Hinunangan, Southern Leyte

Hinunangan
Municipality
Seal
Nickname(s): Rice Granary of the Province
Map of Southern Leyte showing the location of Hinunangan
Hinunangan Location within the Philippines
Coordinates: 10°24′N 125°12′E / 10.400°N 125.200°E / 10.400; 125.200Coordinates: 10°24′N 125°12′E / 10.400°N 125.200°E / 10.400; 125.200
Country	Philippines
Region	Eastern Visayas (Region VIII)
Province	Southern Leyte
Congr. district	Lone district of S. Leyte
Barangays	40
Government
• Mayor	Sonny Fernandez
• Vice Mayor	Florentino Fernandez Jr.
Area[1]
• Total	170.58 km2 (65.86 sq mi)
Population (2010)[2]
• Total	29,976
• Density	180/km2 (460/sq mi)
Time zone	PST (UTC+8)
ZIP code	6608
Dialing code	53

Hinunangan is a 3rd class municipality in the province of Southern Leyte, Philippines. According to the 2015 census, it has a population of 29,976 a 5.21% growth compared to the 2010 census.^[3]

Hinunangan is known as the "Rice Granary of the Province" for its vast plain land that is entirely planted with rice. Hinunangan has great potential for tourism because of its beautiful sand beaches and islands. The town is also 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.^[4]

Hinunangan is also known as a major gateway in Leyte because of its near proximity to Tacloban City. The opening of Abuyog–Silago Road cuts travel time from Tacloban by half from the previous 6 hours 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, such 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).. There are also hotels, inns, a public market and beach resorts.

Geography

Hinunangan is home to the highest mountain in the province, Mount Nacolod, with an elevation of 948 metres (3,110 ft) above sea level.^[5]

Barangays

View of Hinunangan Bay from Poblacion

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

White beach at San Pablo Island, Hinunangan

Hinunangan is politically subdivided into 40 barangays, two of which are island barangays located at the east of the town. The twin islands are accessible by motorized boats through Barangay Canipa-an.

Hinunangan Skyline and Hinunangan Bay from San Pablo Island.

History

In 1521, Magellan recorded sighting Hunonganan (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. Hence the name. In 1822, a certain Boholano named Palonoy founded Hinunangan.^[6] At this time, Silago to the north and Hinundayan and Anahawan to the south were part of Hinunangan.

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.

2007 earthquake

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.^[7]

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.^[7]

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.

Demographics

Education

High schools:

• Holy Rosary Academy - a Roman Catholic school
• Hinunangan National High School - formerly Hinunangan Agricultural and Vocational School
• Canipaan National High School
• Nava National High School

Universities:

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

Other:

• Hinunangan Skills and Technological Center^[8] - TESDA accredited vocational school. Courses Offered:
  • Commercial Cooking
  • Computer Hardware Servicing
  • Consumer Electronics Servicing
  • Electrical Installation & Maintenance
  • Food & Beverage Services
  • Shielded Metal Arc Welding

Health Care

• Zenon T. Lagumbay Memorial Hospital
• Hinunangan Community Hospital

Media

• 92.1 Spin Radio - first FM radion station in Hinunangan and the Pacific Area in Southern Leyte. Broadcast transmission and studio is located in Hinunangan Commercial Complex. ^[9]

Communication

Mobile:

• Serviced by Smart Communications (Since 2002)
• Serviced by Globe Telecom (Since 2004)
• Serviced by Sun Cellular (Since 2012)

Cable television:

• Fiesta Cable TV
• Dream satellite TV
• Some are private satellite.

Internet:

• Wireless Internet through SMART Network (Smart Bro's 3G/HSPA/HSPA+)
• Wireless Internet through Globe Network (Globe Tattoo)
• Some Internet Cafes in proper area.

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Hinunangan, Southern Leyte.

• Tourist Office Official Site
• Philippine Standard Geographic Code
• Philippine Census Information
• Local Governance Performance Management System
• Southern Leyte State University - Hinunangan Campus
• Travels through Hinunangan

		Silago
	Libagon		Leyte Gulf
		Hinunangan
		Saint Bernard / Anahawan	Hinundayan