Catbalogan, officially the City of Catbalogan (Waray: Siyudad han Catbalogan; Filipino: Lungsod ng Catbalogan), is a component city and capital city of the province of Samar, Philippines. According to the 2024 census, it has a population of 107,896 people.
It is Samar's main commercial, trading, educational, financial and political center. The city is the gateway to the region's three Samar provinces.
Catbalogan's patron saint is St. Bartholomew the Apostle whose feast day is August 24.
The Philippine Army's 8th Infantry Division (Stormtroopers) is based at Camp General Vicente Lukban, Barangay Maulong, Catbalogan City. The camp is named in honor of Gen. Vicente Lukbán, a Filipino officer in Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo's staff during the Philippine Revolution and the politico-military chief of Samar and Leyte during the Philippine–American War.
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Etymology
The name "Catbalogan" may have historically come from:
the Waray terms kat- (prefix) and balaug (a coastal shrub that once thrived along the shores and the Antiao River). Katbalaugan or Kabalaugan translates to "a place where seafarers or fishermen take shelter" as the present-day city was a fishing village that served as a refuge for boats and sailboats seeking protection during the turbulent northwest and southwest monsoons between July and September.
catbalonga, the local name for the Strychnos ignatii, a large, woody forest vine common in Samar's geography during the 1600s. Jesuit missionaries valued its seeds as a remedy against cholera. The place name likely evolved from catbalongaan ("a place where the catbalonga plant grows")to what early Spanish scribes spelled it as catbaloḡan (substituting nga with ḡa), which later standardized into Catbalogan.
History
Catbalogan was founded in October 1596 by Spanish Jesuit priests and became the capital of the entire island of Samar. Friar Francisco de Otazo, S.J., who arrived in the Philippines in 1596, founded the Catbalogan Mission and was thus the first missionary to bring the Catholic faith to the people of Catbalogan.
In 1627, Catbalogan was raised to the status of residencia (residence or central house) and among its dependencies were Paranas where, in 1629, Fr. Pedro Estrada actively evangelized the area and Calbiga where he took whiterocks or grey limestone to use as building blocks for its church. The church has some arc-like stone roof that was pasted together to dry on each block, giving an arching force to the side. On October 17, 1768, Catbalogan was ceded to the Franciscans who took over from the Jesuits. The first Franciscan parish priest was Fray Jose Fayo, OFM.
During the early days of Spanish colonization of the Philippines in the 16th century, Samar was under the jurisdiction of Cebu but later was declared a separate province. In 1735, Samar and Leyte were united into one province with Carigara, in Leyte, as the capital. The union, however, did not prove satisfactory. In 1768, Catbalogan became the provincial capital when Samar separated from Leyte and became an independent province. Paranas (with Calbiga) was then separated from Catbalogan as an independent town. In 1882, Jiabong (with Motiong) separated from Catbalogan as an independent town.
On December 31, 1898, during the Philippine Revolution, Gen. Vicente Lukban arrived in Catbalogan and put Samar under his jurisdiction.
On January 27, 1900, the Americans captured Catbalogan during the Philippine–American War (1899–1902). On June 17, 1902, a provincial civil government was established on Samar Island by an act of the Philippine Commission with Julio Llorente of Cebu as the first governor of Samar. On October 23, 1903, the adjacent municipalities of Jiabong and Tarangnan, except for its five barrios south of the Gandara River, were merged with Catbalogan by virtue of Act No. 960. Tarangnan later restored its municipal status on October 31, 1906.
On May 24, 1942, during World War II, Japanese forces landed in Barrio Pangdan on early morning and occupied the capital. On October 28, 1944, American and Filipino forces liberated Catbalogan from the Japanese.
Cityhood
As early as 1960, Catbalogan already agitated to become a city. In 1969, Rep. Fernando P. Veloso sponsored House Bill No. 1867 creating Catbalogan into a city. The bill was being deliberated in the Philippine Senate, but the blaze of 1969 caused it to be shelved. Subsequent efforts were made by Catbalogan political leaders, including former Representative Catalino V. Figueroa, during his term, to make Catbalogan's cityhood dream a reality despite strong and rabid opposition by the League of Cities of the Philippines, particularly Catbalogan City's neighboring Calbayog under the administration of Mayor Mel Senen Sarmiento.
On March 15, 2007, Catbalogan finally attained its cityhood. Under the sponsorship of Senator Alfredo S. Lim and by virtue of Republic Act No. 9391, Catbalogan was converted into a component city known as the CITY of CATBALOGAN following a unanimous vote by the Philippine Senate. Senator Manuel Villar, Jr. (President of the Senate), Congressman Jose De Venecia, Jr. (Speaker of the House of Representatives), Oscar G. Yabes (Secretary of the Senate), Roberto P. Nazareno (Secretary General, House of Representatives) and Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (President of the Philippines) were among its signatories. The residents of Catbalogan overwhelmingly ratified this change through a Comelec plebiscite on June 16, 2007, with over 92% "Yes" votes for cityhood.
However, Catbalogan temporarily lost its cityhood, along with 15 other cities, after the Supreme Court of the Philippines, in a very close 6–5 vote, granted a petition filed by the League of Cities of the Philippines, and declared the cityhood law (RA 9391) which allowed the town to acquire its city status, unconstitutional.
