San Jose, Camarines Sur

San Jose, officially the Municipality of San Jose (Central Bikol: Banwaan kan San Jose; Tagalog: Bayan ng San Jose), is a municipality in the province of Camarines Sur, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 43,973 people.
San Jose has a total land area of 4,702.8146 hectares and is bounded in north by Lagonoy, south by Tigaon, east by Lagonoy Gulf, and west by Goa. The whole town is roughly 0.27% of the region's 1.76 million hectares; 0.89% of the total land area of Camarines Sur with an area of 526.680 square kilometers; and 2.26% of the total land area of the 4th Congressional District of Camarines Sur with an area of 207,596.71 hectares.
Formerly known as Patrocinio, it is located at the southern part of the province. It is a distance of about 55 kilometres (34 mi) from Naga City and 45 kilometres (28 mi) away from the town of Pili, the capital town of the province.
San Jose is politically subdivided into 29 barangays. Each barangay consists of puroks and some have sitios.
The municipality belongs to Type II Climate characterized by the absence of a dry season and very pronounced maximum rainfall from November to December. It is during these months that the Northeast monsoon season occurs and the tropical cyclones contribute to the increased rainfall in the area. In January and February, the effect of these air masses on rainfall is considerably radical. In addition to the north-east monsoon during the months of February and March, the trail winds traveling from East to West do not give significant increase of rainfall. Likely, the month of May is the transition period between the monsoon that is prevalent from June to September. During the south-west monsoon season, the linear system called the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITZ), brings the largest amount of rainfall to the area. In October, which is the transitive period between the south-west and north-east monsoons, the tropical cyclone brings considerable amount of rain.
The rainfall distribution in the municipality is greatly influenced by the air streams, tropical cyclones, the Intertropical Convergence Zone, shorelines, easterly waves and other rainfall-causing weather patterns. The rainfall season occurs from June to December with high rainfall intensity of 285.06mm to 474.22m and less rainfall intensity of 245.30mm to 224.06m from January to the month May which at the same time is the onset of effective rainfall with 75% probability and it would terminate in February of the following year which consequently during this period the mountainous areas receive higher intensity of rainfall. But the trend of monthly rainfall is unimodal (having one peak) and the maximum rain period is from October to December. On the other hand, the monthly average rainfall varies from 125.86mm to 594.56mm with a mean annual rainfall of 298.54mm.
The winds are influenced by the monsoon and the Pacific Trade System with Northeast direction that occurs in November to February; Easterly winds during the months of March, April, May and October; Southwest winds in June to August; and Westerly winds in September.
The maximum temperature during the month of January reaches about 27.9°C while 31.8 °C in November. The minimum temperature from December to June reaches about 20.6 °C to 24.5 °C; and the average monthly temperature is recorded at 25.0 °C in January to 27.9 °C in June.
Relative humidity is indicative of the amount of water vapor present in the atmosphere. Humidity in the Philippines as in the municipality of San Jose is high because of the warm moist air streams flowing over the archipelago, the surrounding seas, rich vegetation and abundant rainfall. The lowest average relative humidity occurs in May with 85.9%; highest in February with 93.4%; and the annual average humidity is 90% which is higher than the regional and national average of 82%.
The tropical cyclone is a climatic control that contributes largely to the rainfall from June to December. It was shown to usually cause maximum values of rainfall and winds as exemplified by the highest wind speed of 77 miles per second as recorded in Virac, Catanduanes areas during the height of Typhoon Sening in 1970.
The tropical cyclones are internationally classified with these depending on their maximum wind speed or peak wind velocities (V) as follows:
The cyclones affecting the Philippine islands originate from the Pacific Ocean East of the Islands between latitude 8 degrees North, 10 degrees South, traveling on a Westerly or Northwesterly course over the country. It has the highest sustained wind velocity of 6 knots in November to April and lowest sustained wind velocity of 4 knots in September. Note that the average cyclone that passes over mainland Bicol which include San Jose town is 3 cyclones for every 2 years.
