# Subic, Zambales

Subic, officially the Municipality of Subic (Ilocano: Ili ti Subic; Tagalog: Bayan ng Subic, Kapampangan: Balen ning Subic), is a municipality in the province of Zambales, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 111,912 people.

## Etymology

The native Zambales inhabitants called the area Hubek, which means "head of a plough"; Spanish missionary priests mispronounced the name as Subiq. By the time of the American occupation, "Subiq" was mispronounced as Subig. Eventually, the name reverted to "Subiq", but the letter 'q' was replaced with 'c'.

## History
### Spanish colonial era

In 1572, Juan de Salcedo, the Mexico-born Spanish conquistador and grandson of Miguel Lopez de Legazpi, founded Zambales during his exploration of northern Luzon. Subic was founded in late 1607 by Augustinian friars headed by Rev. Fr. Rodrigo de San Miguel, and the natives in Subic were Christianized under Spanish rule.
In 1884 that declared Subic as "a naval port and the property appertaining there to set aside for naval purposes." Construction of an arsenal and ship repair yard ensued March 8 the following year, as ordered by the new settlers' Naval Commission. During the Philippine Revolution, a fleet led by the Cuban-Filipino Admiral Vicente Catalan seized the naval base at Subic from the Spanish for the First Philippine Republic. Subic Bay's potential as naval station was realized by the Americans. Commodore George Dewey and his men engaged in a battle that destroyed the Spanish Army in 1898, and the Americans took over Subic Bay on December 10, 1899.

### British invasion era

In September 1762, the British invaded the Philippines and took over the Spanish main naval base in Manila Bay. This prompted the Spanish military to scout for the next promising naval station. The expedition returned with the good news for the naval command - a natural bounty and deep waters at Subic Bay. King Alfonso XII issued a decree

### American invasion era

The Americans designated the Subic Bay area as a repair and supply naval base site in 1901. Two years later, US President Theodore Roosevelt declared 283.27 km$^2$ (109.37 sq mi) of land in Subic as a military reservation area; or more than half of Subic's land area at the time.

### Japanese occupation era

Subic, along with the Olongapo area suffered significant damage during the World War II and was repurposed by the Imperial Japanese Army as their own base during the Japanese occupation.

### Philippine independence

After World War II, Olongapo, a barrio of Subic that forms part of the US Military Reservations in the Subic area, was turned over to the Philippine government. Olongapo was converted to a municipality independent from Subic town through Executive Order No. 366 issued by President Carlos P. Garcia on December 7, 1959.

## Geography

Subic is located along the northern coast of Subic Bay. Portions of the town also form part of the Subic Special Economic and Freeport Zone.
Subic is 66 kilometres (41 mi) from Iba, 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) from Olongapo, and 138 kilometres (86 mi) from Manila.

### Barangays

Subic is politically subdivided into 16 barangays.  Each barangay consists of puroks and some have sitios.
* Aningway-Sacatihan
* Asinan (Poblacion)
* Asinan Proper
* Baraca-Camachile (Poblacion)
* Batiawan
* Calapacuan
* Calapandayan (Poblacion)
* Cawag
* Ilwas (Poblacion)
* Mangan-Vaca
* Matain
* Naugsol
* Pamatawan
* San Isidro
* Santo Tomas
* Wawandue (Poblacion)

### Climate

Subic has a tropical monsoon climate (Köppen climate classification Am). Subic's climate is no different from the other towns in eastern part of Luzon where rainy season runs from May to October, while the dry season is from November to April. The wettest month of the year is July with average monthly rainfall more than 755 millimetres (29.7 in) and the driest month is February with average monthly rainfall less than 5 millimetres (0.20 in). The highest ever recorded temperature in the area is 38.8 °C (101.8 °F) and the lowest is 17.9 °C (64.2 °F). The annual average temperature in the city is 27.9 °C (82.2 °F).
Climate data for Subic, Zambales (1992–2010, extremes recorded in Naval Air Station Cubi Point 1994–2012) :
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 35.2 (95.4) | 38.0 (100.4) | 36.5 (97.7) | 38.2 (100.8) | 38.8 (101.8) | 37.7 (99.9) | 36.2 (97.2) | 35.0 (95.0) | 35.7 (96.3) | 35.3 (95.5) | 34.7 (94.5) | 34.4 (93.9) | 38.8 (101.8) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 31.2 (88.2) | 32.1 (89.8) | 33.5 (92.3) | 34.5 (94.1) | 33.1 (91.6) | 31.7 (89.1) | 30.9 (87.6) | 30.4 (86.7) | 30.7 (87.3) | 31.6 (88.9) | 31.7 (89.1) | 31.0 (87.8) | 31.9 (89.4) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 26.8 (80.2) | 27.4 (81.3) | 28.5 (83.3) | 29.6 (85.3) | 29.1 (84.4) | 28.2 (82.8) | 27.7 (81.9) | 27.4 (81.3) | 27.5 (81.5) | 27.9 (82.2) | 27.8 (82.0) | 27.1 (80.8) | 27.9 (82.2) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 22.5 (72.5) | 22.7 (72.9) | 23.6 (74.5) | 24.8 (76.6) | 25.1 (77.2) | 24.8 (76.6) | 24.4 (75.9) | 24.4 (75.9) | 24.3 (75.7) | 24.2 (75.6) | 23.9 (75.0) | 23.2 (73.8) | 24.0 (75.2) |
| Record low °C (°F) | 17.9 (64.2) | 18.7 (65.7) | 19.8 (67.6) | 21.5 (70.7) | 21.5 (70.7) | 19.0 (66.2) | 20.0 (68.0) | 21.4 (70.5) | 21.0 (69.8) | 20.6 (69.1) | 20.6 (69.1) | 18.5 (65.3) | 17.9 (64.2) |
| Average rainfall mm (inches) | 6.0 (0.24) | 4.2 (0.17) | 16.1 (0.63) | 22.5 (0.89) | 416.8 (16.41) | 385.7 (15.19) | 759.7 (29.91) | 753.5 (29.67) | 695.8 (27.39) | 214.5 (8.44) | 81.9 (3.22) | 21.9 (0.86) | 3,378.6 (133.02) |
| Average rainy days (≥ 0.1 mm) | 2 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 12 | 17 | 23 | 24 | 21 | 13 | 8 | 5 | 132 |
| Average relative humidity (%) | 67 | 66 | 65 | 65 | 73 | 78 | 81 | 81 | 82 | 77 | 73 | 68 | 73 |
| Source: PAGASA ||||||||||||||

