Agutaya

Agutaya
Municipality
Municipality of Agutaya
Agutaya island, and small Eke island in the foreground
Flag Seal
Map of Palawan with Agutaya highlighted
OpenStreetMap
Agutaya Location within the Philippines
Coordinates: 11°09′07″N120°56′23″E / 11.151983°N 120.939647°E / 11.151983; 120.939647
Country	Philippines
Region	Mimaropa
Province	Palawan
District	1st district
Founded	1916
Barangays	10 (see Barangays)
Government   [1]
• Type	Sangguniang Bayan
•  Mayor	Perla C. Bacuel
•  Vice Mayor	Fernando G. Ilustrisimo Sr.
•  Representative	Franz Josef George E. Alvarez
•  Municipal Council	Members Joey B. Zumaraga Henry G. Aban Rodil O. Dacuan Nena R. Abela Godofredo M. Zumaraga Jr. Elpedio D. Zumaraga Jr. Ronnie A. Laab Arlito B. Bacosa Jr.
•  Electorate	7,815 voters (2025)
Area [2]
• Total	37.31 km2 (14.41 sq mi)
Elevation	0 m (0 ft)
Highest elevation	250 m (820 ft)
Lowest elevation	0 m (0 ft)
Population  (2024 census) [3]
• Total	13,351
• Density	360/km2 (930/sq mi)
•  Households	3,174
Economy
•  Income class	5th municipal income class
•  Poverty incidence	23.28 % (2021) [4]
•  Revenue	₱ 100.7 million (2022)
•  Assets	₱ 237.8 million (2022)
•  Expenditure	₱ 71.46 million (2022)
•  Liabilities	₱ 41.94 million (2022)
Service provider
• Electricity	Palawan Electric Cooperative (PALECO)
Time zone	UTC+8 (PST)
ZIP code	5320
PSGC	1705302000
IDD  :  area code	+63 (0)48
Native languages	Agutaynen Cuyonon Palawano Tagalog

Agutaya, officially the Municipality of Agutaya (Tagalog : Bayan ng Agutaya), is a municipality in the province of Palawan, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 12,867 people. ^[5]

An island municipality, it is the eastern part of the Cuyo Archipelago in the Sulu Sea, and covers several islands, including its namesake Agutaya Island, which is the second largest island of the Cuyo archipelago, ^[6] as well as Diit, Halog, Maracanao, Matarawis (also spelled Matarabis), Eke, and Quiniluban islands.

Etymology

The former name of the town was Agutayan before it was Agutaya. Agutayan was derived from the word agunan, a certain root crop that grew abundantly in the wild which was considered as the most important food of the inhabitants in the region. The two syllables, "agu" and "yan" with "ta" meaning "here" were formed into "agu-ta-yan" which became a word that came to mean that there were a lot of agunan in that place. In the course of time, the -n was dropped from Agutayan and the name came to be called Agutaya. ^[7]

History

Precolonial and Spanish era

Oral history suggested that Agutaya may have existed in precolonial times. After the Spanish conquest, Agutaya was an independent barrio of Cuyo, with its officials appointed by the gobernadorcillo of Cuyo. To Christianize the Agutayanens, they built a church in 1683 called the Church of St. John the Baptist, which turned into a parish in 1692. One of the most important things that happened during this period were the Moro attacks, most notably in 1636, forcing the Spanish authorities to remodel the church into a fort. It was headed by the townspeople and the encomendero Antonio de Rojas, and started the construction in 1700, completing it in 1748. Since then, it was known as the Agutaya Fort or the Baluarte de San Juan Bautista. The church was used as the town's evacuation and emergency center during World War II. ^{[7] [8] [9] [10] [11]}

Revolutionary era

In 1898, Emilio Aguinaldo became the President of the First Philippine Republic. To secure his control over Palawan, he sent General Esteban Kausapen to Palawan to liberate the region from Spanish control. He first entered Agutaya from Mindoro where the people offered no resistance, but the Spanish priest fled to Cuyo. No lives nor property were destroyed and Kausapen's authority collected tribute from the people in the form of rice, cows, pigs, and chickens. Some Agutayanos joined as soldiers. ^[7]

American era

Sometime between 1900-1904, an American soldier was sent in the town to teach reading, writing and arithmetic, leading to the establishment of the first English school in Agutaya. It was established as a permanent municipality in 1916 and the people were allowed to vote for their public officials. In 1917, when the United States joined World War I, many Agutayano enlisted as National Guards under Captain Vicente Fernandez of Cuyo. However, they were unable to go as Germany surrendered before they could even leave the country. ^[7]

