Miagao

Miagao
Municipality
Municipality of Miagao
Miagao Church
Flag Seal
Nickname:  "Onion Capital of the Visayas"
Map of Iloilo with Miagao highlighted
OpenStreetMap
Miagao Location within the Philippines
Coordinates: 10°38′39″N 122°14′07″E / 10.6442°N 122.2352°E / 10.6442; 122.2352
Country	Philippines
Region	Western Visayas
Province	Iloilo
District	1st district
Barangays	119 (see Barangays)
Government  [1]
• Type	Sangguniang Bayan
• mayor of Miagao[*]	Oscar "Richard" S. Garin Jr.
• Vice Mayor	Macario M. Napulan, MD
• Representative	Janette L. Garin
• Municipal Council	Members Gemma Rei S. Nismal Gemma S. Nulada Jose Angelo P. Molejona Ma. Salve N. Pechayco Serafin F. Monteclaro Luningning S. Tuparan Mario Thomas Nicolas P. Torrecampo Japhet Grace G. Moleta
• Electorate	41,603 voters (2022)
Area [2]
• Total	156.80 km2 (60.54 sq mi)
Elevation	29 m (95 ft)
Highest elevation	1,100 m (3,600 ft)
Lowest elevation	0 m (0 ft)
Population  (2020 census)[3]
• Total	68,115
• Density	430/km2 (1,100/sq mi)
• Households	16,006
Economy
• Income class	1st municipal income class
• Poverty incidence	16.19 % (2021)[4]
• Revenue	₱ 218.5 million (2020)
• Assets	₱ 693 million (2020)
• Expenditure	₱ 165.1 million (2020)
• Liabilities	₱ 191.2 million (2020)
Service provider
• Electricity	Iloilo 1 Electric Cooperative (ILECO 1)
Time zone	UTC+8 (PST)
ZIP code	5023
PSGC	063030000
IDD : area code	+63 (0)33
Native languages	Karay-a Hiligaynon Tagalog
Website	www.miagao.gov.ph

Miagao (also written Miag-ao), officially the Municipality of Miagao (Kinaray-a: Banwa kang Miagao; Hiligaynon: Banwa sang Miagao; Tagalog: Bayan ng Miagao), is a 1st class municipality in the province of Iloilo, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 68,115 people.^[3]

Miagao is considered as the "Onion Capital of the Visayas". The town center of the municipality lies on the western bank of the Tumagbok River, the largest river in the municipality.^[5] The poblacion is made up of eight barangays.^[6]

The town holds their patronal fiesta in honor of St. Thomas of Villanova (more commonly known as Santo Tomas de Villanueva) every September 22 that lasts several days. The town is also the location of one of the Baroque Churches of the Philippines, the Miagao Church, which was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The entire town of Miagao was later inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage City and became a member of the Organization of World Heritage Cities (OWHC).

The name of Miagao has many disputed etymologies. One of the most popular, and probably the most widely accepted version is that the name of the town was derived from a plant named Miagos. Miagos or Osmoxylon lineare is a flowering plant from the family Araliaceae that used to grow abundantly in the area when the Spaniards came. Because of its abundance in the area, the Spaniards named the place Miagos which later became Miagao. Another version, according to Rev. Fr. Lorenzo Torres of Igbaras, is that a native named "Miyagaw" was asked by the Spaniards for the name of the place but gave his name instead.^[7]

A settlement in Damilisan were recorded by Spanish Map early in 1700 with 13,493 people and 2,974 houses.^[8] Miagao gained its independence as a municipality in 1716 .^[9] Prior to that, it used to be a part of an arrabal of four different towns in southern Iloilo. Until 1580, Miagao was an arrabal of Oton. From 1580 until 1652, it was an arrabal of Tigbauan. It was an arrabal of Suaraga (now San Joaquin) from 1652 to 1703 and before becoming independent, it became an arrabal of Guimbal from 1703 to 1716. In 1731, Miagao had its first capitan and teniente mayor (now equivalent to mayor and vice mayor) after an election was held in Guimbal under the supervision of Victorino C. Ma., an authorized representative of the governor.^[7]

Miagao is a coastal town with a hilly to mountainous terrain. Most of the flat areas in the municipality are found either in coasts or along the town's major rivers which include the Naulid, Tumagbok, Oyaoy, Bacauan, Tabunacan, Oyungan, Lanutan, and San Rafael rivers. A mountain range forms a natural boundary between Miagao and the province of Antique to the north.^[10]

The highest point in the municipality is the summit of Mount Tulajon, locally spelled as Tulahong, at 1,100 meters asl located in Barangay Ongyod.^[11]

The municipality has a type I climate based on PAGASA's climate classification chart. The climate of Miagao is greatly affected by north-east and south-west monsoons. The town experiences a pronounced wet season from May to October and a dry season from November to April. The coolest months are the months of December to February while the hottest months are the months of April and May.^[10]

Miagao is politically subdivided into 119 barangays. ^[13] Each barangay consists of puroks and some have sitios.

