao del Norte. On March 30, 2011, however, the Supreme Court reversed its ruling from the previous year, and upheld the constitutionality of RA 9355 and the creation of Dinagat Islands as a province.

History

In the northern side of the mainland of Surigao del Norte lies Dinagat Island which was dubbed by General Douglas MacArthur

Douglas MacArthur

General of the Army Douglas MacArthur was an American general and field marshal of the Philippine Army. He was a Chief of Staff of the United States Army during the 1930s and played a prominent role in the Pacific theater during World War II. He received the Medal of Honor for his service in the...

as one of the "three sentinel islands guarding the Central Philippines from the enemies in the Pacific". Loreto is one of the seven municipalities established in this island. It is endowed with rich mineral resources like aluminous laterite ore, chromite

Chromite

Chromite is an iron chromium oxide: FeCr2O4. It is an oxide mineral belonging to the spinel group. Magnesium can substitute for iron in variable amounts as it forms a solid solution with magnesiochromite ; substitution of aluminium occurs leading to hercynite .-Occurrence:Chromite is found in...

, gold

Gold

Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...

, niceliferous laterite

Nickel

Nickel is a chemical element with the chemical symbol Ni and atomic number 28. It is a silvery-white lustrous metal with a slight golden tinge. Nickel belongs to the transition metals and is hard and ductile...

, sand

Sand

Sand is a naturally occurring granular material composed of finely divided rock and mineral particles.The composition of sand is highly variable, depending on the local rock sources and conditions, but the most common constituent of sand in inland continental settings and non-tropical coastal...

 and gravel

Gravel

Gravel is composed of unconsolidated rock fragments that have a general particle size range and include size classes from granule- to boulder-sized fragments. Gravel can be sub-categorized into granule and cobble...

, guano

Guano

Guano is the excrement of seabirds, cave dwelling bats, and seals. Guano manure is an effective fertilizer due to its high levels of phosphorus and nitrogen and also its lack of odor. It was an important source of nitrates for gunpowder...

, rock phosphate, limestone

Limestone

Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....

, and siliceous sand. It is also considered as an excellent fishing ground.'

Barangays

Loreto is politically subdivided into 10 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. In 1956, the sitio of Roxas was converted into a barrio.

• Carmen (Pob.)
• Esperanza
• Ferdinand
• Helen
• Liberty
• Magsaysay
• Panamaon
• San Juan (Pob.)
• Santa Cruz (Pob.)
• Santiago (Pob.)

External links

• Philippine Standard Geographic Code