# Bato, Catanduanes

Bato, officially the Municipality of Bato, is a municipality in the province of Catanduanes, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 21,748 people.

## Etymology

before the coming of the Spaniards the town proper or the poblacion of Bato was still thick forest and was inhabited by several pagan and primitive families. There were only a few houses and they were far apart. These primitive people lived on the games of the forest and on the products of the small kaIngins they had. There ways of life were crude. They used bows and arrows and spears to catch the wild ani­mals of the forest and pointed or sharp sticks of wood or bamboo to till the soil. They were hostile and warlike. They did not like to live in groups for they wanted to be free from the associations of people in order to free themselves from ene­mies. They lived independently without depending on others for their daily needs. When the Spaniards came to the Philippines the island of Catanduanes was one of their objects of conquest. Bato proper at that time was populated by a few hun­dreds of people. When the natives heard of the sad and hateful coming of the Ameri­cans they thought of fighting. All the strong men prepared long spears, arrows fit their bows, and sharpened their bolos and got ready for the fight. The Spaniards on the other hand had shotguns and long sabers and powder. They had better arms than the natives. Shen the Spaniards went to conquer the place, they fired their shotguns In the place now Sipi. They burned some powder and there were loud explosions. The na­tives were very frightened. They feared they might all be killed. They decided not to fight but fled to the thick forest for safety. There was no fight. The Spaniards entered the town proper and found no enemy. The houses were left abandoned by the natives.

## History

When all the corners of the island of Catanduanes were reached by the Spa­nish soldiers and there were no more traces that the people of the place would wage arms against them they began to establish the government in the place. They placed under a "cabesa de barangay” or barrio lieuteneant. The whole island was placed under the "teniente governador" or lieutenant governor. The island was placed un­der the province of Albay who was headed by a governadorcillo” or a governor. The cabeza de barangay was subjected to the capitan, the capitan to the teniente gover­nador- and the teniente governador to the governadorcillo of Albay. Each organized his own government and has jurisdiction over his followers and subjects. Their organi­zation was under the close supervision of the Spanish soldiers. Some Spanish soldiers held the high positions and the government aet uo was military. The voice of the soldier reigned
At early morning on November 1, 2020, Super Typhoon Goni, locally known as Super Typhoon Rolly and the current record holder for the most intense landfalling tropical cyclone in terms of 1-minute maximum sustained winds, made landfall in the municipality and left widespread damage.

## Geography

Bato is located at the south-eastern portion of Catanduanes and is bounded on the north by the municipality of San Miguel; on the north-east by the municipality of Baras; on the east by the Philippine Sea; on the south by Cabugao Bay and on the west of Virac, the capital town of Catanduanes which is just 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) from Bato.

### Geological feature

Stability and permeability of basic rock formation could be seen in the geologic map the existence of fault line along barangays Oguis, Sipi, Binanuahan, Cabugao and San Andres. These areas are considered critical especially in terms of development as urban expansion. Like other municipalities in the province of Catanduanes, Bato has many mineral deposits like gold, manganese, coal and copper.

### Soil classification

The municipality of Bato is composed of five kinds of soils: hydrosol, mountain soil, alimodian clay loam, Louisiana clay, and San Miguel silt loam.

### Slope

The elevation rises from sea level to about 700 metres (2,300 ft) above sea level. The flat lands are mostly found along the coast of Cabugao Bay along the banks of the Bato River. These flat lands with a slope of 0-3% occupies an average area of 25-30% of the entire area of Bato. The Poblacion which is located along the eastern side of the Bato River is among the barangays having this slope, characterized to be level to nearly level land. However, due to its location, the Poblacion together with the adjoining barangays frequently suffer floods. The eastern portion of Bato which faces the Pacific Ocean has a slope ranging between 3-30% slope. These areas shield the lowlands of the municipality from the incoming winds of the Pacific. These areas are mostly planted with orchards, hard wood trees and abaca.

### Bato River

The Bato River stretches as far as Viga to Cabugao Bay. Once it was abundant in marine life but due to erosion and consistent flooding, the riverbed has been dumped with soil and this caused the river to get shallow and dry up. In the southern part of the Bato River is a delta, locally known as the Napo. Here farmers grow their agriculture such as peanuts, sweet potatoes, corn, beans, coconuts and palms. It is also the site for settling carabaos.
The river divides Bato into the east and west district. The Bato bridge, the longest in Bicol Region, spans the river from Barangay Tilis to Barangay Sipi. A modern bridge replaced the old bridge in Tilis which was damaged by Typhoon Angela in 1995.

### Barangays

Bato is politically subdivided into 27 barangays. Each barangay consists of puroks and some have sitios.
* Aroyao Pequeño
* Bagumbayan
* Banawang (Poblacion)
* Batalay
* Binanwahan
* Bote
* Buenavista
* Cabugao
* Cagraray
* Carorian
* Guinobatan
* Libjo
* Marinawa
* Mintay
* Oguis
* Pananaogan
* Libod (Poblacion)
* San Andres
* San Pedro
* San Roque
* Santa Isabel
* Sibacungan
* Sipi
* Talisay
* Tamburan (Poblacion)
* Tilis
* Ilawod (Poblacion)

### Climate

Climate data for Bato, Catanduanes :
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 27 (81) | 27 (81) | 28 (82) | 30 (86) | 31 (88) | 30 (86) | 29 (84) | 29 (84) | 29 (84) | 29 (84) | 28 (82) | 27 (81) | 29 (84) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 22 (72) | 22 (72) | 23 (73) | 24 (75) | 25 (77) | 25 (77) | 25 (77) | 25 (77) | 25 (77) | 24 (75) | 24 (75) | 23 (73) | 24 (75) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 138 (5.4) | 83 (3.3) | 74 (2.9) | 50 (2.0) | 108 (4.3) | 165 (6.5) | 202 (8.0) | 165 (6.5) | 190 (7.5) | 186 (7.3) | 188 (7.4) | 183 (7.2) | 1,732 (68.3) |
| Average rainy days | 16.8 | 11.9 | 13.5 | 13.8 | 20.5 | 25.2 | 27.4 | 26.2 | 26.1 | 24.7 | 20.7 | 18.5 | 245.3 |
| Source: Meteoblue ||||||||||||||
Like other towns in the pacific island, Bato is frequented by typhoons. This can happen up to 20 times per year, with some typhoons developing into really devastating calamities that can level entire towns. Flooding ensues in the Poblacion due to the river overflowing its banks.
Otherwise, the weather is a standard tropical weather, with the dry season settling in as early as January, and the wet season starting on June. Monsoon seasons pick up during the -ber months, in which the locals expect more typhoons to come.

## Demographics

In the 2020 census, the population of Bato, Catanduanes, was 21,748 people, with a density of 450 inhabitants per square kilometre or 1,200 inhabitants per square mile.

## Economy

Poverty incidence of Bato
* 10
* 20
* 30
* 40
* 2000 39.34
* 2003 28.42
* 2006 33.10
* 2009 30.89
* 2012 23.54
* 2015 34.11
* 2018 14.55
* 2021 18.34
* Source: Philippine Statistics Authority