It has more barangays than any other municipality in the Philippines.^[14] The municipality has 22 coastal barangays and 97 landlocked barangays.

Name	PSG Code[15]	Population (2015)[16]	Population (2020)[3]	±% p.a.
Agdum	063030001	345	400	+3.00%
Aguiauan	063030002	460	481	+0.90%
Alimodias	063030003	764	652	−3.12%
Awang	063030004	156	139	−2.28%
Bacauan	063030006	611	624	+0.42%
Bacolod	063030007	471	515	+1.80%
Bagumbayan	063030008	939	988	+1.02%
Banbanan	063030009	485	419	−2.88%
Banga	063030010	222	224	+0.18%
Bangladan	063030011	348	366	+1.01%
Banuyao	063030012	898	937	+0.85%
Baraclayan	063030013	400	414	+0.69%
Bariri	063030014	133	143	+1.46%
Baybay Norte (Poblacion)	063030015	2932	3013	+0.55%
Baybay Sur (Poblacion)	063030016	998	969	−0.59%
Belen	063030017	191	199	+0.82%
Bolho (Poblacion)	063030018	457	387	−3.27%
Bolocaue	063030019	195	194	−0.10%
Buenavista Norte	063030020	385	413	+1.41%
Buenavista Sur	063030021	291	293	+0.14%
Bugtong Lumangan	063030022	327	350	+1.37%
Bugtong Naulid	063030023	203	197	−0.60%
Cabalaunan	063030024	252	258	+0.47%
Cabangcalan	063030025	137	144	+1.00%
Cabunotan	063030026	306	243	−4.51%
Cadoldolan	063030027	151	113	−5.63%
Cagbang	063030028	310	321	+0.70%
Caitib	063030029	634	564	−2.31%
Calagtangan	063030030	423	481	+2.60%
Calampitao	063030031	798	826	+0.69%
Cavite	063030032	209	203	−0.58%
Cawayanan	063030033	261	285	+1.77%
Cubay	063030034	753	830	+1.97%
Cubay Ubos	063030035	162	158	−0.50%
Dalije	063030036	1809	1627	−2.10%
Damilisan	063030037	1305	1295	−0.15%
Dawog	063030038	826	830	+0.10%
Diday	063030039	760	767	+0.18%
Dingle	063030040	379	427	+2.41%
Durog	063030041	1064	1072	+0.15%
Frantilla	063030042	162	190	+3.24%
Fundacion	063030043	339	316	−1.40%
Gines	063030044	685	752	+1.88%
Guibongan	063030045	977	1089	+2.19%
Igbita	063030046	324	236	−6.14%
Igbugo	063030047	505	523	+0.70%
Igcabidio	063030048	300	322	+1.43%
Igcabito-on	063030050	344	461	+6.03%
Igcatambor	063030051	312	326	+0.88%
Igdalaquit	063030052	205	182	−2.35%
Igdulaca	063030053	706	708	+0.06%
Igpajo	063030054	380	332	−2.66%
Igpandan	063030055	303	317	+0.91%
Igpuro	063030056	468	538	+2.83%
Igpuro-Bariri	063030057	304	314	+0.78%
Igsoligue	063030058	460	452	−0.35%
Igtuba	063030059	1157	1345	+3.06%
Ilog-ilog	063030060	233	175	−5.56%
Indag-an	063030061	694	623	−2.14%
Kirayan Norte	063030062	1727	1834	+1.21%
Kirayan Sur	063030063	1440	1475	+0.48%
Kirayan Tacas	063030064	1087	1376	+4.83%
La Consolacion	063030065	451	471	+0.87%
Lacadon	063030066	682	692	+0.29%
Lanutan	063030067	470	549	+3.16%
Lumangan	063030068	796	792	−0.10%
Mabayan	063030069	213	226	+1.19%
Maduyo	063030070	169	163	−0.72%
Malagyan	063030071	1409	1641	+3.10%
Mambatad	063030072	939	982	+0.90%
Maninila	063030073	1063	1139	+1.39%
Maricolcol	063030074	339	359	+1.15%
Maringyan	063030075	674	558	−3.71%
Mat-y (Poblacion)	063030076	2346	2197	−1.30%
Matalngon	063030077	161	136	−3.32%
Naclub	063030078	647	577	−2.26%
Nam-o Sur	063030079	217	211	−0.56%
Nam-o Norte	063030080	291	307	+1.08%
Narat-an	063030082	591	759	+5.13%
Narorogan	063030083	226	239	+1.12%
Naulid	063030084	800	820	+0.50%
Olango	063030085	335	333	−0.12%
Ongyod	063030086	176	208	+3.40%
Onop	063030087	291	268	−1.63%
Oya-oy	063030005	297	308	+0.73%
Oyungan	063030088	1417	1495	+1.08%
Palaca	063030089	2142	2178	+0.33%
Paro-on	063030090	299	130	−15.34%
Potrido	063030091	403	363	−2.07%
Pudpud	063030092	514	598	+3.07%
Pungtod Monteclaro	063030093	302	320	+1.16%
Pungtod Naulid	063030094	171	161	−1.20%
Sag-on	063030095	390	332	−3.17%
San Fernando	063030096	428	464	+1.63%
San Jose	063030097	466	439	−1.19%
San Rafael	063030098	1303	1204	−1.57%
Sapa (Poblacion)	063030099	822	679	−3.75%
Saring	063030100	416	422	+0.29%
Sibucao	063030101	338	371	+1.88%
Taal	063030102	197	191	−0.62%
Tabunacan	063030103	514	504	−0.39%
Tacas (Poblacion)	063030104	759	747	−0.32%
Tambong	063030105	205	188	−1.72%
Tan-agan	063030106	556	569	+0.46%
Tatoy	063030107	605	647	+1.35%
Ticdalan	063030108	425	312	−5.99%
Tig-amaga	063030109	252	228	−1.98%
Tig-Apog-Apog	063030110	281	257	−1.77%
Tigbagacay	063030111	274	230	−3.44%
Tiglawa	063030112	183	165	−2.05%
Tigmalapad	063030113	528	521	−0.27%
Tigmarabo	063030114	451	505	+2.29%
To-og	063030115	157	134	−3.12%
Tugura-ao	063030116	314	304	−0.65%
Tumagboc	063030117	415	442	+1.27%
Ubos Ilawod (Poblacion)	063030118	1003	800	−4.42%
Ubos Ilaya (Poblacion)	063030119	896	918	+0.49%
Valencia	063030120	465	475	+0.43%
Wayang	063030121	229	240	+0.94%

