Madridejos, Cebu

Madridejos
Municipality
Fishing boats at Kota beach
Seal
Map of Cebu with Madridejos highlighted
Country	Philippines
Region	Central Visayas (Region VII)
Province	Cebu
District	4th district of Cebu
Founded	2 January 1917
Barangay	14 (see § Barangays)
Government
• Type	Sangguniang Bayan
• mayor of Madridejos[*]	Salvador Dela Fuente (NUP)
• Vice mayor of Madridejos	Floreto Batayola
• Municipal Council	Members Vincent Villacrucis Owen Daruca Stephen Olingay Doroteo Dorimon Bernabe Compra Arleen Villacarlos Jerry Caranzo Ricardo Rivera
Area
• Total	23.95 km2 (9.25 sq mi)
Population  (2020 census)
• Total	42,039
• Density	1,800/km2 (4,500/sq mi)
• Voter (2022)	28,535
• Language	Cebuano Tagalog
Demonym	Lawisanon
Time zone	UTC+8 (PST)
ZIP code	6053
IDD : area code	+63 (0)32
Income class	4th class
PSGC	072228000

Madridejos is a [[Template:PH plural of the Philippines#Income classification|4th municipal income class municipality]] on Bantayan Island in the province of Cebu, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 42,039. Template:PH electorate It is one of the three municipalities that make up the island of Bantayan, which lies to the west of the northern tip of Cebu. It is bounded to the south by the municipality of Bantayan, and on all other sides by the Visayan Sea.

There is a light station – LS Madridejos – about 50 metres (160 ft) north of the mean highwater mark at Kota point 11°18′08″N 123°43′45″E.

History

Lawis was the old name of Madridejos. Even today people still use the name "Lawis", meaning "promontory", the portion carved out to constitute the municipality of Madridejos being the peninsula located on the northern side of Bantayan island facing the Visayan Sea.

During the time of governor Sebastián Hurtado de Corcuera (1635–1644), the Visayas were continually harassed by the Moros, who wreaked dreadful havoc, capturing, massacring, robbing, sacking churches, and burning everything there was.

Legend credits Loreto Mangubat as the first to settle in this part of the island of Bantayan. It was also Mangubat who proclaimed it a visita (beginnings of a parish) of the town of Bantayan. 

Ruins of Kota at Madridejos founded in 1790

The kota (kuta = fort) was probably built in 1790 or 1792. The people of the town grouped at the kota when they can hear the sound of the budyong (a blown alarm) for safety, warning the people Moros are coming in vintas.

Blowing of the budyong – served as signal of the coming of the Moros. A watch tower was built in Kaongkod, a barrio about (4 kilometres (2.5 mi)) from the fort. It is the place from where the approach of the Moros could easily be seen, to give a timely warning to the townsfolk of their coming. All watchtowers on Bantayan where built by Fr. Doroteo Andrada del Rosario, parish priest of Bantayan in the 19th century (Moro attacks were worst around 1840s).

The general scenery of Lawis was that of a quiet place, of virgin grounds covered by small shrubs and lantana. When more people discovered Lawis and flocked to it, the place became a visita.

In 1917 barrio Lawis became a town named Madridejos. This was the name given to the third town of Bantayan island in honour of Benito Romero de Madridejos the former archbishop of Cebu. The town's feast day is celebrated annually on 8 December.

Immaculate Conception parish church

In the year 1600, before Madridejos was made into a town, there was a barrio called Lawis at the tip of Bantayan island. In this barrio was a chapel built by the Augustinians who also built the parish church of Bantayan in the year 1580.

The chapel was located within the Spanish fort near the seashore. Inside the chapel, there was a framed picture of La Virgen Purisima Concepcion which was the object of devotion and before which the Holy Rosary was prayed every afternoon. Once a month and during church feasts, the chapel was visited by the priest of Bantayan to say mass and celebrate its annual feast.

In the year 1700 there was an image of La Virgen Purisima carved in Bantayan from batikuling wood. It was 16 inches (41 centimetres) tall and was placed on the altar of the first chapel built by the Augustinian priests near the seashore of barrio Lawis. Folklore say there would be times when the clothes of the image were wet and damp although there was no rain, and was full of amorseko (crab grass) – a kind of weed in the fields. During the time of the El Tor epidemic a beautiful lady was observed ministering to the sick mountain folks.

Since olden times, every October the Virgin is brought in a fluvial procession and the Holy Rosary is prayed. The feast was celebrated every eight day of December, until Lawis became a parish in the year 1928.

Second World War

• 1942 - occupation by Japanese Imperial forces.
• 1945 - liberation by the Philippine Commonwealth troops of the 3rd, 8th, 81st, 82nd & 83rd Infantry Divisions of the Philippine Commonwealth Army which landed in Madridejos at the front of battles against Japanese forces in the Battle of Bantayan. The built of the general headquarters of the Philippine Commonwealth Army was stationed in Madridejos and active from 1945 to 1946 after the war.

