Alangalang | |
|---|---|
| Municipality of Alangalang | |
 Church of Alangalang | |
 Flag  Seal | |
 Map of Leyte with Alangalang highlighted | |
OpenStreetMap  | |
.svg)  Alangalang Location within thePhilippines | |
| Coordinates:11°12′22″N124°50′52″E / 11.2061°N 124.8478°E /11.2061; 124.8478 | |
| Country | Philippines |
| Region | Eastern Visayas |
| Province | Leyte |
| District | 1st district |
| Barangays | 54 (seeBarangays) |
| Government | |
| • Type | Sangguniang Bayan |
| • Mayor | Lovell Ann M. Yu - Castro (NPC) |
| • Vice Mayor | Mario V. Bague (NPC) |
| • Representative | Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez (Lakas-CMD) |
| • Councilors | List
|
| • Electorate | 39,332 voters (2025) |
| Area | |
• Total | 150.54 km2 (58.12 sq mi) |
| Highest elevation | 110 m (360 ft) |
| Lowest elevation | 14 m (46 ft) |
| Population (2024 census)[3] | |
• Total | 59,063 |
| • Density | 392.34/km2 (1,016.2/sq mi) |
| • Households | 14,479 |
| Economy | |
| • Income class | 1st municipal income class |
| • Poverty incidence | 30.73 |
| • Revenue | ₱ 260.6 million (2022) |
| • Assets | ₱ 648.3 million (2022) |
| • Expenditure | ₱ 246 million (2022) |
| • Liabilities | ₱ 196.1 million (2022) |
| Service provider | |
| • Electricity | Leyte 3 Electric Cooperative (LEYECO 3) |
| Time zone | UTC+8 (PST) |
| ZIP code | 6517 |
| PSGC | |
| IDD : area code | +63 (0)53 |
| Native languages | Waray Tagalog |
| Website | www |
Alangalang (IPA:[ʔɐlɐŋ'ʔalɐŋ]), officially theMunicipality of Alangalang (Waray:Bungto han Alangalang;Cebuano:Lungsod sa Alangalang;Tagalog:Bayan ng Alangalang), is a First Income Class[5]municipality in theprovince ofLeyte,Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 57,185 people.[6]
It is a landlocked town with an area of 151 km2. It is bounded on the north byBarugo andSan Miguel, on the south byPastrana, on the north-east byTacloban City, on the east bySanta Fe and on the west byJaro.[7]
On the way toCarigara is a steel bridge spanning theMainit River. There was a time when only footpaths existed and the river was far too wide for a leap and too deep to wade in, travelers were undecided what to do. Hence the name Alangalang was given to the town, from the vernacular wordalang-alang which means "indecision".[8]
The Poblacion or town center was transferred twice. The first settlement was in a hilly place in Bukid, then down the hill across the Mainit River (now Brgy. Binongto-an). Those two earlier settlements were prone to flooding. A big flood in the year 1883 prompted another move in November that year to the present site.[9] The last relocation in November 1883 is annually commemorated and re-enacted as "Bakwit".[10]
The strongest tropicalTyphoon Haiyan, more commonly known as Typhoon Yolanda impacted the town on November 8, 2013.[11]
The place got its name from the wordAlang-alang, a vernacular word forindecision. There was a time when only footpaths existed in Mainit river going to Carigara which was too wide to leap and too narrow to wade in, so travelers were undecided on what to do.
The town began to form from different"rancherías" and"barangays" at about the year 1596, Fr.Cosme de Flores, a priest-engineer, made it into the fourth"doctrina."[12] Fr.Tomas de Montaya, a Manila college professor succeeded Fr. Flores who died at the early age of 29. Alangalang, withDulag, was made a"cabecera" of nine towns with Fr. Mateo Sanchez as superior.
