Virac is a 1st class municipality in the province of Catanduanes, Philippines. It is the third largest town and the capital municipality of Catanduanes. It has a land area of 188 km². According to the 2007 census, it has a population of 64,554.
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Geography
Almost half of the area is rugged and mountainous, with topography interspersed by hills and plains dotted by marshy land and rocky jutting cliffs and crags.
The town is bounded on the east and south by the Pacific Ocean, on the north by high and green mountain ranges of San Miguel, and on the west by the gently rolling terrain and breast-shaped hills of San Andres.
Virac is criss-crossed by macadam, asphalt and concrete roads. It has a deep harbor and an airport. Transportation is catered by sea and air carriers. Inland transportation is by jeepneys and tricycles.
Catholicism is a deeply rooted institution in this town with 98% of the people embracing the faith. A cathedral had been superimposed over the old parish church. Virac is the seat of an independent diocese of Catanduanes with Bishop Manolo Delos Santos, D.D., at the helm. The town was once a vicarship of Caceres and later, the diocese of Legazpi. The patron of the town is the Immaculate Concepcion whose feast day falls on December 8.
Barangays
Virac is politically subdivided into 63 barangays.
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History
Civilization first graced the island province of Catanduanes sometime during the thirteenth century, with the arrival of the scions of ten Bornean datus who were then traversing through the islets of the Philippine Archipelago. By the middle of the fourteenth century, organized communities could be seen throughout Catanduanes – a consequence of the rapid development of Southeastern Luzon initiated by the Malay settlers.
Virac, the capital town of the island province of Catanduanes, started its primitive annals in pre-Spanish times when tribal chieftain Lumibao, scion of Datu Dumaguil who came to the Philippines with the 10 Bornean datus and his wife Milbigan settled near Vidak spring and founded the first civilized settlement with a score of servant followers and their wives. Some say Virac is a derivation of the word “Vidak” while others claim it is a contraction of the Spanish version of the word burac, meaning flower.
It was the Spanish Conquistadores Juan de Salcedo who first brought Spanish galleons to the waters of Catanduanes in 1573. His purpose then was to capture and punish pirates who carried on their nefarious trade in Camarines Sur, Sorsogon and Western Catanduanes. His galleon returned a few weeks later – this time, his mission was to spread the Catholic faith.
While at bay, the port guard saw smoke rising from the mountain Eli. After dropping anchor, the Spaniards tracked down footprints from the shore which reached a sitio called Vidak. They eventually came upon a large kaingin in Timbean, situated between the barrios of Danicop and Calatagan.
The chieftain of the village had his hut built a little above a spring which still exists today. There was a reception hall conveniently shaded by a tree known as sambong. This tree eventually served as the guidon to the couple’s place.
It is said that the Spaniards could not approach the hut of the chieftain because of three huge fierce-looking dogs and several guards who had their spears drawn toward the foreigners. However, the Spaniards determined to succeed in their mission, returned the threatening acts of the natives with gesture of friendship.
A piece of “onchita” was offered to the chieftain as a gift; but this was rejected by the chieftain when his wife said “we have many pieces of gold in our kingdom”. A silver piece was next offered, but this was similarly rejected by the chieftain and his wife.
Reaching for some refined sugar, the Spaniards let the natives taste the sweetness of the substance. The chieftain’s wife like the taste. Thus begun the “sweet” relation between the natives and the Spaniards.
The priest then began his quest for more information about the natives. Pointing to a tree, he asked what it was called. The natives replied “burac”. Thereupon, the priest made his first notation on his book of information “burac”.
Soon after the first encounters, the Spaniards started giving the natives provisions not found in the chieftain’s hut, such as more sugar and clothing. After the seed of friendship had taken roots, the Spaniards began spreading their message of Christianity. Lumibao was baptized as Jose and Milbigan as Maria. Their son who lived at the bank of Macacao was converted into Christianity with the name of Mariano.