Population census of Miagao

Year	Pop.	±% p.a.
1903	20,656	—
1918	24,556	+1.16%
1939	30,179	+0.99%
1948	30,143	−0.01%
1960	32,117	+0.53%
1970	37,585	+1.58%
1975	40,603	+1.56%
1980	45,816	+2.44%
1990	51,738	+1.22%
1995	52,276	+0.19%
2000	57,092	+1.91%
2007	60,498	+0.80%
2010	64,545	+2.38%
2015	67,565	+0.87%
2020	68,115	+0.16%
Source: Philippine Statistics Authority[16][17][18][19]

In the 2020 census, the population of Miagao was 68,115 people,^[3] with a density of 430 inhabitants per square kilometre or 1,100 inhabitants per square mile.

Almost all people in Miagao speak Kinaray-a as it is the primary language of the municipality. Hiligaynon is spoken as a second language by many and is especially useful when going to Iloilo City where Hiligaynon is the dominant language.^[20]

The municipality's healthcare services is under the management of the Miagao Municipal Health Office (MHO), headed by its Municipal Health Officer, Rural Health Physicians, Nurses, Midwives, and other allied health workers and staff. The MHO is directly under the administration of the Local Government Unit.

The Municipal Health Office ensures that the delivery of basic services and provisions of adequate facilities relative to health services provided under Section 17 of the Universal Healthcare Law of the Philippines (Population-based Health Services) are effectively implemented.^[21]

The main components of the Municipal Health Office include the following:

• MHO Office including the headquarters of its different health programs
• First-aid Clinic
• Out-patient Clinic
• Birthing Clinic
• Animal Bite Treatment Center
• DOTS Center and COVID-19 Swabbing Center
• The 19 Barangay Health Stations (BHS) spread across the municipality
  • The Main Health Center (MHC) caters to three BHS, namely: MHC-A, MHC-B, and MHC-C

There are also other private medical, dental and veterinary clinics, laboratories, and pharmacies located primarily in the poblacion area.