## Government
### Chief executives

This is the complete list of municipal leaders such as Mayor and Presidente Municipal since it became a municipality in 1902.
| Name | Term | Position |
| Placido dela Paz | 1902 – 1904 | Presidente Municipal |
| Salustiano Ponco | 1905 – 1908 | Presidente Municipal |
| Nicetas Lesaca | 1908 – 1910 | Presidente Municipal |
| Jorge Salang | 1911 – 1913 | Presidente Municipal |
| Jose Orozco Sr. | 1914 – 1916 | Presidente Municipal |
| Juan Juico | 1917 – 1919 | Presidente Municipal |
| Esteban Felicitas | 1920 – 1922 | Municipal Mayor |
| Pedro del Rosario | 1920 – 1922 | Municipal Mayor |
| Alfredo de Perio Sr. | 1923 – 1931 | Municipal Mayor |
| Numeriano Flores | 1932 – 1940 | Municipal Mayor |
| Cecilio Esteban | 1941 – 1943 | Municipal Mayor |
| Severino Salang | 1944 – 1946 | Municipal Mayor |
| Alfredo de Perio Jr. | 1944 – 1946 | Municipal Mayor |
| Leopoldo Lauzares | 1947 – 1948 | Municipal Mayor |
| Jose de Perio Sr. | 1948 – 1951 | Municipal Mayor |
| Alfredo Afable | 1952 – 1955 | Municipal Mayor |
| Cecilio Panaligan | 1956 – November 1959 | Municipal Mayor |
| Dangal Guevara | June 30, 1960 – 1986 | Municipal Mayor |
| Manuel M. Molina Jr. | 1986 | OIC Municipal Mayor (1st term) |
| Segundino Sandoval | 1986 | OIC Municipal Mayor |
| Manuel M. Molina Jr. | 1986 – June 30, 1998 | Municipal Mayor (2nd term) |
| Enrique F. Delgado | 1998 | Municipal Mayor |
| Leonardo 'Boy' Guevara | 1998 – June 30, 2001 | Municipal Mayor |
| Jeffrey D. Khonghun | June 30, 2001 – June 30, 2010 | Municipal Mayor |
| Jefferson F. Khonghun | June 30, 2010 – June 30, 2019 | Municipal Mayor |
| Jonathan John F. Khonghun | June 30, 2019 – present | Municipal Mayor |

## Demographics

In the 2020 census, the population of Subic was 111,912 people, with a density of 390 inhabitants per square kilometre or 1,000 inhabitants per square mile.

## Economy

Poverty incidence of Subic
* 10
* 20
* 30
* 40
* 2000 25.27
* 2003 14.65
* 2006 7.90
* 2009 11.49
* 2012 11.69
* 2015 18.89
* 2018 10.25
* 2021 31.29
* Source: Philippine Statistics Authority
Part of the town of Subic are within the jurisdiction of the Subic Freeport Zone which is managed by the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority. The revenue earned by the special economic zone is shared by seven municipalities including Subic town, and the city of Olongapo.

## Infrastructure
### Transportation
#### Roads

The primary road that connects Subic to the other parts of the town is the Olongapo-Bugallon Road. Most of the names of Subic's streets are based on the surnames of prominent residents or names of plants. Most of the roads in Subic are made of concrete and asphalt while others are still made of dirt.
Bypass roads such as the Govic Highway are also commonly used by motorists to travel from Barangay Matain to Barangay Manggahan. The roads are meant to reduce traffic in the town proper and are used by trucks going north of Castillejos and vice versa.
Another main road is the Philseco Road that ends from Barangay Asinan proper down to Seatrium Subic Shipyard (formerly Keppel Subic Shipyard and Philippine Shipyard and Engineering Corporation). The Govic Highway Extension runs from Castillejos down to Hanjin Shipyard and is exclusively used by its workers.

### Public Utilities
#### Electricity

Electricity services are provided by the cooperative-run Zambales II Electric Cooperative, Inc. (ZAMECO II) which covers an area from Subic all the way to Cabangan since 1972.

#### Water

Water services are provided by Subic Water District (SWD), not to be confused with Subic Water and Sewerage Company (Subic Water), which is a different water distribution company serving the neighboring city of Olongapo.

## Education
### College

* College of Subic Montessori
* Best Freeport College
* Metro Subic College
* Kolehiyo ng Subic (Public College)
Most of Private schools are operated by Catholic Institution except for colleges.