It is unfortunate that records regarding the Christianization of Virac were lost due to vandalism of Moros. The history of this capital town began to be accurately recorded only from the year 1755.
MOR Raids
Catanduanes was not spared from the adventurous and plunderous raids of the Moros from Mindanao. But knowing the strength of the coastal batteries of the Virac harbor, the vintas divided into groups and landed at various places or points farther from the range of the coastal batteries. Some landed at Cadaculaan and others way out to points east and west of Virac.
Don Matias Soliman, a famous Moro fighter , engaged in battle and killed a Moro Datu, named Mohammed Abu after a bloody encounter in sitio Hopog of Barrio Sto. Domingo, Virac. He was aided by the swift-handed and hoarse voiced Don Alipio Alejandro alias Paas.
The non-Christian invaders were superior in arms and number until Don Alipio with an exotic force turned the tide. The Moros could not move further, hence they retreated in defeat.
On the eastern end of Virac, the Moros succeeded in gaining a beach-head in catanduanes and from there attacked the town from the east. The Cabeza de Barangay of Francia, Don Pedro Tolentino, alias Pantino, lost no time in giving their all against the enemy. This was the first time the people of Virac first totally and successfully resisted an organized invasion.
American Occupation
A few months after Emilio Aguinaldo took his oath of allegiance to America, a battleship dropped anchor in Virac. The American soldiers were on a mission to expedite the surrender of the local insurrectos. Not eager to relinquish their hard-fought freedom, the Katipuneros refused to recognize the sovereignty of the United States and fled to the mountains.
In the later part of 1898, when Don Leon Reyes was the incumbent Captain Municipal of Virac, the revolutionary troops who refused American Administration came down from the mountains to rally for the common cause. Don Leon Reyes readily welcomed the revolutionists and financed their cause in fighting the Americans. This state of affairs was tactfully handled by the Capitan who spent almost all of his fortunes for the cause. For his patriotic zeal, he was manacled, chained and sentenced to hard labor by the Americans in 1901.
The American occupation ended in 1934. This was followed by the Commonwealth Government.
Japanese Invasion
Catanduanes was not spared by the forces of the Kamakura Regiment. Airborne planes were cited at the southern portion of Virac in the morning of December 12, 1941, while vessels dropped anchor near Nagngangang Buaya Point, Cabugao Bay. At 9:30 in the morning of said day, towns were totally evacuated. Bombs were soon strategically dropped.
Later, garrisons were established. The municipal building was used as a garrison. No school was regularly opened until after the liberation in 1945 by the Philippine Commonwealth troops entered Virac. Guerilla organizations came and went.
The Liberation of Catanduanes took place at what is now the municipal building and Virac Parish Church area. On February 8, 1945, the battle started at km. 4 at Calatagan at about 12 noon and ended with the Filipino soldiers and recognized guerrillas taking full control of the Japanese barracks.
On April 20, 1945, Florencio Tacorda, the only three-termer Municipal President, some two and a half decades before the war, was designated mayor of Virac. He served for six months and twenty-five days during the Philippine Civil Affairs Unit regime.
Development
The growth of Virac in terms of governance peaked in 1972. From the original 34 barangays in 1960, Virac was able to establish 29 new communities to upgrade the present composition of 63 barangays.
The municipality of Virac is situated at about 13.6 degrees North Latitude and 124.3 degrees Longitude and occupies the southern tip of the island province. It has a total land area of 18,778.4 hectares. Of its total, 9,359.15 hectares or 49.84% is forestland while 9,419.25 hectares are classified as alienable and disposable. Virac has a type A climate with an average precipitation of between 2,500-3,000 mm/annually.
Virac is a third class municipality with a population of 42,300 distributed among 63 barangays. It has an area of 18,248.8 hectares or roughly the equivalent of 12 percent of the total land area of the province. Almost half of the area is rugged, mountainous, with a difficult topography interspersed by hills and plains and dotted by marshy land and rocky jutting cliffs and crags.