The terrain of the municipality is characterized as level to gently rolling and sloping. About 91.96% is characterized as having a generally flat terrain with a slope 0-3% which is described to be level to nearly level. It practically covers the entire land area of the town except barangay Adiangao which is located along the mountain range of Caramoan Peninsula which has an undulating to rolling terrain with 8.04% portions of steep slopes.
The elevation of the municipality is roughly 92.55% low to very low with a mean elevation from 0–100 meters above sea level. Hence, low elevation is about 5.72% ranging from 100 to 300 meters above sea level as well as 1.73% with moderately high elevation ranging from 300 to 500 meters above sea level.
The major part of the municipal area is composed of Alluvium River Terraces which is particularly described as fluvicatile lacustrine alluvium composed of unsorted loosely consolidated pebbles, gravel, silt, coral debris and clay that can be found in flooded plains, riverbanks, sand bars, beaches, and tidal flats. It is notable that river terraces along the Lagonoy River and its tributaries which include also the Rangas River that practically originating from the foot of the Mount Isarog account for about 90.69% or 4,264.9826 hectares of the total land area of the municipality while the rest is of igneous and metamorphic rock origin of which volcanoclast alluvial fans cover about 0.19% or 8.94 hectares. These are specifically found in barangays Catalotoan and Salogon. Note that volcanoclast is a thick and extensive pyroclastic material consists of ashes, cinder lapili, tuff agromerate and volcanic debris while alluvial fans consists only of worked pyroclastics.
Source: Municipal Comprehensive Landuse Plan & Zoning Ordinance (2000-2010)
On the other hand, barangay Adiangao is composed of igneous and metamorphic rocks classified as Basement Complex. It is characterized as highly fractured and folded complex consisting of quartzite, quartzatedspathit and mica schists that cover roughly 5.26% or 247.37 hectares. Meanwhile, the lower part of the place is composed of sedimentary rocks known as crystalline limestone which covers about 3.86% or 181.53 hectares. Crystalline limestone is an extensive transgressive rectal carbonated facies including wall preserved bushes of corals, megafossils and algae structure, detritae to fuffacious limestone showing well developed karst landforms or formation that can be found prevalent in the Caramoan Peninsula.
The many landforms found in the municipality have been the natural production of the different geographical pressures of the different structural land forms such as alluvial lowland, alluvial fans, sedimentary plateau or masses of residual slopes and thick sedimentary landscapes. Most of its territorial areas are best characterized by broad alluvial plans described as level to nearly level, and moderately well-drained terraces. The level to undulating plains are the product of paludal environment or deltaic plains which are usually being flooded during slight and heavy downpours.
On the other hand, Barangay Adiangao is characterized by Shale/Sandstone Hills (SSH) which is described to be undulating to rolling, slightly to moderately dissected, and moistly top-rounded hills, both are low and high relief. Likewise, steep slopes are dissected closely with each other particularly those with greater than 18 inclinations. Meanwhile, V-shaped valleys are noted to have been composed and dominated by sandstone. Likewise, landforms in barangays Dolo, Sabang, part of Minoro, Manzana and Tagas are noted to be flat with very poorly drained terrains and oftentimes affected by floods caused by high tides. The coastal plains are most commonly swarmed with mangroves, nipa plants, break rides, swales and tidal flats.
The municipality is composed of 5 major types of Land Management Units (LMUs) which are classified into 2 forms, namely: Warm Lowland and Warm Cool Hillyland. They are enumerated and explained below.
Warm Lowland:
Warm Cool Hillyland:
The soil map reveals that the municipality is composed of 9 soil types, namely:
It is also noted that the soil composition of the low-lying areas is rich loamy characterized as broad alluvial plains. However, the inherent soil fertility is generally moderate because of the moderate levels of calcium and magnesium contents that would be adequate for normal growth of crops. Meanwhile, the solids of the coastal plains are generally deep to poorly drained while beach ridges are shallow, coarse and loamy. These areas are noted to be moderately fertile due to low organic matter content; while some areas are poorly drained and prone to tidal floods usually occurring in barangays Sabang, Dolo, and Kinalansan.
On the other hand, soils that came from shales and sandstones can be found in barangay Adiangao. These are noted to be moderately shallow to moderately deep, fine loamy to clayey. Generally, it is high in fertility brought about by adequate levels of soil reaction, organic matter content, and permeability. However, soil limitations may include heavy texture, erosion hazard, surface stoniness as well as the presence of rock outcrops and shallow soils.