Poverty incidence of Miagao

5 10 15 20 25 30 2006 28.10 2009 26.06 2012 18.78 2015 20.65 2018 17.43 2021 16.19 Source: Philippine Statistics Authority[22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29]

The municipality of Miagao is a largely agricultural town. Around 52% of the municipal land area is classified as agricultural and around 40% of the total land area is planted.^[10] Rice is the primary crop of the town while corn is considered as a secondary crop.

Miagao is hailed as the "Onion Capital of the Visayas" because it is the largest producer of bulb onion not only in Western Visayas but in the whole Visayas and Mindanao.^[30][31][32] In 2022, 92% of the region's onion production was produced by the municipality of Miagao which targets to further increase production by expanding the plantation area.^[33]

Other crops produced by the municipality include eggplants, peanuts, monggo, tomatoes, root crops, and bamboo.^[34][35]

Miagao is a financial center in southern Iloilo. The town has a total of five banks.

Miagao is strategically located along the Iloilo-Antique road.^[5] Because of this, transportation is not a big problem in the municipality. The town proper is 40 kilometres (25 mi) from Iloilo City and 57 kilometres (35 mi) from San Jose de Buenavista, the capital of Antique.^[36]

Several bus companies operate in Miagao. Buses that ply the Iloilo-Antique, Iloilo-Caticlan via San Jose, and Iloilo-Manila routes pass by the municipality every day. Ceres Liner by Vallacar Transit passes by Miagao almost every 30 minutes on its way to Iloilo from Antique and vice versa.

Manila bound buses also pass by Miagao. Dimple Star Transport, Gasat/Valisno Transport, and Ceres Liner pass by Miagao every morning on their way to Manila. In addition, RM Liner also heads to Manila everyday but passes by Miagao early in the evening.

Jeepneys serve the Miagao-Iloilo City route more frequently than buses. The typical jeepney can contain around 22 to as many as 34 or more passengers. The town is mainly served by Miagao-Iloilo City bound jeepneys but San Joaquin-Iloilo City bound jeepneys also serve the area. These jeepneys generally pass by every 10–20 minutes so catching a jeepney bound for Iloilo City is not a problem. Several mountain barangays of Miagao are also served by jeepneys because smaller modes of transportation aren't usually strong enough to climb steep and unpaved roads. In that case, habal-habal or plain motocycles can also be used.

Jeepneys serving the hinterlands of the municipality include regular routes from the poblacion area to the following barangays:

• Miagao - Tiglawa/Banga via Banbanan/Cavite
• Miagao - San Jose via Banbanan
• Miagao - Tigmarabo via Banbanan/Oya-oy
• Miagao - Tig-amaga/Pudpud via Ticdalan
• Miagao - Tigmalapad/Igbita
• Miagao - Bacolod (barangay)
• Miagao - Dalije via Bacolod
• Miagao - Alimodias via Olango/Bacolod (rainy season) or via Pudpud (dry season)
• Miagao - Tigbagacay/Naclub
• Miagao - Maricolcol/Baraclayan

Tricycles are the most common form transportation in the municipality. These are the Philippines' version of tuk-tuk in other Asian countries. Tricycles are often limited to operate within the municipality but special and private trips to other places are allowed. Miagao has established several tricycle routes in the municipality. Tricycles are color-coded to indicate the route assigned to them. Yellow ones are northbound while blue ones are southbound. Green tricycles are bound to the mountain barangays of the town passing through barangay Mat-y. Tricycles assigned to operate within the town proper are colored red. The following table shows the routes of all tricycles-for-hire within the municipality of Miagao.

From	To	From	To	From	To	From	To
Miagao	Ubos Area	Miagao	Damilisan	Miagao	Tan-agan	Miagao	Naulid
Miagao	Baybay Area	Miagao	Narat-an	Miagao	Banbanan	Miagao	Calampitao
Miagao	Sapa and UPV Area	Miagao	Calagtangan	Miagao	Ticdalan	Miagao	Caitib
Miagao	Malagyan	Miagao	Tugura-ao/Gines Palaca	Miagao	La Consolacion	Miagao	Dawog
Miagao	Bagumbayan	Miagao	Igbugo/Cawayanan			Miagao	Igpuro
		Miagao	Ilog-ilog			Miagao	Guibongan
		Miagao	Igdulaca

As with other municipal/city level political administration in the country, Miagao is governed by popularly elected Mayor, Vice Mayor, and eight Sangguniang Bayan (SB) Members. The current government officials of the municipality are listed below.^[37]

Members of the municipal council (2022-2028):

