Ormoc

Ormoc(IPA:[ʔoɾˈmok]), officially theCity of Ormoc(Cebuano:Dakbayan sa Ormoc;Waray:Syudad han Ormoc;Filipino:Lungsod ng Ormoc), is aindependent component cityin theEastern Visayasregion of thePhilippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 230,998 inhabitants,making it the second most-populous city in theprovince of Leyteafter the provincial capital ofTacloban. Ormoc is the economic, cultural, commercial and transportation hub of western Leyte.
Ormoc is an independent component city, not subject to regulation from the Provincial Government of Leyte. However, the city is part of the4th Congressional District of Leytetogether withAlbuera,Kananga,Merida,PalomponandIsabel, and statistically grouped under the province by thePhilippine Statistics Authority. On November 8, 2013, the city was extensively damaged bySuper Typhoon Yolanda(Haiyan), having previously suffered severe destruction and loss of life in 1991 from torrential flooding duringTropical Storm Thelma(Uring).
The city's name is derived fromogmok, anarchaic Visayanterm for "lowland" or "depressed plain".The city also celebrates an annual thanksgiving festival called thePiña Festivalin honor of the saints Peter and Paul in thanks for the bountiful pineapple harvest.
This place was used during theSpanish occupationand the migration of the neighboring towns to settle in the more fertile plains of Ormoc. Much of the settler in the town were theMalayans. These people had a constant trading with theChinese,JavansandIndonesians.  Their living, however, was always threatened by the attack of theMoro pirates. It is said that the people in Ormoc developed a warning system communication through people manning watch towers to inform and warn the people of the coming of these pirates.
July 16, 1595,Jesuit missionariesarrived in Leyte. On May 1597, a mission in Ormoc was established by these missionaries. That year, the locals were converted to Christianity. Their years of peace was shortly felt when in year 1634, a ruler ofSuluby the name ofRaja Bungsucaptured 300 natives from Ormoc after the invasion of the notorious pirates in the town. The towns ofSogod,Kabalian,InopacanandBaybaywere also invaded and plundered. More locals of Ormoc still fought Raja and his men but because they were outnumbered, they were massacred up to the last man.
Ormoc is a hotbed of revolutionaries seeking independence from Spanish rule. The revolutionary leaderFaustino Ableninspired locals to join thePulahan Movement.
In 1903, the municipality ofAlbuerawas consolidated into Ormoc.
After theJapanese Occupationand a rule ofSecond Philippine Republic. Ormoc is a garrison of small divisions of theImperial Japanese Army. With the Allies near the City. Japan begin to reinforce the city and theBattle of Ormoc Baybegins. The city is liberated afterwards.
Ormoc became a city by virtue ofRepublic Act No. 179on October 20, 1947, becoming the fifteenth city in the Philippines and the first in theEastern Visayasregion.
Kanangawas 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.
On the morning of November 5, 1991, the Ormoc region was inundated byTropical 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.None of the 3,000 missing persons were ever found and are now presumed dead.Illegal loggingandkaingin(slash-and-burn farming) were blamed as the reasons of the flood.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.
On November 5, 2011, a monument by national artist Francis Cinco commemorating the 20th anniversary of the event was inaugurated.It sits on top of the mass grave at the Ormoc City Public Cemetery where an estimated 4,900 victims are buried.The sculpture, entitled "Gift of Life", is an abstract depicting a life taken to heaven.
On November 7, 2013, Typhoon Haiyan, one of the most powerfultropical cyclonesever recorded, made a landfall in the Philippines. While it killed far fewer people as Tropical Storm Uring, it left widespread devastation to the city with destruction and damages in 90% of its structures.
On January 19, 2021, the City Council enactedOrdinance 52 Series of 2021to merge the numberedbarangays(all inPoblacion) and renaming them:
The ordinance require a plebiscite and the determination of an affirmation will be based on the majority vote of the proposed administrative subdivision and not a majority vote per barangay. This is to avoid creation ofenclavesandexclaves. Then mayorRichard Gomezapproved the ordinance on January 22, 2021. On June 22, 2022, theCommission on ElectionsthroughResolution No. 10796set the plebiscite on October 8.
The plebiscite was held at the Ormoc City Central School, with 35 polling precincts, wherein 10,209 registered voters from 29 barangays were expected to participate. With a voter turnout of more than half, majority of them approved the reorganization.
Ormoc City is a port city and is the largest city in Leyte by land area and the second-largest in Eastern Visayas afterCalbayogin Samar. At the head ofOrmoc Bay, the city's terrain is mostly of gently rolling plains. It is bounded on the northwest by the towns ofMatag-obandMerida, in the north byKanangaandCarigara, in the northeast by the towns ofJaro,PastranaandDagami, and in the south by the town ofAlbuera. 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.
Ormoc is politically subdivided into 85barangays. Each barangay consists ofpuroksand some havesitios.
The number had reduced from 110 upon ratification of an ordinance merging 29 of them to four.
The natives of this city arecalledOrmocanons, with most beingCebuanospeakers, as with the whole western and southern parts of the island of Leyte. A definite number ofWarayspeakers is also present within the city.
Like most Filipinos, Ormocanons are predominantlyRoman Catholic, and the city celebrates itsannual fiestain honour of the patron saintsSaint PeterandSaint Paulon June 28 and 29. Other main Catholic holy days, including the local fiestas of barangays, are observed throughout the year. There is also a visibleMuslimminority within the city and all over the island, evidenced by the mosques within the cityscape and most of them areMaranaosfrom the twin provinces ofLanao del NorteandLanao del Surin Mindanao.
Poverty Incidence of Ormoc
Ormoc's economic base is a mix of agriculture, aquaculture, industry, tourism, and commercial services. Sugar cane, rice and pineapple are the major agricultural production.
The city enjoys economic growth because it supplies a large part of the country's power needs with its abundantgeothermal power resourcesfrom the Tongonan Geothermal Power Plant in Barangay Tongonan and the neighbouringKanangatown. Ormoc is also the gateway to the Leyte Industrial Development Estate in the nearby town ofIsabel, 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.
Among sites visited by the city's tourist are:
The Port of Ormoc serves as the seaport of the city. For air transport,Ormoc Airportserves the city, although no regular commercial flights fly to this airport.Daniel Z. Romualdez AirportinTaclobanis the closest airport with commercial flights.
Ormoc hosts the biggest power plant in Southeast Asia - the Tongonan Geothermal Power in Barangay Tongonan which supplies electricity not only in theEastern Visayas Regionbut power demand inLuzonandMindanaoas well.
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 Saint Peter's College of Ormoc, aBenedictine-run Catholic college and the oldest, followed by Western Leyte College of Ormoc City, Inc.,a private non-sectarian college. In the 1980s-1990s, the city saw the establishment of Santo Niño College of Ormoc,Saint Paul's School of Ormoc Foundation, Inc.and theSTI College - Ormoc. In the 2000s, tertiary institutions founded wereACLC College of Ormoc, San Lorenzo Ruiz College of Ormoc,Ormoc City Institute of Technology(OCIT) and the Ormoc campus of theEastern Visayas State University.
Ormoc also has their own Chinese school which is Ormoc Se San School.