The lands that are prone to erosion account for about 8.04% of the total land area and they have slopes ranging from 30%-50%. However, the erosion map of the municipality revealed that only 8.49% of the total land area are observed to be slightly eroded while no apparent erosion occurred in the rest of the territory.
Source: MPT Estimates
It has been noted that most of the municipal area or 92.14% is free from the hazards of flooding. However, there is a slight seasonal flooding or about 1.67% that usually occur in barangay Minoro and in the northern part of Dolo which covers about 78.54 hectares. The flood reaches a depth of less than 0.5 to 1.0 meter after heavy downpour. It would usually recede within 12 hours to a maximum of one day. Likewise, seasonal flooding is moderately experienced in some portions of barangays Dolo, Manzana, Kinalansan, Telegrafo and Calalahan with a depth of about 0.75 to 1.50 meters which would usually recedes within a few days only.
Source: Municipal Comprehensive Landuse Plan & Zoning Ordinance (2000-2010)
There are a number of creeks and rivers that crisscross the municipality and all draining towards Lagonoy Gulf. These bodies of water are being feed by spring sources from Mt. Isarog. These rivers and creeks are most frequently being utilized not only for irrigation purposes of existing paddies but also for the day to day human activities such as bathing and washing.
The municipality has a total length of shoreline along Lagonoy Gulf of 11.30 km. which is about 3.15% of the 358.70 km. of shoreline found within the 4th District of Camarines Sur. The fine beach sand in the area makes it suitable for natural harbors as well as refuge for ships and motorbancas during the peak of weather disturbances. Moreover, a variety of marine life and species are notably abounding in the municipal waters that provided a rich source of livelihood among coastal families. At present, there are two separate municipal ports, one located in barangay Sabang and the San Jose Fishing Port in Sitio Talisay, of barangay Dolo. They most frequently served as docking points for both inter-island passenger motorbancas and fishing vessels operating in Lagonoy Gulf.
The entire land area of San Jose with 4,702.8146 hectares is classified as alienable and disposable. The existing land use and vegetation is composed of 62.04% for Paddy rice irrigated with 90-100% dominant land use; 26.48% for Coconuts; 7.33% for Build-up areas; 2.54% for Mangrove-tree type; and 1.61% for Beach sand.
Source: Municipal Comprehensive Landuse Plan & Zoning Ordinance (2000-2010)
The primelands of the municipality have been categorized into three (3), namely: Agricultural, Forestry, and Miscellaneous areas.
Source: Municipal Comprehensive Landuse Plan & Zoning Ordinance (2000-2010)
The agricultural areas is composed of about 82.09% or 3,860.54 hectares consisting the 2,918.0965 hectares of irrigated paddy riceland and 942.4440 hectares of coconut plantation. Forestry areas cover 414.7883 hectares, of which about 3.51% or 14.5787 hectares each compose the preservation forest and agro-forestry areas; while 19.61% or 81.3587 hectares are both mangrove trees and nipa plants categorized also as preservation areas. On the other hand, built-up areas is only about 7.05% of 331.5484 hectares of the total land area of the municipality.
Furthermore, based on the Pedo-ecological Zone Map of the town, around 90.13% or 4,238.6468 hectares of the total land area are under the warm lowland zone with a slope not greater than 8% and elevation of 100 meters above sea level. In the same context, about 8.35% or 392.6850 hectares are categorized as warm cool hilly land, usually found in barangay Adiangao; and miscellaneous areas composed the so-called Miscellaneous areas which is about 1.52% or with a land area of about 71.4828 hectares.
Meantime, the details on pedo-ecological zone based on the total land area can be found in the table below:
Source: Municipal Comprehensive Landuse Plan & Zoning Ordinance (2000-2010)
Based on the table below, the Land Use Opportunity Map of the municipality indicate that there are four classes of land use opportunity available which include 83.76% or 3,939.08 hectares for active agricultural areas; 5.18% or 243.61 hectares for rehabilitation areas; 2.17% or 102.05 for wetland areas; and 8.89% or 418.08 hectares for miscellaneous land usage. More specifically, the active agricultural areas though used for agricultural cultivation can be intended for complementary uses for human settlements and infrastructure development such as the construction of roads, bridges, and irrigation facilities. Meanwhile, the miscellaneous land areas may also include the built-up areas, river wash and other miscellaneous land usages.
