Tuburan, Cebu

Etymology

Tuburan got its name from the prevalence of springs, which are the sources of potable water for household use of the early settlers. "Tuburan" evolved from the Cebuano word Tubod, meaning "spring".

History

Foundation

Tuburan was founded in the 1851 by Don Mariano Montebon who came from the town of Sogod, who also served as Tuburan's first gobernadorcillo. The townsite was first located at Barangay Daan Lungsod (old town) which is just across the Adela River, north of the present poblacion. The following year, Don Mariano was succeeded by Don Vicente Bato who then moved the seat of the town to Sitio Daligdigan of Barangay Carmelo due to the abundance of marine life, favorable harbor, and being the residence of the new gobernadorcillo. This is, however, short-lived because he was succeeded a year later by Don Diego Tabotabo, a wealthy hacendero from Liloan, Cebu, who then finally moved the town capital to its current location. In 1857, the seed of the Catholic faith was planted on its lands. The bishop confirmed the erection of a church on the town in February 13 of the same year. The town's parish church, the Tuburan Parish Church (Iglesia Parroquial de San Antonio de Padua, currently known as the Archdiocesan Shrine of Saint Anthony of Padua) was constructed and spearheaded by Rev. Fr. Prospero Salazar, the town parish priest during this time. It was built on limestone and coral, friars would then exploit the local men to build it. Originally built on the Baroque style of architecture, the latter would be destroyed during the Second World War and be replaced by the current neo-Romanesque style.

Philippine revolution

General Arcadio Maxilom was a hero of the Philippine Revolution. He was born in Tuburan where his family were members of the local gentry, or principalía. He worked as a public school teacher but later joined the Katipunan, whose activities in Cebu were led by León Kilat. After Kilat's execution, Maxilom continued the revolution in Cebu as second in command. The Katipunan regrouped in the then-impenetrable, mountainous central part of Cebu island which now part of the central highlands. He finally surrendered on October 27, 1901, to American forces in his hometown of Tuburan. Virtually forgotten after the revolution, Maxilom died in the town, after a long period of time with paralysis.

Battle of Tuburan

April 7 of 1898, during the ongoing revolution, Maxilom went home to Tuburan to defend the town against an incoming attack from Spanish armed forces and loyalist Filipinos. With the help of then-gobernadorcillo Fausto Tabotabo, he rallied the townspeople to battle on April 15, with casualties of 45 Cebuanos, among them are relatives of Maxilom. In the midst of the battle, the Spanish burned almost every building in the town center, sparing the parish church, the convent at its yard, and the municipal building, which was the house of Don Fausto.

Tuburan as Cebu's largest municipality

Starting with only one barrio during the early beginning of its founding which was Barangay Putat, Tuburan is still the largest municipality in Cebu. But before the 1950s, Tuburan had a much larger land area, even bigger than Cebu City's. The municipality's land area was reduced significantly in size when its former barangay, Tabuelan, which also happened to be its biggest barangay at the time, was separated from Tuburan to form its own municipality in 1953 on the reason that Tabuelan is far from the town center (about 12 kilometers away), leading the then-barangay to not be properly maintained and administer the needs of its people there. The local government of Tuburan initially opposed of the idea, but when it was supported by the higher authorities, they have no choice but to let go of Tabuelan and avoid economic and sociopolitical problems.

Geography

Tuburan is bordered to the north by the town of Tabuelan, to the west is the Tañon Strait, to the east are the towns of Carmen, Catmon and Sogod, and to the south is the town of Asturias. It is 82 km from Cebu City.

Tuburan is the largest municipality in Cebu in terms of land area. It also has the most number of barangays for a municipality in Cebu. And it is also the only municipality in Cebu to have numerous barangays with very small population count. Most of these barangays are located in the mountains. The barangay with the lowest population count is Barangay Kanlunsing with 210 people as of 2016, though the barangay with the lowest recorded population count on Cebu Island is located in the nearby municipality of Catmon, which is the Barangay of Amancion, with 190 people in 2016.

Barangays

Tuburan is politically subdivided into 54 barangays. Each barangay consists of puroks and some have sitios.

Climate

The city has a tropical savanna climate (Koppen: Aw), narrowly missing a tropical monsoon climate (Koppen:Am), due to the month of February having less than 60mm of rain. From 1973 to 1999, 28 typhoons (110 kilometers per hour wind), occurred. 13 storms passed with 65 to 109 km/h wind and 14 depressions passed with winds not more than 64 km/h. Strongest typhoons that hit the area and caused significant damage since 1951 are Amy (240 km/h) on December 10, 1951, Nitang (176 km/h) on September 2, 1984, Ruping (185 km/h) on November 10, 1990, Bising (120 km/h) on April 14, 1994, Yolanda (315 km/h) on November 8, 2013, Odette (195 km/h) on December 16, 2021, and Tino (205 km/h) on November 4, 2025.

