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Sinait | |
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| Municipality of Sinait | |
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 Flag  Seal | |
| Nickname: Garlic Center of the North | |
| Motto: Singising Sinait | |
 Map of Ilocos Sur with Sinait highlighted | |
OpenStreetMap  | |
.svg)  Sinait Location within thePhilippines | |
| Coordinates:17°52′00″N120°27′30″E / 17.8667°N 120.4583°E /17.8667; 120.4583 | |
| Country | Philippines |
| Region | Ilocos Region |
| Province | Ilocos Sur |
| District | 1st district |
| Barangays | 44 (seeBarangays) |
| Government | |
| • Type | Sangguniang Bayan |
| • Mayor | Glenn B. Guzman |
| • Vice Mayor | Shee-an C. Guzman |
| • Representative | Ronald Singson |
| • Municipal Council | Members
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| • Electorate | 19,204 voters (2025) |
| Area | |
• Total | 65.56 km2 (25.31 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 21 m (69 ft) |
| Highest elevation | 223 m (732 ft) |
| Lowest elevation | 0 m (0 ft) |
| Population (2024 census)[3] | |
• Total | 26,059 |
| • Density | 397.5/km2 (1,029/sq mi) |
| • Households | 6,897 |
| Economy | |
| • Income class | 3rd municipal income class |
| • Poverty incidence | 18.28 |
| • Revenue | ₱ 878.3 million (2022) |
| • Assets | ₱ 2,291 million (2022) |
| • Expenditure | ₱ 251.4 million (2022) |
| • Liabilities | ₱ 141.2 million (2022) |
| Service provider | |
| • Electricity | Ilocos Sur Electric Cooperative (ISECO) |
| Time zone | UTC+8 (PST) |
| ZIP code | 2733 |
| PSGC | |
| IDD : area code | +63 (0)77 |
| Native languages | Ilocano Tagalog |
Sinait, officially theMunicipality of Sinait (Ilocano:Ili ti Sinait;Filipino:Bayan ng Sinait), is amunicipality in theprovince ofIlocos Sur,Philippines. According to the 2024 census, it has a population of 26,059 people.[5]
Before Magellan and his expedition reached the Philippines in 1521, the locality was only a small village of little over a hundred natives who were called "Tirongs." By nature, these primitive inhabitants were sea-faring warriors. In their fast and picturesque sailboats, they traveled to adjoining and distant places, most particularly to settlements and villages along the Ilocos Coast inIlocos Norte, Ilocos Sur,La Union,Pangasinan and evenZambales.
In those adventures, the “Tirongs“ always challenged the people encountered to tribal wars and fought skirmishes against them. Often, those sturdy and brave natives came out victorious. Even in their daily chores, those people showed their ferocious characteristics. When the Spanish came,Juan de Salcedo was sent to explore and colonize the Ilocos territory during the early years of the Spanish regime. He found the “Tirongs” of Sinait in apogee of the social state. Small battles were a daily occurrence so that in the year 1535, when the locality was organized and established as a “Pueblo.”
Salcedo named the new community as “SIN-NAIT”, a word in the local tongue which means “CONTEST”. As a pueblo, Sinait embraced and included in its territorial limit such distant places as "Rancheria de Paur," now the Municipality ofNueva Era in Ilocos Norte, and southern barrios ofBadoc of the same province. The vast territory, however, was reduced to its present 78 square kilometers.