Source: Municipal Comprehensive Landuse Plan & Zoning Ordinance (2000-2010)
The agricultural land areas composed about 88.52% of the total land area or 4,162.9315 hectares are planted with both palay and coconut trees. On the other hand, the wetland areas cover about 2.54% of the total land areas with 119.4515 hectares and 1.61% composed the sandy beaches with the land area of 75.7153 hectares; while about 7.33% or 344.7163 hectares consisted the built-up land areas. Details are shown in the table below:
Source: Municipal Comprehensive Landuse Plan & Zoning Ordinance (2000-2010)
The municipality has been endowed with a variety of mineral resources because of its diverse geological terrain which are partly located within the mountain ranges of Caramoan Peninsula. It has been known that the marble deposit in barangay Adiangao has an estimated volume of 71,772,912 metric tons; and it has been contained along the Maangas-Adiangao area and believed to be suitable for dimension stones.
There is noted also a considerable amount of deposit of "guano" inside the Adiangao Caves. On the other hand, high quality sand, gravels and boulders are abundantly found along the Rangas River traversing barangays Bagacay, Mampirao, Pugay, Calalahan, Tambangan and Calawit.
The parallel location of the Bicol Volcanic Belt, or Philippine Fault Zone, to the Deep Philippine Trench practically contributed to the triangulated distribution of events with faults or volcanic abnormalities within the earthquake belts in the Bicol Region. It has been observed that the Bicol Volcanic Belt or Chain had a span of 240 km. from Camarines Norte in the North down to Sorsogon in the South with a total of 16 volcanoes separately spread over by about 24 km. apart and rested parallel along the 200 km. chain west of the Philippine Trench, which is the major source of earthquake in the region. The trench can be described as a long, narrow, and generally steep-sided very deep depression in the ocean floor. The axis of a trench marks, the position of a subduction zone where old oceanic lithospheric plates begin their descent into the Earth's interior.
In 1987, a study was conducted which reveals that the Bicol Region particularly the location of San Jose is a part prone to earthquakes of intensify 5 from the above-cited source zones. Based on the frequency of volcanic eruptions that occurred in the region, there are three prominent volcanoes which are considered to be active, namely: Mt. Mayon, Mt. Bulusan, and Mt. Iriga (Asog). The latter is the nearest to the Municipality of San Jose.
Mount Iriga (Asog) has a peak of 1,143 meters above sea level and classified to be "stratovolcanoe" or it has a composite cone like that of Mt. Mayon and last record of eruption was in 1628 A.D. which eventually damned the Barit River but consequently created the Lake Buhi, the home of the smallest fish in the world with scientific name Pandaka pygmaea locally known as "tabios."
In the 2020 census, the population of San Jose, Camarines Sur, was 43,973 people, with a density of 1,000 inhabitants per square kilometre or 2,600 inhabitants per square mile.
The population projection was computed based on Geometric formula resulting to an average annual increase of 2.62%. Based on projections, the ten most populated barangays will be composed of Calalahan, Sabang, Salogon, Kinalansan, Dolo, Pugay, Tagas, Danlog, Tambangan, and Mampirao. As computed, the population projection by age group 22–35 years old registered the highest percentage share at 17.45% followed by 10-14 age cohort by 13.62%; 36–45 years old by 10.31%; 46–59 years old by 8.99%; and 7–9 years old by 8.85%.
In San Jose, there are more males than females. Males outnumbered the females by 0.82%. The computed gender ratio is 1.02% or equivalent to 102 males for every 100 females.
Poverty incidence of San Jose
Majority of the households are engaged in farming, livestock raising (either backyard or commercial scale), or in fishing. Some are employed in the government and private offices and others are engaged in business, trading or are self-employed.
A number of agro-related industries are present in San Jose, including welding shops, manufacturers of threshers, hand tractor, cart and plows, ice making and cold storage facilities, rural banks, and several rice mills.
