| MUNICIPALITY OF LEON |
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| MUNICIPALITY OF LEON |
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The Municipality of Leon was formerly known as Camando which was founded in the year 1730 with Mr. Bernabe Buncag as the Gobernadorcillo. In 1866, the town was transferred to Sitio Capan, a vast rice region. Two years after the town was transferred, the new town was given the name Leon.
There were two versions how the town was named: that it derived its name from the first name of one prominent member of the principalia, Capitan Leon and the other that the name Leon was given in honor of the City of Leon in Spain, the place where the then Parish Priest of the town, Fr. Agustin Castro, came from. The latter is the officially accepted version, however, the inhabitants retained their surnames beginning with letter "C", which was given them through the order of Gov. Claveria in 1894, in lasting memory of the former town of Camando.
In 1905, during the American Regime, the Municip[alities of Leon, Alomodian and San miguel were fuser into one municipality with Leon as the seat of government under Mr. Evaristo Capalla. In 1915, the Catholic Parocial School of Saint Catherine was establish followed by Leon Institute, another secondary in 1918.
The period 1948-195q was a turbulent period in the history of the town when peace and order disturbed by dissidents. Despite these disturbances, the town leaders persevered and it was during this period when several public buildings were constructed. Among these were the Leon Elementary School and the Leon High School. Support infrastructure like bridges and farm to market roads were also established.
The Municipality of Leon has a prominent place in the annals of Ilonggo history. Records show that the only civil Resistance Movement that did not fall into the hands of the Japanese by the late Senator Tomas Confesor in the Bucari area on may 1947.
The Municipality of Leon is located at the west-southwest part of the Province of Iloilo. It is approximately 28 kilometers away from the City of Iloilo and can be reached by jeep within 45 minutes. Regular fare from Iloilo is P13.00.
Leon has a total land area of 14,005 hectares or 140.05 sq.m. which is approximately 3% of the total land area of the Province of Iloilo. The municipality has a terrain ranging from plain to hilly and mountainous. Out of the 85 barangays only Barangay Omambong lies on the plain, the eastern portion barangays are rolling to hilly areas, while the rest especially those located along the borders of the Province of Antique are mountainous areas.
Land area is 14,005 hectares. Alienable and disposable land is 9.003 hectares devoted to agricultural use. Timberland comprises 5,010 hectares with an estimated 4,050 hectares of open/cultivated areas, 858 hectares are mossy covered areas and 102 hectares are brush-land , the existing land use of the timberland are as follows:
Contract reforestation -------------------- 393 hectares
Forest reservation ------------------------- 1.279 hectares
Land Classification Status
The land use of the municipality shows that around 11,160.24 hectares or 79.69% of the total land area is devoted to agriculture: 141.44 hectares of 1.10% is residential area; 2.22 hectares of 0.02% is for open spaces and parks; 546.80 hectares of 3.90% are areas for transportation which constitute roads and bridges; 20.28 hectares or .0.14% for institutional area; .0221 hectares or 0.01% for commercial area; 1.60 hectares of 0.01% is industrial area while the remaining 2,132 hectares or 15.22% are the forest areas.
Soil Types
The
soil of Leon is fertile and suitable to almost all types of agricultural
crops. Alimodian soil cover
almost
60% of the total land area and the Alimodian clay loam and clay
loam soil cover the remaining 40%.
Mineral Resources
The riverbed of Sibalom river offers abundant supply of sand, gravel and hardstone for construction purposes. Leon has been a major supplier of aggregate materials for thr booming construction industry of Iloilo. The municipality is said to have sufficient deposit of gemstone and coal.
Population
Leon has total population of 41,043 based on the 1995 Census of Population and Housing. It has a population growth of 2.12% per annum for the period 1990-1995. The population increased by 4,095 within the five-year period representing 11.28% of the 1990 figure. Municipal density is 293 per sq. kilometers.The current potential labor force (15-64 yrs. old) in the municipality is 23,498 or 57.25% of the total population.
As for 1995, there were 7,348 household in the municipality with an average household size of 5-6 members. In terms of employment per sector, agriculture accounted for 47.57% of the total force and the remaining 52.53% remains to be the primary source of livelihood for employed persons on the municipality.
National
road – 36 kilometers
Provincial
road – 4 kilometers
Municipal
road – 8.235 kilometers
Barangay
road – 67.17 kilometers
Bridges
Post Offices – 1
Communication Facilities
Telephone facilities
Bank – Alimodian Rural Bank, Inc.
Medical Facilities
Health Center
Schools