Sipocot

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Sipocot
Municipality
Municipality of Sipocot
The Municipal Hall of the Local Government Unit of Sipocot, Camarines Sur
Flag Seal
Nickname(s):  Egg Basket of Camarines Sur Native Chicken Capital of Camarines Sur
Motto(s):  "Efficiency and Integrity towards Excellence"
Map of Camarines Sur with Sipocot highlighted
OpenStreetMap
Sipocot Location within the Philippines
Coordinates: 13°46′03″N 122°58′42″E / 13.7675°N 122.9783°E / 13.7675; 122.9783
Country	Philippines
Region	Bicol Region
Province	Camarines Sur
District	1st district
Founded	July 3, 1801
Barangays	46 (see Barangays)
Government  [1]
• Type	Sangguniang Bayan
• Mayor	Tomas A. Bocago
• Vice Mayor	Felix B. Macalino III
• Representative	Tsuyoshi Anthony Horibata
• Municipal Council	Members Salina Grahane D. Pamor Francisco C. Veras Jr. Rogenor R. Astor Danjohn Arry D. Villafuerte Elizabeth O. Abergos (+) Eduardo B. Dela Peña Jr. Maria Olympia N. Bailey Hernan A. Nieva
• Electorate	42,809 voters (2022)
Area [2]
• Total	243.43 km2 (93.99 sq mi)
Elevation	69 m (226 ft)
Highest elevation	267 m (876 ft)
Lowest elevation	8 m (26 ft)
Population  (2020 census)[3]
• Total	68,169
• Density	280/km2 (730/sq mi)
• Households	15,678
Economy
• Income class	1st municipal income class
• Poverty incidence	36.92 % (2021)[4]
• Revenue	₱ 222.7 million (2020)
• Assets	₱ 489 million (2020)
• Expenditure	₱ 186.3 million (2020)
• Liabilities	₱ 155.9 million (2020)
Service provider
• Electricity	Camarines Sur 1 Electric Cooperative (CASURECO 1)
Time zone	UTC+8 (PST)
ZIP code	4408
PSGC	051734000
IDD : area code	+63 (0)54
Native languages	Central Bikol Tagalog
Website	www.sipocot.gov.ph

Sipocot, officially the Municipality of Sipocot (Central Bikol: Banwaan kan Sipocot; Tagalog: Bayan ng Sipocot), is a 1st class municipality in the province of Camarines Sur, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 68,169 people.^[3]

Sipocot is 56 kilometres (35 mi) from Pili and 394 kilometres (245 mi) from Manila.

History

In the early decades of 20th century, archaeological studies conducted between the Sipocot and Libmanan area netted Chinese funereal artifacts of either 14th or 15th century origin. The historical finds suggest that the area belonged to one of the oldest habitational and thickly populated sites long before the arrival of the Spaniards. In fact, small cluster of villages within the jurisdiction of Sipocot had been in existence when the initial group of Spanish encomenderos penetrated the region. These villages, which now comprise Sipocot, were Sacalacvangan (Calagbangan), Caanip (Anib), Cabilindi (Hindi), and Caysian (Taisan), among others.

Early on, due to its remote and almost inaccessible location, Sipocot lagged behind Libmanan and Lupi in its progression as pueblo. Sipocot first appeared in the Spanish charts as a visita or barrio of Lupi, which seceded from Libmanan and became an independent parish in 1726.

However, because of the need for regular spiritual service and access to colonial institution, church and local government, the local residents clamored for Sipocot to be accorded township. At that time, the distant town of Lupi was the nearest seat of government and church, which can be reached solely by trekking rugged mountain trails. Finally, on June 3, 1801, by virtue of the proclamation issued by Governor-General Rafael Maria de Aguilar, Sipocot became a Pueblo and a Franciscan curacy. However, in spite of its upgraded status as pueblo, Sipocot was slow to develop and remained outside the edge of regional affairs throughout the rest of the Spanish regime. The lethargic development of Sipocot can be attributed to its location which is beyond the mainstream of colonial commerce, and to the time when it was created as a pueblo which was considered late in the colonial timeline. In fact, Sipocot was one of the last few towns to be created in the Bicol Region during the Spanish regime.

The 1896 Philippine Revolution against the Spanish regime gave birth to the revolutionary government of Sipocot headed by Capitan Mariano de los Santos as its Presidente Municipal. However, after the Filipino-American War, Mariano de los Santos was appointed as Municipal President of Sipocot in 1901 by the Philippine Commission. From 1905 up to the Commonwealth Period that lasted until 1942, all Municipal Presidents of Sipocot were duly elected by popular vote. Although the American Regime lasted only for a little over forty years, it provided significant contribution in the establishment in Sipocot of secular and free public school; expansion of bureaucratic agencies, which gave young professionals employment opportunities in the government; setting up of civil government and democratic reforms; and utilization of natural resources for economic enterprise and investment.