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Demographics

Economy

There is a 2000 ha coffee farm which has the capacity to produce 4.3 e6kg, which if when roasted can be sold at the (2017) prevailing price of 600 $/kg, and the farm could earn ₱2 billion annually. This farm is located within the mountain barangay of Kabangkalan.

In addition, the coffee farm is gaining ground as a tourist attraction in an ecotourism niche.

Elected Officials

Main article: Sangguniang Bayan

Transportation

Ceres Liner and Corominas Bros. are among the bus companies going to the town. But riding a V-Hire is the quickest way of going to the town. There are three ways of getting to the town:

• V-Hire – Via Transcentral Highway (Balamban) – 80 km
• Ceres Liner – Via Lugo (Tabuelan) – 100 km
• Ceres Liner, Corominas Bros. – Via Toledo City – 110 km

Education

The public schools in the town of Tuburan are administered by two school districts under the Schools Division of Cebu Province. The only college of the town, Cebu Technological University, is administered by the office of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED).

Elementary schools

• Amatugan Elementary School — Amatugan
• Antipolo Elementary School — Antipolo
• Apalan Elementary School — Apalan
• Archdiocesan Shrine of Saint Anthony of Padua Parish School — Poblacion
• Bagasawe Elementary School — Bagasawe
• Bakyawan Elementary School — Bakyawan
• Bangkito Elementary School — Bangkito
• Bulwang Elementary School — Bulwang
• Caridad Elementary School — Caridad
• Carmelo Elementary School — Carmelo
• Colonia Central Elementary School — Colonia
• Cogon Elementary School — Cogon
• Daanlungsod Elementary School — Daan Lungsod
• Fortaliza Elementary School — Fortaliza
• Gaang Elementary School — Gaang
• Gimama-a Elementary School — Gimama-a
• Jagbuaya Elementary School — Jagbuaya
• Kabangkalan Elementary School — Kabangkalan
• Kabkaban Elementary School — Kabkaban
• Kagbao Elementary School — Kagba-o
• Kalangahan Elementary School — Kalangahan
• Kalunsing Elementary School — Kanlunsing
• Kamansi Elementary School — Kamansi
• Kampoot Elementary School — Kampoot
• Kan-an Elementary School — Kan-an
• Kansi Elementary School — Kansi
• Kaorasan Primary School — Kaorasan
• Libo Elementary School — Libo
• Lusong Elementary School — Lusong
• Macupa Elementary School — Macupa
• Mag-agta Elementary School — Sitio Mag-agta, Lusong
• Mag-alwa Elementary School — Mag-alwa
• Mag-antoy Elementary School — Mag-antoy
• Mag-atubang Elementary School — Mag-atubang
• Maghan-ay Elementary School — Maghan-ay
• Mangga Elementary School — Mangga
• Marmol Elementary School — Marmol
• Matnog Elementary School — Sitio Matnog, Putat
• Molobolo Elementary School — Molobolo
• Montealegre Elementary School — Montealegre
• Putat Elementary School — Putat
• Sandayong Elementary School — Sandayong
• San Juan Elementary School — San Juan
• Siotes Elementary School — Siotes
• Sto. Niño Elementary School — Sto. Niño
• Tominjao Elementary School — Tominjao
• Tomugpa Primary School — Tomugpa
• Tuburan Central Elementary School — C. Parilla Street, Barangay VII

High schools

• Ireneo V. Diamante National High School – Kabangkalan
• Kalangahan National High School – Kalangahan
• Kansi National High School – Kansi
• Lusong National High School – Lusong
• Montealegre National High School – Montealegre
• Putat National High School – Putat
• Tuburan National High School – Barangay VII
• Vicente Cabahug National High School (formerly Colonia NHS) — Colonia

Private schools

• Saint Anthony Academy Tuburan – Poblacion
• Ect Excellencia Global Academy Foundation, Inc. (EEGAFI) Tuburan – Barangay VIII

Integrated schools

• Paulo Gallarde Sr. Integrated School – Alegria
• Sumon Integrated School – Sumon

College

• Cebu Technological University Tuburan Campus – Barangay VIII

References

Sources

• The Freeman, De Dios, Kristine (6 December 2024). "Updated Income Classifications of Towns and Cities in the Province of Cebu"

References

1. {{DILG detail
2. [https://web.archive.org/web/20131208111825/http://tuburancebu.com/ourparish.html Parish church]
3. Dios, Kristin De. "Across Cebu province: 1st-class towns, cities increased".