World War II

During the war, Gaudencio Abordo, an Agutayano, became renowned for becoming the Governor of Free Palawan, leading a guerrilla movement along with other leaders. During this war, two sailboats were lost. One came from Mindoro and out of the 60 men only 4 survived. Another sailboat was hired by lepers from Culion who wanted to return home to Panay and Negros Island. When they arrived in San Jose in Antique, they were ordered by the Japanese government to return to Culion. They were reluctant so they anchored at San Pedro near San Jose. When they arrived, the Japanese machine gunned all of them and set the sailboat on fire. ^[7]

Geography

Map of Agutaya

Agutaya island, and small Eke island in the foreground.

Agutaya Island is the second largest of the Cuyo group with an area of about 4.5 square miles (12 km²). The north-eastern part is hilly. Four peaks tower over the island. The middle and highest of the four peaks, 885 feet (270 m) high, is covered with cogon grass (Imperata arundinacea), the others are wooded. ^[6]

Native sailboats used to be unable to sail to and from the nearby island of Cuyo (only 20 miles away), due to the strength of the monsoon, either the Northwest monsoon in wintertime, or the Southwest monsoon in summer. ^[12]

Volcano

Agutaya is an inactive volcano, 120 metres (390 ft) ASL, located at 11°09′N120°57′E / 11.150°N 120.950°E / 11.150; 120.950 , in the province of Palawan in the Philippines.

Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) lists Agutaya as inactive. ^[13]

Barangays

Agutaya is politically subdivided into 10 barangays. Each barangay consists of puroks and some have sitios.

• Abagat (Poblacion)
• Algeciras
• Bangcal (Poblacion)
• Cambian (Poblacion)
• Concepcion
• Diit
• Maracañao
• Matarawis
• Villa Fria
• Villa Sol

Climate

Climate data for Agutaya, Palawan
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Mean daily maximum °C (°F)	29 (84)	30 (86)	30 (86)	31 (88)	31 (88)	30 (86)	29 (84)	29 (84)	29 (84)	29 (84)	29 (84)	29 (84)	30 (85)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F)	23 (73)	23 (73)	23 (73)	24 (75)	25 (77)	25 (77)	24 (75)	24 (75)	24 (75)	24 (75)	24 (75)	24 (75)	24 (75)
Average precipitation mm (inches)	45 (1.8)	34 (1.3)	62 (2.4)	64 (2.5)	127 (5.0)	159 (6.3)	172 (6.8)	147 (5.8)	167 (6.6)	182 (7.2)	172 (6.8)	88 (3.5)	1,419 (56)
Average rainy days	12.1	9.4	13.0	14.3	22.7	26.9	28.0	26.4	27.0	27.0	22.7	17.8	247.3
Source: Meteoblue [14]

Demographics

Population census of Agutaya

Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1918 3,085 —     1939 3,866 +1.08% 1948 4,846 +2.54% 1960 4,334 −0.93% 1970 4,203 −0.31% 1975 4,397 +0.91% 1980 4,684 +1.27% 1990 6,052 +2.60%	Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1995 7,250 +3.44% 2000 10,422 +8.09% 2007 10,426 +0.01% 2010 11,906 +4.95% 2015 12,545 +1.00% 2020 12,867 +0.53% 2024 13,351 +0.89%
Source: Philippine Statistics Authority [15] [16] [17] [18] [19]

In the 2020 census, the population of Agutaya was 12,867 people, ^[20] with a density of 340 inhabitants per square kilometre or 880 inhabitants per square mile.

Languages

Agutaya is home to a specific language, called the Agutaynen language, spoken by 10,000 people overall. Today, half of its speakers live in Agutaya, while the rest live in other communities of Palawan. ^[21] Tagalog and Cuyonon are also widely spoken.

