Ormoc

Ormoc
Independent Component City
City of Ormoc

View of Ormoc from Ormoc Bay

Seal

Map of Leyte showing the location of Ormoc City
Ormoc

Location within the Philippines

Coordinates: 11°01′N 124°37′E / 11.02°N 124.62°E / 11.02; 124.62Coordinates: 11°01′N 124°37′E / 11.02°N 124.62°E / 11.02; 124.62
Country  Philippines
Region Eastern Visayas (Region VIII)
Province Leyte (geographically only)
District 4th district of Leyte
Founded 26 February 1834
Cityhood 21 June 1947
Barangays 110
Government[1]
 • Mayor Richard Gomez
 • Vice-Mayor Leo Carmelo "Toto Jr." Locsin
 • Representative (Congressman) Lucy Torres-Gomez
Area[2]
 • Total 613.6 km2 (236.9 sq mi)
Population (2015 census)[3]
 • Total 215,031
 • Density 350/km2 (910/sq mi)
Demonym(s) Ormocanon
Time zone PHT (UTC+8)
ZIP code 6541
Dialing code +63 (0)53
Income class 1st class city
Languages Cebuano and other minority languages
Website www.ormoc.gov.ph

Ormoc, officially the City of Ormoc (Cebuano: Dakbayan sa Ormoc; Filipino: Lungsod ng Ormoc) or simply referred to as Ormoc City, is an independent component city in the province of Leyte in the region of Eastern Visayas of the Philippines. According to the 2015 census, it has a population of 215,031 inhabitants,[3] making it the second most-populous city in the province after the provincial capital, Tacloban City. Ormoc is the economic, cultural, commercial and transportation hub of western Leyte.

Ormoc City is an independent component city, not subject to regulation from the Provincial Government of Leyte. However, the city is part of the IV Congressional District of Leyte together with Albuera, Kananga, Merida, Palompon and Isabel. On November 8, 2013, the city was extensively damaged by Super Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan), having previously suffered severe destruction and loss of life in 1991 from torrential flooding during Tropical Storm Thelma (Uring).

The city's name is derived from ogmok, an archaic Visayan term for "lowland" or "depressed plain".

Geography

Ormoc City is a port city and is the largest city in Leyte by land area and the second largest in Eastern Visayas after Calbayog City in Samar. At the head of Ormoc Bay, the city's terrain is mostly of gently rolling plains. It is bounded on the northwest by the towns of Matag-ob and Merida, in the north by Kananga, in the northeast by the towns of Jaro, Pastrana and Dagami, and in the south by the town of Albuera. High mountain ranges separate Ormoc from the eastern portion of Leyte. Numerous rivers and streams traverse Ormoc. Among them are the Bao River in the north, Pagsangahan River in the west, the Bagong-bong River in the south, the Panilahan River also in the south and the Anilao and Malbasag Rivers which border the eastern and western flanks of Ormoc City Proper.

Barangays

Ormoc City is politically subdivided into 110 barangays.[2]