In 1600, the town suffered from theMoro raids. A punitive force fromCebu under CapitanFrancisco de Pedraza was sent to suppress lawlessness. In 1611, a hurricane swept the whole town and floods became frequent. The 18 or 20 rancherias declined in importance and around December 1628, Alangalang became a"visita" of Barugo.
The old town of Alangalang was founded in 1748 (referred to as "Alagalng"[13] in the firstMurillo-Velarde Map published more than a decade earlier in 1734) in a site located across the steel bridge at Binongto-an calledBukid Height. This settlement was headed byFrancisco Antonis, a courageous leader, together with Pongal,Manamot,Francisco Gariando,Hidalgo Pedrera andSolang Adlao. Antonis was famed for having eaten the liver of a Moro bandit whom he caught during one of the raids. Fr.Baysa, a Franciscan, was then their spiritual mentor. The objective of the Moro raids was the gold church bell. During every Moro attack, the inhabitants would take the gold bell with them to the hills. At one time, when the townsfolk were being pursued, they had to drop the gold bell in the Bangka River only to save it from the invaders, the bell has never been recovered since then.
Alangalang was made into a parish in 1809 according to a historian named Cousin. Towards the end of the 18th century, the settlement in Bukid thrived that Fr.Jose Olmo, then Parish priest, transferred the town across the Mainit River where the provincial nursery is located up to this day. The government officials at that time were thegobernadorcillo,teniente mayor,teniente segundo,cabeza de la barangay orguinhaopan,delgado de las rentas andcuadrilleros. Among the lay leaders were Eulogio Barrantes, Santo Pabilona, Eulogio Daroles and Esteban Pedero. A big flood leveled the town in 1883 and by November of the same year, the gobernadorcillo moved the town to its present site.[9]
By the middle of the 19th century, Alangalang had a rectory and six rural schools; the roads to Palo and Barugo were also opened. The town was noted for its abacá, copra, seeds of"kabalonga", wax, cocoa, tobacco and rice.
In 1892, when there was a rebellion in the country, Alangalang was in the middle of the fight.Leocardio Pabilona overthrew the Spanish rule in the town and became thejefe orcapitán with a new set ofguinhaopan. When theAmericans occupied the town upon orders from Pabilona, the inhabitants evacuated the place. The Americans, angered, set the town on fire. It was the hardship of mountain life which finally made the townsfolk yield to American authority.
From then on, the town's growth was steady. Alangalang is a big producer of copra and rice and lies along the route of the busiest national highway of the province. The town has one of the biggest Spanish-made churches and shortly before the war had a new concrete municipal building with a swimming pool.
On May 17, 1900, the American forces stationed at Jaro burned the town. Town President Franciso Astorga sued the United States Government for $12,973 for his house and properties but was only reimbursed for $6,500 Mexican currency.[14]
In 1903, the municipality ofSan Miguel was consolidated into Alangalang but was subsequently reversed by the Governor General in 1909 through Executive Order 81.[15][16][17]
After the fall ofCorregidor in May 1942, the municipality became the emergency capital of the province. Provincial and national offices and government records were accordingly transferred there for safekeeping. On December 16, 1942,Japanese planes bombed the town. In August 1943, the town was attacked by the Japanese to weaken guerilla strength.[18] Alangalang again became one of the bulwarks of the resistance movement withFilemon Pabilona[19] andElias Macina as leaders. In 1944 to 1945, the Filipino forces of the 4th, 9th, 92nd, 93rd and 95th Infantry Division of the Philippine Commonwealth Army took in the town in Alangalang, Leyte fought the battles against the Japanese forces inWorld War II.