Economy

Poverty incidence of Agutaya

10 20 30 40 50 60 70 2000 66.17 2003 66.68 2006 42.80 2009 36.09 2012 33.36 2015 17.49 2018 15.22 2021 23.28 Source: Philippine Statistics Authority [22] [23] [24] [25] [26] [27] [28] [29]

See also

• List of inactive volcanoes in the Philippines
• List of islands of the Philippines
• List of volcanos in the Philippines
• Pacific ring of fire

References

1.   Municipality of Agutaya | (DILG)
2. "2015 Census of Population, Report No. 3 – Population, Land Area, and Population Density" (PDF). Philippine Statistics Authority. Quezon City, Philippines. August 2016. ISSN   0117-1453. Archived (PDF) from the original on May 25, 2021. Retrieved July 16, 2021.
3. "2024 Census of Population (POPCEN) Population Counts Declared Official by the President". Philippine Statistics Authority. 17 July 2025. Retrieved 18 July 2025.
4. "PSA Releases the 2021 City and Municipal Level Poverty Estimates". Philippine Statistics Authority. 2 April 2024. Retrieved 28 April 2024.
5. "2024 Census of Population (POPCEN) Population Counts Declared Official by the President". Philippine Statistics Authority. 17 July 2025. Retrieved 18 July 2025.
6. United States coast pilot, Philippine islands, Vol 2 Govt. print. off., 1921 p.35
7. "NLP Digital Collection HD01.p36.cmd2.cmd1". nlpdl.nlp.gov.ph. Retrieved 2025-09-04.
8. "Church of St. John the Baptist | Registry" . Retrieved 2025-09-05.
9. Kolobial Travel & Tours. "Palawan - Agutaya Fort in Palawan Island | OFFICIAL | WEBPAGE | Corporate Rates | Direct Reservation". www.agutayaport.palawanshore.com. Archived from the original on 2025-06-01. Retrieved 2025-09-05.
10. Stan (2008-09-20). "Endangered Agutaya fortress-church • LANGYAW" . Retrieved 2025-09-05.
11. eazytraveler (2014-12-09). "Cuyo Island, Palawan: Cuyo Fort and St. Augustine Parish Church | EAZY Traveler" . Retrieved 2025-09-05.
12. The Gems of the East by A. Henry Savage Landor p.66
13. Philippines Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) List of Inactive Volcanoes Archived 2008-12-06 at the Wayback Machine
14. "Agutaya: Average Temperatures and Rainfall". Meteoblue. Retrieved 17 November 2019.
15. "2024 Census of Population (POPCEN) Population Counts Declared Official by the President". Philippine Statistics Authority. 17 July 2025. Retrieved 18 July 2025.
16. Census of Population (2015). "Region IV-B (Mimaropa)". Total Population by Province, City, Municipality and Barangay. Philippine Statistics Authority . Retrieved 20 June 2016.
17. Census of Population and Housing (2010). "Region IV-B (Mimaropa)" (PDF). Total Population by Province, City, Municipality and Barangay. National Statistics Office . Retrieved 29 June 2016.
18. Censuses of Population (1903–2007). "Region IV-B (Mimaropa)". Table 1. Population Enumerated in Various Censuses by Province/Highly Urbanized City: 1903 to 2007. National Statistics Office.
19. "Province of". Municipality Population Data. Local Water Utilities Administration Research Division. Retrieved 17 December 2016.
20. "2024 Census of Population (POPCEN) Population Counts Declared Official by the President". Philippine Statistics Authority. 17 July 2025. Retrieved 18 July 2025.
21. Proceedings of the seventh International Conference on Austronesian languages by Cecilia Odé, W. A. L. Stokhof, Rijksuniversiteit te Leiden. Vakgroep Talen en Culturen van Zuidoost-Azië en Oceanië, p.685
22. "Poverty incidence (PI):". Philippine Statistics Authority. Retrieved December 28, 2020.
23. "Estimation of Local Poverty in the Philippines" (PDF). Philippine Statistics Authority. 29 November 2005.
24. "2003 City and Municipal Level Poverty Estimates" (PDF). Philippine Statistics Authority. 23 March 2009.
25. "City and Municipal Level Poverty Estimates; 2006 and 2009" (PDF). Philippine Statistics Authority. 3 August 2012.
26. "2012 Municipal and City Level Poverty Estimates" (PDF). Philippine Statistics Authority. 31 May 2016.
27. "Municipal and City Level Small Area Poverty Estimates; 2009, 2012 and 2015". Philippine Statistics Authority. 10 July 2019.
28. "PSA Releases the 2018 Municipal and City Level Poverty Estimates". Philippine Statistics Authority. 15 December 2021. Retrieved 22 January 2022.
29. "PSA Releases the 2021 City and Municipal Level Poverty Estimates". Philippine Statistics Authority. 2 April 2024. Retrieved 28 April 2024.

External links

• Agutaya Profile at PhilAtlas.com
• Philippine Standard Geographic Code
• Philippine Census Information
• Local Governance Performance Management System