On December 10, 2008, Catbalogan and the other 15 cities affected filed a motion for reconsideration with the court. More than a year later, on December 22, 2009, acting on said appeal, the court reversed its earlier ruling as it ruled that "at the end of the day, the passage of the amendatory law (regarding the criteria for cityhood as set by Congress) is no different from the enactment of a law, i.e., the cityhood laws specifically exempting a particular political subdivision from the criteria earlier mentioned. Congress, in enacting the exempting law/s, effectively decreased the already codified indicators." As such, the cityhood status of Catbalogan was effectively restored.
On August 23, 2010, the court reinstated its ruling on November 18, 2008, causing Catbalogan and 15 cities to become regular municipalities. Finally, on February 15, 2011, Catbalogan became a city again including the 15 municipalities declaring that the conversion to cityhood met all legal requirements.
Infrastructure
Imelda Park
Rizal Monument
The Obelisk
S.T.E.P. North
Regional AFP Installation (Camp Lukban)
Buri Cargo Airport
Catbalogan City Diversion Road
Catbalogan Land Transport Terminal
Catbalogan Fish and Transport Port
Provincial Offices
Philippine National Police Archived July 12, 2017, at the Wayback Machine (PNP Provincial Office)
Philippine Statistics Office (PSA/former NSO)
Department of Education DepEd Secondary (former DECS) W?Samar Division) CHED Office?
Department of Agriculture (DA Pro)
Department of Health Archived October 7, 2023, at the Wayback Machine (DOH Pro)
Department of Environment and Natural Resources (PENRO)
Department of Justice (DOJ)
Geography
Barangays
Catbalogan City is politically subdivided into 57 barangays. Each barangay consists of puroks and some have sitios.
Transportation
For decades, Catbalogan City has served as Samar island's main maritime transport gateway as interisland vessels made its port of call at Catbalogan City Seaport before proceeding to Tacloban City. As the advent of land transport became possible, the interisland maritime transport slowly ceased to operate.
Today, Catbalogan City is a major landport terminal and stopover for interisland bus lines coming and going between Luzon and Mindanao passing through the bridged island of Leyte and Samar.
Catbalogan Airport, also known as Buri Airport, is the main airport of Catbalogan City.
Economy
Poverty incidence of Catbalogan (%)
Source: Philippine Statistics Authority
Clinic and Medical Facilities
Catbalogan Puericulture Center
Samar Provincial Hospital
Samar Doctors Hospital (Maulong)
Catbalogan Doctors Hospital (Diversion Road)
Education
Preparatory, Primary and Intermediate School
Dorcas Day Care Center
Chinese Chamber of Commerce Kinder & Primary School
Catbalogan Central Elementary School
Junior & Senior High School
Samar National School
Silanga National High School
Catbalogan National Comprehensive High School
Regional Junior & Senior High School
Eastern Visayas Regional Science High School
Colleges and universities
Saint Mary’s College of Catbalogan
Samar College
Samar State University
Catbalogan City Community College
Media
AM Radio Stations
1044 DYMS - Aksyon Radio Catbalogan (Cebu Broadcasting Company/MBC Media Group)
FM Radio Stations
95.7 Lamrag Radio Catbalogan (Aliw Broadcasting Corporation)
101.3 DYWA - One Radio (Wave Network)
102.9 DYSY - University Radio (Samar State University)
105.3 DYMS - MSFM (PEC Broadcasting Corporation)
106.1 - Star Radio (Palawan Broadcasting Corporation)
106.9 DYPF - FM Radio (Philippine Collective Media Corporation)
Cable and Satellite Providers
D'Leopards Cable TV
Filproducts Service TV - Catbalogan
Cignal
G Sat
Sources:
Notable Catbaloganon
Michael Cinco, a Filipino fashion designer based in Dubai. He launched his eponymous fashion line Michael Cinco fashion firm in 2003
Tom Rodriguez, a Filipino actor, singer, model and TV host
Tessie Tomas, a multi talented entertainer that made a name for herself as an award winning stand up comedienne, TV host, stage, film actress, and writer
Sharee Ann Tan, current Governor of the Province of Samar. After being elected as Congresswoman at only 25 years old, she became the youngest member of the House of Representatives
Andrea Del Rosario, a Filipino actress, beauty queen, model, and politician. She was a former member of the girl group Viva Hot Babes and the Batch 3 of Star Magic
Yoyong Martirez, was a Filipino basketball player, actor, politician and comedian
Antonio Nachura, was a Filipino jurist who was an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines. He occupied the position from 2007 until his mandatory retirement 2011
Bishop Maximiano Tuazon Cruz, ordained priest in 1947 and later became auxiliary bishop of Calbayog before leading the Diocese of Calbayog from 1994 until his retirement in 1999
Domingo Villanueva, An athlete from Catbalogan who represented the Philippines as an Olympic canoeist in the 1988 and 1992 Games
Krystal Mejes, a Filipino former child actress under ABS-CBN's Star Magic.
Nelson “Rey” Bohol, a Filipino animator who was one of the animators of the animated film of Inside Out, Monsters University, Brave, WALL-E, Ratatouille, Cars, and Finding Nemo. He joined Pixar in August 2000.