Local products include:
The commercial activities of the town are considered as small-scale with capitalization ranging from ₱50,000 to ₱5,000,000 only. About 60.75% of the 48 business establishments are general stores. Other commercial establishments include palay traders, cono ricemill, feed dealers, bakeries, welding shops, vulcanizing shops, photo studio, cable TV operators, gasoline stations, balcksmith, textile, rural bank and drugstores.
The municipal public market located at barangay Boclod has a total of 112 stalls with sizes ranging from 4x6 meters to 2.75 and 2.25 meters or an area per stall of 6.87 sq.m. to 24 sq.m. Some stalls have already been occupied/rented while others remained vacant.
The proximity of the town to Goa which is considered as the major trading center in the Partido District , and the low population level and the population growth rate of the municipality are considered to be the reasons for the underdevelopment of commerce and trade. Aside from the small market base, most of the consumers prefer to shop in Goa where a more complete array of goods and services can be found.
Many prominent men took turns in holding the reins of the government from 1813 up to 1903 as Capitan Municipal, Juez de la Paz and Maestro Municipal, and their names and year(s) of service can be found printed at the walls of the lobby of the municipal building.
In the history of the local chief executives, the only woman elected as mayor was Salvacion R. Valer from 1960 to 1963.
Spanish period Capitan Municipal:
Jueces (judges):
Juez de sementera y de policia:
Maestros municipal:
American regime Presidents:
Justice of peace:
Mayors:
San Jose is endowed with natural tourism spots that, when fully developed, could possibly generate additional income for the municipality. This includes the numerous beaches with crystalline clear water along the coastline of Lagonoy Gulf and the Adiangao Cave at barangay Adiangao.
Capitano Municipal Venancio Peñas initiated the building of the municipal hall in 1877.
The church was built during the Spanish era.
The large monument of Christ the King (Cristo Rey) can be found at the church patio. It was donated by Primitiva Ortiz Obias and inaugurated on October 27, 1952.
The convent was built later than the church.
During World War II, the convent was known to have served as the headquarters of the American Volunteer Soldiers while the pavement was used as the jail. In 1988, the convent was converted into a preparatory seminary. In fact, its size made Archbishop Leonardo Legaspi decide to convert it into a Pre-College Seminary purposely to accommodate the growing need of the Holy Rosary Minor Seminary for a formation house.
The municipality has a total of 98.046 kilometers road length consisting of the National, Provincial, Municipal and Barangay roads. Approximately 6.730 kilometers or 6.864% of the total road length are classified as National roads, 24.830 kilometers or 25.3248% are provincial roads, 4.920 kilometers or 5.018% are Municipal roads and 61.566 kilometers or 62.793% are barangay roads with varying road conditions.
There are 18 bridges existing in the area, the longest of which is located in barangay Pugay, a reinforced concrete deck girder (RCDA), one in Mampirao, Salogon, and the rest are Spanish-type bridges that are made of bricks and reinforced concrete, spillways and footbridges.
The Partido water supply system of the Partido Development Administration (PWSS-PDA) Level III supplies the potable water. It has its water source from Lagonoy. There are 6 pipe connections from the poblacion area to the barangays of Camagong, Danlog, part of Boclod, Kinalansan, Manzana, Telegrafo, Dolo, and Sabang. The rest of the people are dependent from the artesian wells particularly in barangays along Lagonoy Gulf; as well as deepwells, shallow wells, and improved springs.
As of 2010, the entire municipality has already been energized by the Camarines Sur IV Electric Cooperative (CASURECO IV). The latter supplies energy to approximately 3,260 residential connections as shown in the table below:
There are at least 3 entities that provide the communications needs of the LGU. They are the Philippine Postal Corporation, Bayantel Group of Companies, Smart, and Globe Telecom Companies. The most common source of information, entertainment, and news is the broadcast media. All frequency signals of AM and FM radio stations based in Naga City, Legazpi City and Iriga City reached the area.
The table shows the household by type of sanitary toilet facilities being used:
The following were recorded parish priests of St. Joseph Parish: for the municipalities in the Third District of Camarines Sur.