On Oct 28, 1944, Lt. Col. Thomas E. Clifford Jr.'s troops made contact with the Japanese at the Mainit Bridge where he lost 5 men. The bridge was already fitted with explosives by the enemy but due to quick advance of the American troops, the enemy didn't have the chance to set it off.[20]
Alangalang is politically subdivided into 54barangays. Each barangay consists ofpuroks and some havesitios.
| Climate data for Alangalang, Leyte | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 28 (82) | 28 (82) | 29 (84) | 30 (86) | 31 (88) | 30 (86) | 29 (84) | 29 (84) | 29 (84) | 29 (84) | 29 (84) | 28 (82) | 29 (84) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 22 (72) | 22 (72) | 22 (72) | 23 (73) | 24 (75) | 25 (77) | 24 (75) | 25 (77) | 24 (75) | 24 (75) | 23 (73) | 23 (73) | 23 (74) |
| Averageprecipitation mm (inches) | 73 (2.9) | 56 (2.2) | 75 (3.0) | 71 (2.8) | 114 (4.5) | 174 (6.9) | 172 (6.8) | 163 (6.4) | 167 (6.6) | 161 (6.3) | 158 (6.2) | 125 (4.9) | 1,509 (59.5) |
| Average rainy days | 15.2 | 14.1 | 16.2 | 17.3 | 23.9 | 27.3 | 28.4 | 26.9 | 26.9 | 27.1 | 23.8 | 19.3 | 266.4 |
| Source: Meteoblue[40] | |||||||||||||
| Year | Pop. | ±% p.a. |
|---|---|---|
| 1903 | 9,358 | — |
| 1918 | 16,347 | +3.79% |
| 1939 | 21,084 | +1.22% |
| 1948 | 19,972 | −0.60% |
| 1960 | 22,448 | +0.98% |
| 1970 | 25,223 | +1.17% |
| 1975 | 27,135 | +1.48% |
| 1980 | 29,453 | +1.65% |
| 1990 | 33,375 | +1.26% |
| 1995 | 38,853 | +2.89% |
| 2000 | 41,245 | +1.29% |
| 2007 | 43,691 | +0.80% |
| 2010 | 46,411 | +2.22% |
| 2015 | 55,235 | +3.37% |
| 2020 | 57,185 | +0.73% |
| 2024 | 59,063 | +0.78% |
| Source:Philippine Statistics Authority[41][42][43][44] | ||
In the 2020 census, the population of Alangalang, Leyte, was 57,185 people,[45] with a density of 380 inhabitants per square kilometre or 980 inhabitants per square mile.
Poverty incidence of Alangalang
Source:Philippine Statistics Authority[46][47][48][49][50][51][52][53]
The town was classified as a 3rd class municipality in 1950[54] then 2nd class in 1954[55] up to 2021.[56] By 2025, it attained First Class status[5]
There are a total of 49 Elementary Schools, 9 High Schools and 1 University in Alangalang[57]
| Position | Name | Party | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mayor | Lovell Ann M. Yu-Castro | NPC | |
| Vice Mayor | Mario V. Bague | NPC | |
| Councilors | Kenneth Spice M. De Veyra | Lakas | |
| Gina Balderamos | Tingog | ||
| Blesilda M. Yu | NPC | ||
| Ketchie Rex A. Barrantes | NPC | ||
| Elmer D. Matobato | Lakas | ||
| Claire G. Yu | NPC | ||
| Kent Jefflord C. Guillermo | Tingog | ||
| Arvin A. Antoni | KANP | ||
| Ex Officio Municipal Council Members | |||
| ABC President | Sarah T. Apurillo | Nonpartisan | |
| SK Federation President | Charlze Jericho Duane A. Tan | Nonpartisan | |
Like most parts of the world, Alangalang was hit by the COVID-19 pandemic.[59] A town councilor from nearby town ofLeyte, Leyte tested positive after attending a party in Alangalang.[60] Part of the town was locked-down[61] and then a month later put up online service to mitigate spread of infections.[62] The Mayor also tested positive.[63]
Places adjacent to Alangalang | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ||||||||||||||||
 Province ofLeyte | |
|---|---|
Tacloban (capital and largest city) | |
| Municipalities | |
| Component city | |
| Independent component city |
|
| Highly urbanized city |
|
