City of Batac
Municipality of Batac
Ili ti Batac | |
|---|---|
| File:Icc sw.jpg | |
| Nickname(s): Home of Great Leaders, City of My Dreams | |
| Motto: Aramid Pakakitaan | |
 Map of Ilocos Norte showing the location of Batac | |
| Country | Philippines |
| Region | Ilocos Region |
| Province | Ilocos Norte |
| Legislative District | 2nd District, Ilocos Norte |
| Barangays | 43 |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Jeffrey Jubal C. Nalupta |
| • Vice Mayor | Ronald Allan M. Nalupta |
| Area | |
| • Total | 161.01 km2 (62.17 sq mi) |
| Population (August 1, 2007) | |
| • Total | 50,675 |
| Time zone | UTC+8 (PST) |
| Postal Code | 2906 |
| Area code | 77 |
| Languages | Ilokano, Tagalog, English |
Batac City is a municipality in the province of Ilocos Norte, Philippines. The town is located in the northwest corner of the island of Luzon, about 11.2 km from the eastern shores of the South China Sea. The municipalities of Banna, Currimao, Paoay, Pinili and San Nicolas form its boundaries.
According to the 2007 census, it has a population of 50,675.
Batac is known as the "Home of Great Leaders", as it is the hometown of many significant figures in the history of the Philippines. Among them is the former Philippine president Ferdinand Marcos. It is also the birthplace of Gregorio Aglipay, the founder of the Philippine Independent Church, better known as the Aglipayan Church, and Gen. Artemio Ricarte, the "Father of the Philippine Army".
Batac is well-known for being the home of the Mariano Marcos State University (MMSU), a high-degree granting university that has several branches throughout the province.
History
Batac is one of the oldest towns in Ilocos Norte. It was founded by the conqiustador Juan de Salcedo in 1577, shortly after he had consolidated Spanish rule in Vigan, Ilocos Sur.[citation needed]
In the early 1867, the first site of the town of Batac was San Josef, now Brgy. Palpalicong. Two separate communities existed at the time. One was a Christian community headed by a chief called Captain Bazar, and the other a non-Christian community called "Itneg", headed by Captain Tagley, at Sitio Nagalisan, now a part of Brgy. Payao.[citation needed]
As Spain pushed further into the hinterlands, the non-Christians were converted and assimilated into the growing Christian community. The united communities grew into the town of Batac.[citation needed]
In 1998, Municipality of Batac qualified to become a city. Nine years later, Republic Act 9407, the law that converted the Municipality of Batac into a component city in the Province of Ilocos Norte, to be known as Batac City, was overwhelmingly ratified by the people in a plebiscite conducted on June 23, 2007. However, Batac recently lost its cityhood, along with 15 other cities, after the Supreme Court of the Philippines granted a petition filed by the League of Cities of the Philippines, and declared the cityhood law (RA 9389) which allowed the town to acquire its city status, unconstitutional. The said cities, the court ruled, did not meet the requirements for cityhood. But with this regard, the status of the said town/city is still questionable because people believe that they have followed the due process of converting theyre town into city. They have filed the cityhood just before the new law is enacted therefore exempting Batac (as told by other senators) from the new cityhood requirement.
Origin of the town's Name
The word "Batac" in a local dialect translates as "pull". More loosely, it refers to "the people's pulling their efforts together."[citation needed]
Batac has an interesting colloquial origin of its name. According to a legend, set in pre-settlement Batac, a man fell into a deep hole while he was digging for the root crop "camangeg". He struggled to get out but could not despite his best efforts. He cried for help but nobody was around. He waited for hours and had given up hope of being saved. Fortunately, two men from the neighboring town of Paoay happened to pass by. They heard the man shouting and traced it to where he was trapped. Upon seeing him, they heard the man say "Bataquennac! Bataquennac!" The two men did not understand until the man explained that he was saying, "Pull me up! Pull me up!" They did just that. When the two men reached their hometown, they told their story to their friends. Since then, the town has been called "Batac," which is derived from the word "bataquennac."[citation needed]
Geography
Batac is located in the mid southwestern portion of the province of Ilocos Norte. It lies approximately within altitude 17º17’ north and longitude 120º28’ east. Its boundaries include the Municipality of San Nicolas on the north; Municipality of Sarrat on the northeast; Municipality of Marcos on the east-northeast; Municipality of Banna on the east; Municipality of Pinili on the southeast; Municipality of Currimao on the southwest; and the Municipality of Paoay on the west. It is about 472 kilometers north of Metro Manila, about 18 km. south of Laoag City, the capital of the province; 275 km. north of San Fernando City, the regional center of Ilocos Region and 11.2 km east of the eastern shore of South China Sea.
Travel time by motor vehicle at this time is very convenient because of well paved roads and is 15 – 20 minutes to Laoag City and 8 – 9 hours to Metro Manila.
Batac has a total land area of 16, 101 hectares. The terrain of the municipality ranges from flat to rolling and hilly and to very steep. The broad valleys are mostly located in the poblacion with a slope of 0-8%. All the rural barangays except those in the eastern part have a slope of 0 -30%. There are various soil types that are poorly drained due to the heavy texture of most of the subsoil. There are two rivers that cut across the city of Batac, the Quiaoit River (Pagdanuman) and the Garasgas River.
Batac City lies within the tropical rain forest climate zone (Köppenzone Af), and experiences two distinct seasons. From the later part of May to October is the wet season, with an annual average rainfall of 114.07 inches (PAG-ASA, 2000). The dry season lasts from November to April.
City Officials(2007-2010)
- City Mayor: Jeffrey Jubal C. Nalupta
- City Vice-Mayor: Ronald Allan M. Nalupta
- City Councilors:
- Joel R. Garcia
- Ramon M. Gaoat
- Eugenia Violeta D. Nalupta
- Bismark Angelo A. Quidang
- MacArthur A. Aguinaldo
- Bernardo K. Marders
- Mary Coleen Columbia L. Cajigal
- Florencio P. Laud
- ABC President: James Paul C. Nalupta
- SK President: Jed Arnel V. Raquel
Barangays
Batac City is politically subdivided into 43 barangays, 14 of which constitute the poblacion.
|
|
|
People from Batac
External links
 Province of Ilocos Norte | |
|---|---|
Laoag (capital and largest city) | |
| Municipalities | |
| Component cities | |
| Barangays | |