In 1575, the natives fully realized the hardships of pronouncing the term “Sin-nait” and to go away with the trouble, Salcedo declared that one of the letter “N” be dropped. Since then, this Municipality has been called “Sinait”. Nevertheless, it was only in 1913 when the same was officially adopted by the government upon the initiative of the late Don Calixto Cabacungan. The Municipality Council enacted a resolution to the effect that Sinait was adopted as the official name of the community. This resolution was duly approved by the Provincial Board of Ilocos Sur and by the now defunct Philippine Legislature.[citation needed]
Sinait houses the Sanctuary of the Miraculous Statue of the Black Nazarene (El Santo Cristo Milagroso), fondly called by its residents as "Apo Lakay," and a treasure of Ilocandia. History traces the life-sized statue toNagasaki, Japan. It was probably sent floating in the sea by missionaries operating in secret in Japan to escape the destruction of churches in Nagasaki in 1614 on orders of theTokugawa Bakufu.[6] The box was found by local fishermen in the shores of Barangay Dadalaquiten Norte, on the boundary between Sinait and nearby Paguetpet (La Virgen Milagrosa),Badoc, in the year 1620, and fishermen from both towns carried it ashore. They found two statues inside the box—a statue of the Black Nazarene, and a statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary. According to legend, the fishermen from Sinait mysteriously were unable to move the statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary, but had no problems moving the Statue of the Black Nazarene. The fishermen from Badoc, however, were able to move the Statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary (later called the La Virgen Milagrosa) with ease, as they were unable to carry the image of the Black Nazarene. They took the statues to their respective towns and were venerated. In 1656, with a spreading devotion to the Santo Cristo Milagroso due to its miraculous powers, the Black Crucifix was taken to the capital town ofVigan, since an epidemic was raging there and through the devotion of the faithful, many got cured. Because of this, it is considered as an intercessor of all kinds of affliction and sickness. In 1660, because of the growing veneration to the image, the faithful begun the construction of a permanent edifice to house it. It took the people of Sinait eight years to construct the church with funds provides by the Spanish Audiencia. Today the landing site of Apo Lakay is marked by a chapel at Lugo Beach in Barangay Dadalaquiten Norte, and is a place of pilgrimage for devotees, as with the nearby chapel marking La Virgen Milagrosa's landing site.
The Municipality of Sinait is bordered by the province ofIlocos Norte byBadoc andNueva Era to the north, andCabugao to the south. It is the northernmost municipality of the province.
Sinait is situated 36.06 kilometres (22.41 mi) from the provincial capitalVigan, and 436.99 kilometres (271.53 mi) from the country's capital city ofManila.
Sinait is politically subdivided into 44barangays. [7] Each barangay consists ofpuroks and some havesitios.
| Climate data for Sinait, Ilocos Sur | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 30 (86) | 31 (88) | 33 (91) | 34 (93) | 33 (91) | 31 (88) | 30 (86) | 30 (86) | 30 (86) | 31 (88) | 30 (86) | 29 (84) | 31 (88) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 19 (66) | 19 (66) | 21 (70) | 23 (73) | 24 (75) | 25 (77) | 24 (75) | 24 (75) | 24 (75) | 22 (72) | 21 (70) | 19 (66) | 22 (72) |
| Averageprecipitation mm (inches) | 9 (0.4) | 11 (0.4) | 13 (0.5) | 23 (0.9) | 92 (3.6) | 122 (4.8) | 153 (6.0) | 137 (5.4) | 139 (5.5) | 141 (5.6) | 42 (1.7) | 14 (0.6) | 896 (35.4) |
| Average rainy days | 4.6 | 4.0 | 6.2 | 9.1 | 19.5 | 23.2 | 24.0 | 22.5 | 21.5 | 15.2 | 10.5 | 6.0 | 166.3 |
| Source: Meteoblue(modeled/calculated data, not measured locally)[8] | |||||||||||||
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| Source:Philippine Statistics Authority[9][10][11][12][13] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
In the 2020 census, Sinait had a population of 25,998.[14] The population density was 400 inhabitants per square kilometre (1,000/sq mi).
Majority of people speakIlocano language.
Poverty incidence of Sinait
Source:Philippine Statistics Authority[15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22]
As major producer ofGarlic, Sinait is also known as the Garlic Center of the North.
Sinait, belonging to thefirst congressional district of the province ofIlocos Sur, is governed by a mayor designated as its local chief executive and by a municipal council as its legislative body in accordance with the Local Government Code. The mayor, vice mayor, and the councilors are elected directly by the people through an election which is being held every three years.
| Position | Name |
|---|---|
| Congressman | Ronald V. Singson |
| Mayor | Glenn B. Guzman |
| Vice-Mayor | Shee-an C. Guzman |
| Councilors | Romel P. Dayoan |
| Marlowrie I. Remolacio | |
| Marlon B. Ines | |
| King Dave V. Guzman | |
| Jojo Q. Yoro | |
| Wilhelmina R. Ibanez | |
| Jaco Rafael C. Agdeppa | |
| Leopoldo Florentino D. Rosete |
The Sinait Schools District Office governs the operations of all educational institutions within the municipality. It oversees all private and public elementary and high schools.[30]
Places adjacent to Sinait | |
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