• Mayor: ENGR. Oscar "Richard" S. Garin Jr.
• Vice Mayor: Macario Napulan, M.D.
• SB Members:
  • Hon. Japhet Grace N. Moleta, RN, MPG
  • Hon. Jun Carlu A. Napulan, MD.
  • Hon. Gemma Rei S. Nismal
  • Hon. Aaron M. Noble
  • Hon. Cezar N. Florece
  • Hon. Mario Thomas Nicolas P. Torrecampo
  • Hon. Ma. Salve N. Pechayco, MD
  • Hon. Richard E. Esposo
• Ex-Officio Member
  • Junjun Galvez (LNB President)

The Miagao Church, or the Church of Santo Tomas de Villanueva, was built in 1786 by Spanish Augustinian missionaries and was declared as part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site "Baroque Churches of the Philippines" in 1993. On the front facade, which is flanked by two watchtower belfries, one can see the unique blending of Spanish and native influences.

The central feature of the bas-relief facade is a large coconut tree which reaches almost to the apex. While an integral part of the Philippine landscape, the coconut tree is also the subject of lore. According to an old Philippine legend, the coconut tree was the only bequest from a loving mother to her two children, a tree which sustained them for life. On the church's facade the coconut tree appears as the "tree of life" to which St. Christopher carrying the Child Jesus on his shoulder is clinging to. The lesser facades feature the daily life of Miagaowanons during the time. Also depicted are other native flora and fauna, as well as native dress.

The church and its watchtowers were also built to defend the town and its people against raids by the Moro people. It therefore has thick walls and, reportedly, secret passages. Indeed, stretching along the Iloilo coast are defensive towers, but none that equal the size of the Miagao. It is because of this defensive purpose that it is sometimes referred to as the Miag-ao Fortress Church.

The primary and secondary education in the municipality of Miagao is under the jurisdiction of the Division of Iloilo under the Department of Education Region 6.^[38] Miagao is subdivided into two school districts namely, Miagao East and Miagao West. The schools under each district as well as private, secondary, and tertiary schools in the municipality are listed below.^[39]

Miagao East elementary schools:

Miagao West elementary schools:

Private primary schools:

• Kaunlaran Learning Center (KLC)^[40]
• Acorn Dale Montessori

Secondary schools:

• Alejandro Firmeza Memorial NHS
• Bacolod NHS
• Kirayan NHS
• Miagao NHS
• Palaca-Damilisan NHS
• San Jose NHS
• San Rafael NHS
• Supt. Arsenio M. Napud Memorial NHS

Private secondary schools:

• Doanne Christian Fellowship Academy
• Kaunlaran Integrated School Foundation INC
• St. Louise de Marillac School of Miagao^[41]

University of the Philippines Visayas

The Miagao campus of the University of the Philippines Visayas (UPV) spreads out over 12 km² on the outskirts of the town proper. This is the main campus of UPV which is composed of the UPV Tacloban College (UPVTC) in Tacloban City, UPV College of Management (CM) in Iloilo City, UPV High School in Iloilo (UPVHSI) in Iloilo City, UPV College of Arts and Sciences (CAS), UPV School of Technology (SoTech), and the flagship college of this campus, the UPV College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences (CFOS) which focuses on marine science, aquaculture, fish processing, natural products development, and post-harvest/food science. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Thailand and Cambodia sent exchange students to the school to study fish and rice production, and after graduating returned home where they began out-producing and out-exporting the Philippines in these commodities.

Iloilo Science and Technology University - Miagao Campus

The Iloilo Science and Technology University - Miagao Campus (formerly Southern Iloilo Polytechnic College) is one of the tertiary institutions in the municipality. The college started as Miagao Regional High School in 1945 and became the Miagao Vocational School in 1958. In 1984, Miagao Vocational School was converted to Southern Iloilo Polytechnic College (SIPC) to meet the demands of the changing times and for expansion purposes. SIPC was then integrated to Western Visayas College of Science and Technology (now Iloilo Science and Technology University) on November 24, 2000, by virtue of the Republic Act(RA) No. 7722, otherwise known as the “Higher Education Act of 1994 and RA No. 8292". Currently, the school offers courses in the fields of electronics and technology, hospitality, and primary and secondary education.^[42]

• DYUP-FM 102.7
• DYUP-AM 873
• Hot-FM Miag-ao
• Falconite – FM/AM Miagao

• Baroque Churches of the Philippines
• Organization of World Heritage Cities

• Official website
• Philippine Standard Geographic Code
• Local Governance Performance Management System
• Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Miagao" . Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.