Capul | |
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Municipality of Capul | |
![]() USS Essex passes Capul Island while passing through the San Bernardino Strait | |
![]() Map of Northern Samar with Capul highlighted | |
Location within the Philippines | |
Coordinates: 12°25′23″N124°10′55″E / 12.423°N 124.182°E | |
Country | Philippines |
Region | Eastern Visayas |
Province | Northern Samar |
District | 1st district |
Barangays | 12 (see Barangays) |
Government | |
• Type | Sangguniang Bayan |
• Mayor | Isidro S. Bandal |
• Vice Mayor | Leonora F. Alfaro |
• Representative | Paul R. Daza |
• Councilors | Members |
• Electorate | 10,333 voters (2025) |
Area | |
• Total | 35.56 km2 (13.73 sq mi) |
Elevation | 73 m (240 ft) |
Highest elevation | 585 m (1,919 ft) |
Lowest elevation | 0 m (0 ft) |
Population (2024 census) [4] | |
• Total | 12,127 |
• Density | 340/km2 (880/sq mi) |
• Households | 2,712 |
Demonym(s) | Abaknon, Capuleño |
Economy | |
• Income class | 5th municipal income class |
• Poverty incidence | 17.91 |
• Revenue | ₱ 97.8 million (2022) |
• Assets | ₱ 207.6 million (2022) |
• Expenditure | ₱ 79.7 million (2022) |
• Liabilities | ₱ 22.65 million (2022) |
Service provider | |
• Electricity | Northern Samar Electric Cooperative (NORSAMELCO) |
Time zone | UTC+8 (PST) |
ZIP code | 6408 |
PSGC | |
IDD : area code | +63 (0)55 |
Native languages | Abaknon Waray Tagalog |
Website | www |
Capul, officially the Municipality of Capul (Inabaknon : Bungto si Capul; Waray : Bungto han Capul; Tagalog : Bayan ng Capul), is an island municipality in the province of Northern Samar, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 12,323 people. [6]
The natives of Capul are known as the Abaknon or the Capuleño people. It is the only town in the province of Northern Samar with a distinct language, Inabaknon (also known as Capuleño, Abaknon Sama, or Capul Sinama), instead of Waray, the native language spoken by the locals of Samar island. Inabaknon is unique in it being only distantly related to the languages spoken in the entire Visayas and Luzon regions. Instead, it is classified by linguists as a Sama-Bajaw language.
A lighthouse was built on the island which served as a guidepost for the Acapulco-Manila galleon trade vessels passing through the treacherous waters of San Bernardino Strait. It also served as the capital of the former province of Samar from 1848 to 1852.
According to folklore, the name Capul is said to be derived from the word Acapulco , an old trading post in Mexico. [7]
According to oral folk history, the native Abaknon people of the island of Capul were originally from the island of Balabac, off the southern coast of Palawan. They were originally a Sama-Bajau group. In the 1300s, their island was annexed by the Sultanate of Sulu. The people who refused to submit to the Sultanate and convert to Islam fled Balabac under the leadership of a datu named Abak. They sailed northwards until reaching the island of Capul. [8] Here, they established a settlement which they called Abak. By 1610, Spanish Jesuits arrived in the island and construction of the first church began around this period. The Inabaknon language of the Abaknon people are still classified by linguists as a Sama-Bajaw language, though the Abaknon people have converted to Christianity and have become culturally Visayan due to proximity with Visayan groups. [9] [10]
On June 18, 1966, barrios Mahaba, Maragat, Mongolbongol, Panganoron, Sila, Ternate, and Sang-putan were excised from Capul to form the new municipality of San Vicente. [11]
The municipality is contiguous with Capul Island, located at the southern entrance to the San Bernardino Strait.
Capul is politically subdivided into 12 barangays. Each barangay consists of puroks and some have sitios.
Climate data for Capul, Northern Samar | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 27 (81) | 28 (82) | 29 (84) | 30 (86) | 31 (88) | 30 (86) | 29 (84) | 29 (84) | 29 (84) | 29 (84) | 29 (84) | 28 (82) | 29 (84) |
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 22 (72) | 22 (72) | 22 (72) | 22 (72) | 24 (75) | 24 (75) | 24 (75) | 24 (75) | 24 (75) | 24 (75) | 23 (73) | 23 (73) | 23 (74) |
Average precipitation mm (inches) | 84 (3.3) | 59 (2.3) | 58 (2.3) | 55 (2.2) | 93 (3.7) | 133 (5.2) | 149 (5.9) | 125 (4.9) | 155 (6.1) | 165 (6.5) | 140 (5.5) | 136 (5.4) | 1,352 (53.3) |
Average rainy days | 18.1 | 13.6 | 15.8 | 16.1 | 21.7 | 25.5 | 26.6 | 25.1 | 24.8 | 25.8 | 22.7 | 20.1 | 255.9 |
Source: Meteoblue (modeled/calculated data, not measured locally) [12] |
Year | Pop. | ±% p.a. |
---|---|---|
1903 | 3,969 | — |
1918 | 4,257 | +0.47% |
1939 | 7,488 | +2.73% |
1948 | 9,257 | +2.38% |
1960 | 10,678 | +1.20% |
1970 | 8,648 | −2.08% |
1975 | 9,386 | +1.66% |
1980 | 10,237 | +1.75% |
1990 | 9,510 | −0.73% |
1995 | 9,964 | +0.88% |
2000 | 10,619 | +1.37% |
2007 | 11,289 | +0.85% |
2010 | 12,659 | +4.26% |
2015 | 12,679 | +0.03% |
2020 | 12,323 | −0.60% |
2024 | 12,127 | −0.38% |
Source: Philippine Statistics Authority [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] |
Poverty incidence of Capul
10 20 30 40 50 60 2000 46.85 2003 38.11 2006 38.50 2009 41.62 2012 45.23 2015 51.15 2018 37.35 2021 17.91 Source: Philippine Statistics Authority [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] [24] [25] |
Capul has a different language from the rest of Northern Samar and the rest of Eastern Visayas. The native language in the island-municipality is Inabaknon. Inabaknon has been classified by linguists as a Sama-Bajaw language closely related to those found in Mindanao, rather than a Visayan language. Nonetheless, the Capul people can speak and understand the Waray language as it is spoken by the majority of the people in Northern Samar.
Capul Church and Fortress
Capul Watchtower
Bitō Cave
Timon-timon Rock
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