Hinunangan, Southern Leyte

The Municipality of Hinunangan Lungsod sa Hinunangan
Seal
Nickname(s): Rice Granary of the Province
Map of Southern Leyte showing the location of Hinunangan.
Country	Philippines
Region	Eastern Visayas (Region VIII)
Province	Southern Leyte
Districts	Legislative district of Southern Leyte
Barangays	40 Barangays
Government
- Mayor	Romeo M. Gomez
- Vice Mayor	Esterlita C. Demiao
Area
- Total	155.9 km2 (60.2 sq mi)
Population (2007)
- Total	27,712
- Density	177.75/km2 (460.4/sq mi)
Time zone	PST (UTC+8)
ZIP code	6608
Area code(s)	53

Hinunangan is a 4th class municipality in the province of Southern Leyte, Philippines. According to the 2007 census, it has a population of 27,712 a 0.90% growth compared to the 2000 census.^[1]

Hinunangan is known as the "Rice Granary of the Province" for its vast plain land that is entirely planted with rice. Hinunangan, one of the key towns of the province, has great potential for tourism because of its beautiful sand beaches and islands. The town is a producer of rattan and wood-based furnitures, abaca handicrafts items, pineapple, vegetables, other forest products, and bamboo furnitures. It has a potential for mineral water and root crops processing and copper mining.^[2]

The highest mountain in the province is Mount Nacolod can also be found in Hinunangan with an elevation of 948 meters above sea level.^[3]

History

In 1521, Magellan recorded sighting Hinughan (Hinunangan) during the voyage in Leyte Gulf. As far back in 1750 Hinunangan was a mid-way station of Boholanos trading in Eastern Leyte. They rested overnight at the mouth of Das-ay River where they moored their boats. A shelter was built for the crews and tenders known as "hononganan" or stopover. Thus the name.

In 1822, a certain Boholano named Palonoy founded Hinunangan. At this time Silago of the North and Hinundayan and Anahawan on the South were part of Hinunangan.

In 1521 Ferdinand Magellan recorded Hiunanghan (Hinunangan) that was sighted during the voyage into Leyte Gulf, from Homonhon. It was the first place the expedition directed its course to Leyte Island. Again, in 1944, in the greatest naval battle in history the blocking warship of the Liberation waylaid the Japanese Fleet near Hinunangan. Thus, the area in Southern Leyte is the natural frontier of historically significant events in Philippine History.

Barangays

View of Hinunangan Bay from Poblacion

Hinunangan is also known as a major getway in Leyte because of its near proximity to Tacloban City. The opening of Abuyog - Silago Road cuts travel time to more than 50 percent, from the previous 6 hours (Tacloban - Hinunangan Route) to less than 3 hours. It is also the place in Southern Leyte with the most immigrants from Europe and North America. It has a lot of touristic places, as Tahusan, Talisay or the twin islands (known as Cabugan Grande and Cabugan Chico as Pigafetta stated in his account during their travel with Magellan) and lot of natures. It is also a place far from cities but it is one the first in the province where mobile technology was put in. There are also hotels, inns, a public market and beach resorts. Hinunangan has seen a significant progress, in terms of infrastructure, economy, productivity and improving standards of living

Hinunangan is politically subdivided into 40 barangays. Two of which barangays is a twin island located at the east of the town. The twin islands are accessible by motorized boats thru Brgy. Canipa-an.

San Pablo and San Pedro Islands off the coast of Hinunangn. The town's major tourist attraction.

Education

Elementary schools

• Hinunangan East Central School - Rizal St. Poblacion, Hinunangan
• Hinunangan West Central School - Catmonan St. Labrador, Hinunangan
• Canipaan Elementary School - Canipaan, Hinunangan
• Almost all barangay has Elementary / Primary Schools

High schools

• Holy Rosary Academy (private school run by the Catholic Church) - Arellano St. Poblacion, Hinunangan
• Hinunangan National High School (formerly HAVS also SLIAT) - SLSU Campus, Ambacon, Hinunangan
• Canipaan National High School - Canipaan, Hinunangan
• Nava National High School - Nava, Hinunangan

Universities

• Southern Leyte State University (SLSU)- Hinunangan Campus (formerly Southern Leyte Institute of Agriculture and Technology (SLIAT))
  • Course Offered:
    • BS in Agricultural Entrepreneurship
    • BS Education
    • Bachelor of Agricultural Technology
    • Associate in Agricultural Technology
    • Associate in Information Technology

Communication

Mobile

• Serviced by Smart Communications (Since 2002)
• Serviced by Globe Telecom (Since 2004)

Cable Television

• Fiesta Cable TV

Internet

• Wireless Internet through SMART Network

Recent development

On July 19, 2007, a strong earthquake hit the town with magnitude 6 on Richter scale and damaged some properties. The partial assessment report of Hinunangan dated July 20, a copy of which was obtained by PIA through Gov. Mercado, placed the estimated cost of damage to properties at P1,650,000.00 broken down as P790,000 for government infrastructure and P860,000 from private infrastructure.

Among the public properties destroyed were the water system - P 500,000; Das-ay Bridge railguard - P100,000; East Central School Concrete Fence - P80,000; Otama Elementary School - P50,000; Patong Elementary School - P40,000; and Tahusan Elementary School—P20,000.

The private infrastructure damaged included the Roman Catholic Bell tower - P100,000; Water tank of the Catholic convent - P40,000; Manalog barangay Chapel - P20,000; Sto. Nino barangay Chapel - P10,000; a number of houses - P400,000, and various appliances, P290,000.

Notes

External links

• Tourist Office Official Site
• See the Beauty of Hinunangan
• Hinunangan 'The Fearless eCommunity-eStambayan'
• Philippine Standard Geographic Code
• 2000 Philippine Census Information
• Holy Rosary Academy Batch 2003
• Holy Rosary Academy Batch 1974
• Southern Leyte State University - Hinunangan Campus

Coordinates: 10°24′N 125°12′E / 10.4°N 125.2°E / 10.4; 125.2