  • Airport
  • Alegria
  • Alta Vista
  • Bagong
  • Bagong Buhay
  • Bantigue
  • Barangay 1 (Pob.)
  • Barangay 2 (Pob.)
  • Barangay 3 (Pob.)
  • Barangay 4 (Pob.)
  • Barangay 5 (Pob.)
  • Barangay 6 (Pob.)
  • Barangay 7 (Pob.)
  • Barangay 8 (Pob.)
  • Barangay 9 (Pob.)
  • Barangay 10 (Pob.)
  • Barangay 11 (Pob.)
  • Barangay 12 (Pob.)
  • Barangay 13 (Pob.)
  • Barangay 14 (Pob.)
  • Barangay 15 (Pob.)
  • Barangay 16 (Pob.)
  • Barangay 17 (Pob.)
  • Barangay 18 (Pob.)
  • Barangay 19 (Pob.)
  • Barangay 20 (Pob.)
  • Barangay 21 (Pob.)
  • Barangay 22 (Pob.)
  • Barangay 23 (Pob.)
  • Barangay 24 (Pob.)
  • Barangay 25 (Pob.)
  • Barangay 26 (Pob.)
  • Barangay 27 (Pob.)
  • Barangay 28 (Pob.)
  • Barangay 29 (Pob.)
  • Batuan
  • Bayog
  • Biliboy
  • Borok
  • Cabaon-an
  • Cabintan
  • Cabulihan
  • Cagbuhangin
  • Camp Downes
  • Can-adieng
  • Can-untog
  • Catmon
  • Cogon Combado
  • Concepcion
  • Curva
  • Danao
  • Danhug
  • Dayhagan
  • Dolores
  • Domonar
  • Don Felipe Larrazabal
  • Don Potenciano Larrazabal
  • Doña Feliza Z. Mejia
  • Donghol
  • Esperansa
  • Gaas
  • Green Valley
  • Guintigui-an
  • Hibunawon
  • Hugpa
  • Ipil
  • Juaton
  • Kadaohan
  • Labrador (Balion)
  • Lao
  • Leondoni
  • Libertad
  • Liberty
  • Licuma
  • Liloan
  • Linao
  • Luna
  • Mabato
  • Mabini
  • Macabug
  • Magaswi
  • Mahayag
  • Mahayahay
  • Manlilinao
  • Margen
  • Mas-in
  • Matica-a
  • Milagro
  • Monterico
  • Nasunogan
  • Naungan
  • Nueva Sociedad
  • Nueva Vista
  • Patag
  • Punta
  • Quezon, Jr.
  • Rufina M. Tan
  • Sabang Bao
  • Salvacion
  • San Antonio
  • San Isidro
  • San Jose
  • San Juan
  • San Pablo (Simangan)
  • San Vicente
  • Santo Niño
  • Sumangga
  • Tambulilid
  • Tongonan
  • Valencia

History

Kananga was created in 1950 from the barrios of Lonoy, Kananga, Rizal, Tugbong, Montebello, Aguiting, Tagaytay, Montealegre, Libungao, Naghalin, and Masarayao which all used to be part of Ormoc City.[4]

1991 Flash Flood

On the morning of 5 November 1991, the Ormoc region was inundated by Tropical Storm Uring. The city government recorded 4,922 deaths, 3,000 missing persons, 14,000 destroyed houses and more than P600 million worth of damaged property.[5] None of the 3,000 missing persons were ever found and are now presumed dead.[6] Illegal logging and kaingin (slash-and-burn farming) were blamed as the reasons of the flood.[5] Heavy rainfall caused water to collect upstream the Anilao and Malbasag rivers until it poured to the lowlands in Ormoc, particularly District 26, also known as Isla Verde.[5]

On 5 November 2011, a monument by national artist Francis Cinco commemorating the 20th anniversary of the event was inaugurated.[7] It sits on top of the mass grave at the Ormoc City Public Cemetery where an estimated 4,900 victims are buried.[8] The sculpture, entitled "Gift of Life", is an abstract depicting a life taken to heaven.[5][7]

2006 Store Fire

A fire at the Unitop store killed 24 people on Christmas day. The fire started from firecrackers and pyrotechnics that were ignited near the entrance door. The store did not have a permit to sell firecrackers and emergency exits were locked. The charred remains of the victims were found inside a bathroom, where they tried to escape from the blaze.

Demographics

Saints Peter and Paul Parish Church
Population census of Ormoc
YearPop.±% p.a.
1990 129,456—    
1995 143,186+1.91%
2000 154,297+1.62%
2007 177,524+1.95%
2010 191,200+2.74%
2015 215,031+2.26%
Source: National Statistics Office[3][9]

The natives of this city are called Ormocanons, with most being Cebuano speakers (or Kana, as Cebuano-speakers in Leyte and Southern Leyte are often called by the Waray people) together with the whole western and southern parts of the island of Leyte.

