Larena, officially the Municipality of Larena (; ), is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

in the

province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

Siquijor Siquijor ( , ), officially the Province of Siquijor (; ), is a Philippines, Philippine Provinces of the Philippines, island province (List of islands of the Philippines, the third smallest in the country, in terms of population and land area) ...

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 14,454 people. Larena is the former capital of the province of

. It is from

History

Canoan, which was how Larena was known during the Spanish period, had long been a flourishing township. It was mainly due to this fact that the Spanish authorities developed it into a capital town or ''cabecera'' for the whole island of Siquijor.

American Period

With the coming of the Americans at the turn of the century, Canoan still was regarded as a ''cabecera'' where lieutenant governor James Fugate, the first American governor of Siquijor, held office for sixteen years ending in 1916. In the same year, the authorities in Manila, acting on the recommendation of local authorities officially declared Canoan as a capital town. During his term which began in 1901, Governor Demetrio Larena, the first Filipino governor for Negros Oriental and Siquijor, changed the name of Canoan to Larena, his own name, which was duly approved by the Philippine legislature. From then on until the declaration of martial law in 1972, several people shared the mayoral seat after every four years. Albito was followed by Restituto Calibo. Then Antonio Albito again. In the following election, he was replaced by Herbert Calibo, who in turn was followed by Soledado Lumosad. Juanito Calibo followed and stayed for most of the martial law era and again succeeded by Herbert Calibo. The post-

EDSA Revolution The People Power Revolution, also known as the EDSA Revolution or the February Revolution, were a series of popular Demonstration (people), demonstrations in the Philippines, mostly in Metro Manila, from February 22 to 25, 1986. There was a ...

Dr. Remedios Albito served as mayor followed by Gold L. Calibo then Dean S. Villa. All through the years, spanning the time before and after the war, Larena maintained its position as the hub of business activities in the province. The small but safe port of Larena is a strategic port of call for merchant ships from major cities in Central Visayas and Northern Mindanao. It is home to two commercial banks and a rural bank. Nationally known commercial establishments usually set their shops here.

Geography

Barangays

Larena is politically subdivided into 23 barangays. Each barangay consists of

purok A ''purok'' () is an informal division within a barangay in the Philippines. While not officially considered a local government unit (LGU), a ''purok'' often serves as a unit for delivering services and administration within a barangay. ''Pur ...

s and some have

sitios A ''sitio'' (Spanish language, Spanish for "site") in the Philippines is a territorial enclave that forms part of a barangay. Typically rural, a ''sitios location is usually far from the center of the barangay itself and could be its own bar ...

. Notes

Climate

Demographics

Economy

Transportation

The Port of Larena is the main gateway to Siquijor Island as it is the largest port. It can accommodate ships up to 1,000 tons. Lite Ferries provides service from Larena to

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in Bohol,

Cebu City Cebu City, officially the City of Cebu, is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Central Visayas region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 964,169 people, making ...

, and Plaridel in Misamis Occidental. Maayo Shipping provides service from Larena to Liloan in

Santander, Cebu Santander, officially the Municipality of Santander (; ), is a municipality in the province of Cebu, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 18,527 people. It serves as one of the sea ports connecting to the province ...

and Bato in

Samboan, Cebu Samboan, officially the Municipality of Samboan (; ), is a municipality in the province of Cebu, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 20,373 people. History Samboan is popularly known as an abbreviation of the word ...

Education

One of the remaining bright spots of the town of Larena is the continuous evolution of one of its educational institutions. The Larena sub-provincial High School, another landmark, evolved to become the Larena National Vocational School and then the Larena National Vocational College, drawing to its fold a great number of young people from all over the province and neighboring provinces. On 3 March 1995, LNVC was converted into a state college now known as Siquijor State College (SSC). In 2006, a second campus was named SSC-Lazi campus in the town of Lazi. The public schools in the town of Larena are administered by one school district under th
Schools Division of Siquijor
Elementary schools: * Basac Elementary School — Basac * Candigum Elementary School — Candigum * New Bataan Elementary School — Cang-apa * New Corregidor Elementary School — Calunasan * Nonoc Elementary School — Nonoc * Ponong Elementary School — Ponong High schools: * Basac National High School — Basac Integrated schools: *Cabulihan Integrated School — Cangmalalag *Larena Integrated School (formerly ''Larena CES'') — Helen

Gallery

Larena Bay and Town.JPG, Larena Bay and town from Triad Hill Siquijor - Sandugan Beach.jpg, Sandugan Beach in Larena, Siquijor Larena Port 01.JPG, The ferry port of Larena Old Capitol of Siquijor Province.jpg, Old Provincial Capitol of Siquijor St. Vincent Ferrer Bell Tower.JPG, San Vicente Ferrer Church Bell Tower

References

External links

Philippine Standard Geographic Code The Philippine Standard Geographic Code (PSGC) is a systematic classification and coding for geographic areas in the Philippines. It classifies areas based on the country's four levels of administrative divisions: regions, provinces, municipalities ...

{{Authority control Municipalities of Siquijor Former provincial capitals of the Philippines