Ubay, Bohol

Etymology

The flow of seawater between the mainland and the island of Lapinig Grande (now Pres. C.P. Garcia town) could justify the second definition of Ubay. It is a situation that is permanent and the constant reference to the flow of water can make the term ubay be attached as the name of the place.

An alternative derivation is that the term 'ubay-ubay' or 'alongside' became the byword of seafarers who used to travel close to the shorelines of Ubay to avoid the strong current of the Canigao Channel. There was a single path to follow reach the island trading centres. This trail was located alongside (ubay) the sandy beach. Later on the term Ubay became the original name of the community.

History

Before the Spanish regime, Ubay was part of Talibon. On 15 January 1844, it separated from Talibon to become an independent municipality.

The religious aspect of the town was established much later than the civil aspect of the town. The decree of the Spanish Governor General creating Ubay as a town in the religious aspect is dated 22 October 1877. However, Royal Order No. 695 issued by the Kingdom of Spain has the date 5 October 1877.

The town celebrates its fiesta every 29 January in commemoration and honor of their patron saint, Holy Child. Ubayanons often come home during fiesta to share the joy of reviving the beautiful old story on the origin of the place.

Geography

The town is situated east of Trinidad, north of Alicia and Mabini, and northeast of San Miguel. It is 124 kilometres (77 mi) northeast of Tagbilaran, 636 kilometres (395 mi) southeast of Manila and 71 kilometres (44 mi) east of Cebu City.

Climate

The climate is typically equatorial – temperature range over the year is less than three degrees Celsius (5.4 deg F), and annual rainfall exceeds 1,500 millimetres (59 in). The dry season starts in February and lasts through April sometimes extending to mid‑May. The climate in Ubay falls within Coronas climate type IV, characterised by not very pronounced maximum rainfall with a short dry season from one to three months and a wet season of nine to ten months.

Ubay has a tropical climate. Most months of the year are marked by significant precipitation, making agriculture favorable – it supports at least two rice crops per year. The short dry season has little impact. Ubay is classified as Am (Tropical monsoon climate) by Köppen–Geiger climate classification system.

Barangays

Ubay comprises 44 barangays organized into eight urban districts (UD):

Demographics

When the first national census was held in 1903, the municipality had a population 7,355. It continued to grow until 1960 with 34,090 (annual growth rate of 2.73% over the period). The population markedly decreased in 1970 with the creation of the municipality of President Carlos P. Garcia, formerly a constituent barangay. Since 1970, average annual growth rate (1970–2015) is 1.82%.

The primary language is Cebuano: Filipino and English are understood to a limited degree.

In the 2016 electoral roll, it had 41,792 registered voters, meaning that 57% of the population are aged 18 and over.

Economy

Ubay has a number of business establishments mostly small-scale commercial trading firms engaged in retail and wholesale. A new public market building was completed recently. The regular market day is Monday and local traders from neighboring towns come to sell their merchandise consisting mostly of agricultural products and small consumer items like used clothes, household utensils and other products. Ubay also provides a market for the neighboring island municipality of Pres. Carlos P. Garcia.

Tourism and culture

Ubay's point of interests, destinations, and attractions include:

Delicacies

Ubay-ubay Festival

Like the Sinulog of Cebu, the Ubay-ubay Festival is the town's own version in celebration and honor of the patron saint, Sr. Santo Niño. This colorful and fascinating festivity is a well-attended event where people flock the town's major roads and venues to view the grand street parade and the festival dance-competition. This celebration is held each 28 – 30 January.

Local government

Ubay is governed by the municipal mayor as head of the municipality. The vice mayor is the next highest position and acts as the presiding officer of municipal council.

Transport

The most common form of local transportation is the tricycle for nearer barangays. For far barangays, the motorcycle is the most common. All barangays are connected by roads and the only places without roads are the steep slopes of the central mountains.

The improvement of the Bohol circumferential road and the port facilities helped Ubay to become the trading and transportation hub of northeastern Bohol, connecting it to the neighboring island of Leyte and the rest of Bohol province. Passenger and cargo traffic to these destinations has noticeably increased over the years indicating an increasing volume of trade between these points.

Land transportation is provided by various short and long-distance buses, jeeps and vans, connecting Ubay to the rest of the towns in the province. Tagbilaran can be reached from Ubay in two to three hours by bus or van. There are also daily combined road/ferry services to Metro Manila (Pasay City / Cubao, Quezon City).

Ubay seaport is considered the province's principal gateway to Leyte, and Samar. Its improved port area is linked to the major port destinations of neighboring provinces such as Bato and Hilongos in Leyte, Maasin City in Southern Leyte, and Cebu City, the regional capital. Four vessels travels to and from Cebu City daily, and routes to and from Bato, Hilongos and Maasin City are also served daily. The journey time for each destination is 4–5 hours.

Ubay is home to one of only two airports in Bohol (the other being Tagbilaran Airport), but Ubay Airport is completely undeveloped and has no scheduled service, nor any facilities. The runway currently is only about 400 metres (1,310 ft) long but couldn't extend at the southwestern end becomes it is close to hills, and the northeastern end reaches housing and the sea.

Health

For health services, the town has two public health units staffed by doctors, nurses, midwives, dentists, medical technologists and sanitary inspectors. A small government hospital was established to provide outpatient services to local residents. A private 15-bed hospital in Fatima also provides services for emergencies. A pediatrics and OB-gynae clinic complements the health services available in town.

Barangay Health Workers (BHW) from each barangay provide direct health care assistance to barangay residents.

Public order and safety

The local police force is 37 police officers. Police–population ratio is 1:1,992, less favourable than the standard ratio of 1:1,000. The police are augmented by 492 Barangay Tanod volunteers. It is reported that crime rate in Ubay is relatively low. The local Fire Department is staffed by eight fire fighters with two fire trucks. Incidence of fires is reportedly low in the municipality.

Utilities

Bohol was linked to the major source of geothermal power in Leyte through the underwater connection between Maasin City, Southern Leyte and Ubay. Presently, only three of the 44 barangays have no electricity, yet only 34.97 percent of the total households in the municipality have electricity compared to the province, which was 58.3 percent energized in 2000.

The town proper and seven other barangays was served by the Ubay Water and Sanitation Cooperative. The cooperative planned to expand their service to eight other barangays in the near future. Due to consumer demand and the limited size of the supply, water service became difficult during dry months. Bohol province reported that 23.71 percent of its households had their own faucets from a community system while Ubay reported only 8.97 percent.

For the province, 21.68 percent of households had access to shared faucets while Ubay only had 8.86 percent. In Ubay, slightly more than half (51.83%) of the households had access to dug wells.

Elementary schools

There are 44 public elementary schools in the municipality – one in each barangay except Cuya, and one on Tres Reyes island.

There are 7 private elementary schools.

Secondary and high schools

There are 16 public and private secondary and high schools in the municipality.

Higher education

To meet the increasing demands Bohol Northeastern College was founded in 1996 by Ubayano political leaders, Erico B. Aumentado and former governor David B. Tirol. The name was changed to Bohol Northern Star Colleges in January 2007.

Notable Ubayanos