The municipality of Virac is a stormed-tossed town bounded on the east and south by the vast Pacific Ocean, on the north by high and green mountain ranges of Bato and San Miguel, and on the west by the gently rolling terrain and breast-shaped hills of San Andres.
Its economy is sustained primarily by agriculture, the farming of rice, corn, root crops, banana and other root crops. The production of copra and abaca also provide additional income for the people. Its annual income in 1979 was a little more than P980,000.00 and the projected income for 19980 is more than a million pesos. Fishing is also an essential industry, together with mining and lumber. Lately, some home industries have been established while other sources of income are business and employment from the government and private sectors.
Virac is crisscrossed by macadam, asphalt and concrete roads. It has a deep harbor and airport. Transportation needs are efficiently catered to by air and sea carriers and steamships berth in its pier regularly at least once a week. Land transportation is by fleets of buses, jeepneys and tricycles.
If churches and chapels are makers of people’s devotion to religion, the Viracnons are truly religious and pious people. A cathedral has been super-imposed over the old parish church and all barangays have their own chapels where they meet to worship and socialize. Catholicism is a deeply rooted institution with 98 percent of the people professing the faith.
Now an independent island diocese with Bishop Manolo Delo Santos at the helm, Virac was once a vicarship of the Diocese of Caceres and thereafter the Diocese of Legaspi. The revered patron saint is the Blessed Virgin Mary of the Immaculate Concepcion, whose feast day falls on December 8.
Virac has been singularly blessed with luck and circumstance. It is rich in material and natural resources like forest and mineral deposits. It has vast timberlands in its reserves and minerals like coal, copper, manganese, phosphate and cement can be tapped for future commercial use. But its real wealth lies in its human resources, for its people are the most literate this side of the country. Besides abaca and copra, the most vital export is human talent and technology.
Virac is also an untapped tourist Mecca. Its eastern and southern beaches are laced by immaculate white beaches and glittering shorelines and lovely quays, its interior is cooled by numerous coconut trees and tree groves and watered by rivers and innumerable creeks, brooks and streams. It has also its own share of springs and cascading waterfalls that can gladden the hearth of any tourist. Virac sunrise and sunset can be just as colorful and hearth stirring as their counterparts all over the country.
The Provincial Capitol building is an edifice that is the pride of Bicolandia and can also be considered as an alternative tourist destination in Virac proper because of its admirable landscape, mini-forest, orchidarium, plaza and spacious playground. The Eastern Bicol Medical Center with modern facilities and equipment, the Catanduanes State Colleges which caters to the educational needs of the province; the all concrete Police Barracks and officers quarters; a million-peso modern supermarket, the expensive Emelda Boulevard, a replica of Roxas Boulevard of Manila; the Virac Athletic complex, considered to be one of the best in the whole country; The Virac Youth Center, the Juan M. Alberto Memorial Building and Theatre promoting the image of Catandunganon’s art and culture; the state-of-the-art communication technologies that enabled to connect the remotest barangay to the whole world.
Behind all these accomplishments can be seen the guiding inspirations of the past political leaders – whose over-all consideration is making Virac and the province of Catanduanes a great and a more progressive town and province.
2007 Election Results
| POSITION | CANDIDATE | TOTAL VOTES |
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| Mayor | Santos M.D. V. Zafe |
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| Vice-Mayor | Roy V. Laynes |
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| Councilors | Rafael C. Zuniega |
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| Giovanni A. Balmadrid |
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| Rosie P. Olarte |
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| Lemuel P. Surtida |
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| Alipio B. Abundo |
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| Marcelino M. Sorra |
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| Eulogio M. Talaran Jr. |
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| Delia S. Bagadiong |
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Transportation
External links
- Official website of Virac
- Philippine Standard Geographic Code listing for Virac
- 2007 Philippine Census Information
- 2007 Local Elections
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