Barangays

Madridejos comprises 14 barangays:

PSGC Name pop. (2010) pop. (2007) ±% p.a. 072228001 Bunakan 1870 1759 2.25% 072228002 Kangwayan 1071 797 11.35% 072228003 Kaongkod 3088 2484 8.24% 072228004 Kodia 2071 1590 10.10% 072228005 Maalat 2042 1907 2.52% 072228006 Malbago 2583 2364 3.28% 072228007 Mancilang 4662 3986 5.87% 072228008 Pili 2153 1847 5.74% 072228009 Poblacion 3768 3842 −0.71% 072228010 San Agustin 2201 2144 0.96% 072228011 Tabagak 1874 1724 3.08% 072228012 Talangnan 3645 3146 5.50% 072228013 Tarong 2212 1734 9.26% 072228014 Tugas 1665 1349 7.96% TOTAL 34,905 30,673 4.82%

Mancilang: 4,662 (13.8%)   Poblacion: 3,768 (11.1%)   Talangnan: 3,645 (10.8%)   Kaongkod: 3,088 (9.1%)   Malbago: 2,583 (7.6%)   Tarong: 2,212 (6.5%)   San Agustin: 2,201 (6.5%)   Pili: 2,153 (6.4%)   Kodia: 2,071 (6.1%)   Maalat: 2,042 (6.0%)   Tabagak: 1,874 (5.5%)   Bunakan: 1,870 (5.5%)   Tugas: 1,665 (4.9%)

Demographics

Population census of Madridejos

Year	Pop.	±% p.a.
1980	18,865	—
1990	25,746	+3.16%
1995	26,506	+0.55%
2000	29,020	+1.96%
2007	30,673	+0.77%
2010	34,905	+4.82%
Source: National Statistics Office

Economy

Fishing fleet leaving Madridejos, early evening.

Beach and walkway at Kota Point, with the light station visible past the end of the walkway.

The main industries of Madridejos are fishing, poultry and tourism.

Because of its rich fishing grounds, Madridejos earned the name of "Little Alaska of the Philippines": the first canning factory in the country was established here, but it lost its sustaining impact in the history of the municipality after it was bombed during World War II. At present, poultry-raising is a growing industry and Madridejos provides a substantial quantity of eggs produced for sale to the neighboring provinces.

Madridejos also hosts a fairly substantial tertiary college – Salazar College.

Transportation

Madridejos can be reached by boat from Cebu City via Santa Fe with 75-minutes ferry service to San Remigio (Hagnaya) via Island Shipping or SuperShuttle Ferry. Bus (jeepney) travel to Madridejos via the municipality of Bantayan takes about one hour.

There are currently NO overnight boats from Cebu City to Bantayan Island, nor are there any scheduled commercial air flights. Private air companies occasionally fly smaller Cessna and Piper aircraft into Bantayan Airport.

Sources

• Blair, Emma Helen; Robertson, James Alexander, eds. (1905). The Philippine Islands, 1493–1898. Vol. Volume 23 of 55 (1629–1630). Historical introduction and additional notes by Edward Gaylord Bourne;. Cleveland, Ohio: Arthur H. Clark Company. ISBN 978-1153716369. OCLC 769945716. Explorations by early navigators, descriptions of the islands and their peoples, their history and records of the catholic missions, as related in contemporaneous books and manuscripts, showing the political, economic, commercial and religious conditions of those islands from their earliest relations with European nations to the close of the nineteenth century. {{cite book}}: |volume= has extra text (help); Unknown parameter |lastauthoramp= ignored (|name-list-style= suggested) (help)CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link)

• Clayton, W Derek; Vorontsova, Maria S; Harman, Kehan T; Williamson, H (2002). "World Grass Species: Descriptions, Identification, and Information Retrieval" (Online database). GrassBase – The Online World Grass Flora. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 1 December 2012. Dallwitz (1980); and Dallwitz, Paine and Zurcher should also be cited {{cite web}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help); Unknown parameter |lastauthoramp= ignored (|name-list-style= suggested) (help)

• Galinato, Marita Ignacio; Moody, Keith; Piggin, Colin M (1999). Upland Rice Weeds of South and Southeast Asia (Online book). Manila: International Rice Research Institute. pp. 66–67 Chrysopogon aciculatus. ISBN 978-9712201301. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help); Unknown parameter |lastauthoramp= ignored (|name-list-style= suggested) (help)

• Lavilles, G.L. (1965). History: Cebu's 4 cities & 49 municipalities with trimmed accounts of Christianization of the Philippines. Lavilles. Retrieved 23 January 2015. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)

• de Medina, Fray Juan (1630) [1893]. Historia de los sucesos de la orden de n. gran P. S. Agustin de estas islas Filipinas: desde que se descubrieron y se poblaron por los españoles, con las noticias memorables / compuesta por el venerable Fray Juan de Medina (scan) (in Spanish). Manila: Chofréy y Comp. OCLC 11769618. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |trans_title= ignored (|trans-title= suggested) (help)

• Panublion (2003). Region 7: Central Visayas ••• Bantayan Island. JESCOM / Ateneo de Manila. Archived from the original on February 11, 2006. {{cite encyclopedia}}: |work= ignored (help); Invalid |ref=harv (help); Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)

• Rodríguez, Jesús; Mariblanca, David (2000). "HISTORIA - Existe otro Madridejos en Filipinas" (in Spanish). madridejos.net. Archived from the original on 5 October 2015. Retrieved 7 January 2015. {{cite web}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help); Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |lastauthoramp= ignored (|name-list-style= suggested) (help)

• Spicer, Edward Holland (1967) [1962]. Cycles of Conquest: The Impact of Spain, Mexico, and the United States on Indians of the Southwest, 1533–1960. Tucson, Az: University of Arizona Press. ISBN 978-0816500215. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)