Tarangnan is a 5th class municipality in the province of Samar, 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...

. According to the 2000 census, it has a population of 20,538 people and 4,020 households.

History

During the earlier part of the 18th century, Tarangnan was the first settlement of Jesuit missionaries on the island of Samar. Moro raids began as early as 1750, before the expulsion of the Jesuits. Samar though was not their major target, because of its poverty. Moros often attacked most of its coastal settlements as they returned to their bases in Mindanao and Sulu, after raiding affluent places in Luzon, Bicol and West Visayas. Hence, for greater safety, the people settling in Tinago, now Tarangnan, moved to an interior site called Dapdap.

In the second half of the nineteenth century, the island of Samar experienced a commercial boom, especially in abaca, with imports and exports of abaca products. Moro raids in the island declined due to the presence of Spaniards. As the Spaniards settled in Samar, they saw the need of all-weather seaports and easy communications for their commercial activities and political administration. This development paved the way for the convergence of the inhabitants into the old town site of Tarangnan, where transport was relatively accessible. The settlement of Tarangnan was growing at a much faster pace than the pueblo of Dapdap.

Taking into consideration the island's commercial boom, with prospects of Tarangnan as a trading center and its religious vigilance over Dapdap, on June 21, 1881, Gov. Enrique Chacon wrote to his superiors. He recommended the transfer of the Poblacion from Dapdap to Tarangnan due to the former's poor accessibility, unavailability of land area for expansion, and its unsanitary environment.

On April 1, 1884, Tarangnan was declared as one of the municipalities of the Province of Samar by means of Royal Decree by the King of Spain, King Alfonso I.

In 1957, the following sitios were declared barrios: Cabunga-an, Tigdaranao, and Binalayan.

The Municipality of Tarangnan has forty-one (41) duly constituted barangays with a total land area of approximately 10,417.1435 hectares. It has a population of 18,791 based on the 1995 NSO data. The Municipality is geographically situated in the west portion of the island of Samar, bounded on the east by the municipality of Pagsanghan, in the south by the capital city of Catbalogan and on the west by the Samar Sea or Maqueda Bay. Tarangnan is accessible by either land or sea. The distance of the poblacion from the capital city of Catbalogan is about 36 km and 59.75 km away from Calbayog City. It can be reached through an 11-km road from the Maharlika highway crossing Brgy. Balugo by a provincial road. A 5th class municipality belonging to the 1st Congressional District of the Samar province, Tarangnan has its own municipal hospital which was inaugurated in 1982. It has a 10-bed capacity. It caters primarily to health services. It is augmented by Rural Health Unit extension workers. It has daycare centers which also cater the needs of pre-schoolers.

Some years back, Tarangnan was estimated to have a low literacy rate. But, with the opening of primary education in some barangays and expansion of secondary education (Tarangnan National High School) in Brgy. Oeste, its literacy rose dramatically to 89.95%, as recorded in the NSO 1995 survey. The Municipality's energization/electrification program is being undertaken by Samar Electric Cooperative (SAMELCO I) based in Calbayog City. Presently, around 21 barangays or 52% of the total number of barangay are fully electrified. Others without such facilities are using power-generator sets to provide electricity to their constituents. The Water Supply is predominantly on Level I and II, and its sources are believed to be potable. Coping along with the reforestation program of the government, the municipality has already started its reforestation activities. It is still focusing on achieving its target of 30% reforested area by the year 2005. Along with implementation of the Fishery Laws and PD 701, Fish Sanctuaries and Marine Reserve Area were installed along the shorelines of some island barangays along the Cambatutay Bay. These were substantial measures to protect the marine resources. Most of these projects were initiated by the WESAMAR (an EU-GOP Funded project by the Department of Agriculture) together with the Community-Based Organizations.

Barangays

Tarangnan is politically subdivided into 41 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.

Alcazar Awang Bahay Balonga-as Balugo Bangon Gote Baras Binalayan Bisitahan Bonga Cabunga-an Cagtutulo Cambatutay Nuevo Cambatutay Viejo

Canunghan Catan-agan Dapdap Gallego Imelda Pob. (Posgo) Lucerdoni (Irong-irong) Lahong Libucan Dacu Libucan Gote Majacob Mancares Marabut Oeste - A Oeste - B

Pajo Palencia Poblacion A Poblacion B Poblacion C Poblacion D Poblacion E San Vicente Santa Cruz Sugod Talinga Tigdaranao Tizon

External links

• Philippine Standard Geographic Code