Like most Filipinos, Ormocanons are predominantly Roman Catholic, and the city celebrates its annual fiesta in honour of the patron saints Saint Peter and Saint Paul on June 28 and 29. Other main Catholic holy days, including the local fiestas of barangays, are observed throughout the year. There is also a visible Muslim minority within the city and all over the island, evidenced by the mosques within the cityscape and most of them are Maranaos from the twin provinces of Lanao del Norte and Lanao del Sur in Mindanao.

Economy

Aviles Street, 2016
Eastern Visayas State University - Ormoc Campus
Real Street, 2016

Ormoc City's economic base is a good mix of agriculture, aquaculture, industry, tourism, and commercial services. Sugar cane, rice and pineapple are the bulk produce of the agricultural sector.

The city enjoys economic growth because it supplies a large part of the country's power needs with its abundant geothermal power resources from the Tongonan Geothermal Power Plant in Barangay Tongonan and neighbouring Kananga town. Ormoc is also the gateway to the Leyte Industrial Development Estate in the nearby town of Isabel, home of the Philippine Phosphate Fertilizer Plant, the largest fertilizer factory in Asia, and the Philippine Associated Smelter and Refining Company, the country's biggest copper processing plant, among other industries.

Education

Ormoc is the educational center for western Leyte. It has a range of primary and secondary schools, both public and private. Tertiary education was originally offered by St. Peter's College of Ormoc, a Benedictine-run Catholic college and the oldest, followed by Western Leyte College of Ormoc City, Inc.,[10] a private non-sectarian college. In the 1990s, the city saw the establishment of Sto. Niño College of Ormoc, St. Paul's School of Ormoc Foundation, Inc. and the STI Computer College - Ormoc. In the 2000s, tertiary institutions founded were AMA Computer Learning Center (ACLC) - Ormoc, San Lorenzo Ruiz College of Ormoc, Ormoc City Institute of Technology (OCIT) and the Ormoc campus of the Eastern Visayas State University.

Ormoc also has their own Chinese school which is Ormoc Se San School.

Attractions

Tourism highlights include:

Infrastructure

Transport

Ormoc Pier
Bus transport in Ormoc
Cebu Pacific in Ormoc Airport

FastCrafts:

Ferry boats:


Airlines:

Energy

Ormoc City boasts the biggest geothermal powerplant in Southeast Asia - the Tongonan Geothermal Power in Barangay Tongonan which supplies electricity not only in the Eastern Visayas Region but power demand in Luzon as well.

Water

Ormoc gets its water for the dwellers at a lake called Danaw Lake (Coordinates N11.0698/E124.6976). Gravity fed water distribution are experienced here.

References

  1. ↑ "Cities". Quezon City, Philippines: Department of the Interior and Local Government. Retrieved 19 June 2013.
  2. 1 2 "Province: Leyte". PSGC Interactive. Makati City, Philippines: National Statistical Coordination Board. Retrieved 19 June 2013.
  3. 1 2 3 "Region VIII (EASTERN VISAYAS)". Census of Population (2015): Total Population by Province, City, Municipality and Barangay (Report). PSA. Retrieved 20 June 2016.
  4. ↑ "An act creating the municipality of Kananga, Leyte, in the province of Leyte". LawPH.com. Retrieved 9 April 2011.
  5. 1 2 3 4 "Ormoc rises from flash flood tragedy". Inquirer.net. Retrieved 20 May 2013.
  6. ↑ "Tortured by Typhoons". Retrieved 20 May 2013.
  7. 1 2 "Monument marks 20th year of Ormoc flashflood tragedy". Inquirer.net. Retrieved 20 May 2013.
  8. ↑ "Mass Grave". Fran-Con Viaje International. Retrieved 20 May 2013.
  9. ↑ "Total Population by Province, City, Municipality and Barangay: as of 1 May 2010" (PDF). 2010 Census of Population and Housing. National Statistics Office. Retrieved 19 June 2013.
  10. ↑ WLC-Website
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ormoc.
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