The Japanese occupation of Sipocot happened on December 19, 1941, when a battalion of Japanese soldiers from Legazpi reached the municipality. They established weapons depot in Impig, a garrison in Malubago, and a main garrison consisting of several houses in the Poblacion which served as lodging for their troops.

Because the Japanese were at first friendly and diplomatic, the residents of Sipocot, unlike the people in other municipalities, were less aggressive to the Japanese, and in fact, they established rapport with them. For that reason, the Japanese were able to persuade a number of local officials to serve under their rule; thus, the local government of Sipocot functioned during war time.

However, when the guerrilla resistance movements in the area intensified their military operations and ambuscades against the invading troops, the Japanese resorted to coercive and violent means to instil discipline and cooperation on the local residents. The Japanese commandeered public and private properties and buildings for their military needs. School buildings and campuses were used as military quarters, which caused the suspension of classes. They enslaved transient male travelers to work in their public works projects without pay and under duress. Apart from these harsh impositions was the infamy the municipality got as it came to be known as “Little Tokyo”, a place where Japanese troops indulged in short carnal relaxation whenever they stopped by Sipocot from Naga on their way to the northern part of the country. However, in fairness to the Japanese forces, aside from the reported tortures and killings in the municipality of guerrillas captured from neighboring municipalities, reports of atrocities committed by the Japanese in Sipocot were surprisingly rare.

On the other hand, during their short-lived occupation of Sipocot the Japanese gave some positive contributions to the municipality in the field of public works. Japanese engineers rebuilt the Sipocot Bridge. They also repaired the railroad tracks situated in Sipocot that connected Legazpi to Manila.

However, it was widely believed that these projects were undertaken not for the benefit of the local population but to consolidate Japanese control of the region and facilitate troop mobility.

On the morning of April 28, 1944, eight trucks of American soldiers arrived in Sipocot and liberated the town from the Japanese forces.

At the end of the Second World War, Sipocot was quick to recover since it suffered no significant human casualties and only minimal loss of properties considering that it was spared from bombardment and no major battle was fought in the municipality. Besides said good fortune, the convergence of other factors influenced the gradual but sustained development of Sipocot, such as the shift in the mode of transportation from water to land; the booming economy of the United States and the development of the local construction industry; and, the election of Mayor Pablo Salazar as its post war Municipal Mayor.

At the turn of the century, the shift in the mode of travel from water to land gave rise to rail road systems and road networks that crisscrossed the territorial domain of Sipocot, making it the central transit point in the first district of the province as well as major conduit to various destinations in the northern and southern portions of Luzon.

As the American economy grew before World War II, the need for timber to sustain its growth placed the forest resources of Camarines Sur and Camarines Norte at the fore front of American investment in the region. Sipocot, which had an abundant forest resources whose potentials have been long ignored, became haven for logging companies which provided employment to local residents as well as migrants. Later, as the local construction industry boomed, particularly the extension of the railway system to the whole Bicol Region, the logging industry in Sipocot progressed even more. At the height of its commercial success, the logging industry in Sipocot has at least five (5) sawmills employing hundreds of workers and producing a combined average output of 150,000 board feet of daily. In the 1950s, with its income of least P35,000.00 annually, mostly derived from logging industry, Sipocot was reclassified into second class municipality from its previous fourth class municipality classification before the war.

The post war Municipal Mayor of Sipocot, Mayor Salazar, was a visionary and progressive-minded leader. He enticed many people from other municipalities and provinces as far as the Tagalog Region with a promise of five-hectare fertile and cultivatable public land for every family who will come and settle in Sipocot. The migrants who came and settled in Sipocot did not only convert the substantial forest spaces of the municipality into farm lots and residential areas, but likewise they contributed greatly to the rapid population growth of the municipality. From 7,936 inhabitants, based on the 1946 census, the population of Sipocot grew to 32,650, as per 1960 census. In the same year, Sipocot became sixth most populous town among the 36 towns of the province of Camarines Sur.

Today, from its humble beginning as a visita or barrio of Lupi during the Spanish regime, Sipocot has become a first class municipality with the total population of 68,169, as per 2020 census,meaning it is the 8th largest in 35 towns, inhabiting its 24,129 hectares territorial domain. Moreover, Sipocot is now the most populous and progressive municipality in the 1st District of Camarines Sur.

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