Alburquerque, Bohol


', officially the ', is a of the Philippines| in the province of,. It had a population of people at the time of the.
The town is colloquially known as "Albur".
Formerly Alburquerque had one of the longest and heaviest pythons in captivity, with a length of, weighing and with a girth of. This female python died in 2013, but the mounted creature is still exhibited.

Etymology

Since then, Segunto was changed to Alburquerque and its inhabitants are called Alburanons.

History

During the Spanish era, the way to travel around Bohol was by sea. Many coastal areas with a sheltered cove or harbor became progressive settlements. Among them was a place called "Lo-oc", Baclayon, Bohol. It was a sheltered cove good for berthing seacraft. It was also the breeding place of the "Bulinaw". Since Lo-oc was relatively far from the poblacion, the people had difficulty in attending Holy Mass on Sundays. Accordingly, they had the idea of constructing their own chapel and having a priest from Baclayon come to serve the people. Lady Mariona Irag, a prominent lady in the community took the mantle of leadership. In 1842, she requested the parish priest of Baclayon, Fr. Pedro de la Encarnacion, to supervise the construction of the chapel, a school, and a convent to be built by the people. The construction of these structures gave way to the establishment of Lo-oc as a barrio under the civil and religious jurisdiction of Baclayon and it was renamed Segunto after a town in Cataluña, Spain.
The first kapitan of the place was Pedro Jala who lived in the sitio of Carnago and was the leader of Segunto. Carnago was a barrio separated from the town. Its name was changed to Sikatuna, in honor of the chieftain Datu Sikatuna, who made a blood compact with Spanish conquistador, Miguel Lopez de Legaspi.
The town's name changed to Alburquerque following its expansion in 1861. In June 1868, Gov. General Jose de la Gandara, issued the decree establishing the new town of Alburquerque in its civil jurisdiction. In November 1868, the Fr. Provincial of the Recollects approved the creation of the town as to its religious jurisdiction. In June 1869, the Bishop of Cebu in which Bohol was a part of the diocese, made Alburquerque a separate diocesan parish under the Augustinian Recollects, dedicated to Santa Monica. In June 1869 Fr. Tomas Hernandez assumed his post as the first curate of Alburquerque.

Geography

Alburquerque is located in the western part of Bohol, from Tagbilaran. The town has a total land area of which is relatively mild rolling to rolling and hilly. The land is used as built-up area, agricultural purposes, timberland, mining/quarrying, roads, and landfill site.

Physiography

The central part of municipality, from the east extending toward northwest is characterized by rolling to moderately steep terrain, with ground elevation ranging from amsl. The area in northeastern and southwestern part is characterized by steep terrain, with ground elevation up to amsl. The southeastern part is characterized with undulating to rolling terrain with ground elevation up to amsl. The area along the coast is characterized by level to nearly level terrain, with ground elevation ranging from zero near the coast to amsl inland.
Alburquerque municipality is covered by hydrosol and three sorts of clay namely, faraon, bolinao and lugo clay. The northern portion of municipality is covered mostly by lugo clay, the southern half portion is mostly covered by faraon and bolinao clay, while hydrosol has a very limited extent along the coast. The municipal area is covered by grassland, coconut, shrubs and built-up area. The northern portion is mostly covered with grass, with exception of small area in the northeast, which is covered with shrubs. The southern portion along the coast is covered with coconut, with a small built-up area in the west.
The whole of Bohol is in Coronas climate type IV, characterized by rainfall evenly distributed over the year. The average annual rainfall is estimated at per year. The average annual rainfall is the sum of the average annual rainfall from respective river basin, multiplied with percentage of respective municipal area within respective river basin.

Rivers and river basins

Several small rivers and creeks, which have their headwaters in the elevated terrain in the northern part, traverse the Alburquerque municipality. These rivers and creeks generally flow in a north to south direction and drain the major part of municipality into Bohol Sea. The only major river basin is the Tagbuane River Basin situated on the eastern part of Alburquerque. The municipality of Albuquerque has a poorly developed drainage system, due to presence of permeable limestone, which covers most of municipal area and enables infiltration of large portion of effective rainfall into underground. This is characteristic for karstified limestone terrain.
Surface water runoff, is estimated to be on average, which is sufficient to satisfy the water demand of for irrigation purposes.
The potable water demand, including domestic, industrial, institutional and commercial water demands of urban and rural population, was estimated in 1998 to be, projected to increase to by 2030. Majority of this water demand in 2030 is for urban population. The water demand estimated at, is required to irrigate of land in brgy Ponong.

Climate

Barangays

Alburquerque comprises 11 barangays, of which six are characterized as coastal and five as upland. Furthermore, the urban population is located in three barangays namely, East and West Poblacion and Ponong.

Demographics

At the 2000 census, Alburquerque had a total of 8,715 inhabitants, with a population density of of land and an average population growth rate of 2.66% per annum. The population increased to in the census, with population density of.
Alburanons speak in Cebuano/Visayas dialect.

Economy

Alburquerque has an average annual income of Php 27,431,496. The town has a labor force of 37% with an employment rate of 90%. The average family income is Php 4,500/month with an average family expenditures of Php 4,000/month.
The town's major agricultural project is the "Gintong Ani" project in all barangays. One industry is situated in Eastern Poblacion - the Santisima Trinidad Ice Plant. There are 66 micro-type and 2 cottage-size registered business establishments with total combined investments of Php 1.5 million. The existing tourists destinations are Sta Monica stone church and convent, Sta Fe beach resort, calamay making, ceramics making, salt making, loom weaving, basket and broom-making. The potential attractions are Tarsiers Park, Lourdes Spring, Aquarium Fish, Butterfly Sanctuary.

Cottage industries

Household weaving takes place in barangay Basacdacu. Buri cloth is made from local young buri leaves for export to Cebu. Midribs of the buri palm leaf are sold for basket making, and bundles of bure stems to Tagbuane barangay for broom-making.
Several households use strips of older buri leaves to make spear-head-shaped fans and smaller fans of that they sell in Cebu. There are 50 households in the area making brooms from buri stems and bamboo poles.
Salt-making is another source of income for some Alburanons. Production begins when the upland farmers plow their fields for rice production. This is because the "asinderos" salt-makers trade their salt for rice in a barter system, and salt production takes about as long as the growth of the rice it will be exchanged for.
The pottery-making enterprise is located beside the main road in East Poblacion. Clay is dug from a pit near the sea, and mixed with silicate soil before being ground through the large rollers of an electric mill, in a pit beside the pottery works. This is mixed with water and molded into pots of various sizes and shapes on a potter's wheel.

Tourism

The municipality of Alburquerque has natural wonders and micro local industries like the making of calamay, traditional method of manufacturing pottery, and the weaving of raffia using locally made loom.

Municipal Marine Sanctuary

The Municipal Marine Sanctuary, established in 2000 at brgy Sta Felomina where the beach and the Mangrove Protected Area are located, is set up in the area selected to be fit for the purpose due to its coral cover. The sanctuary contributed to rising fish stocks and corals that had been destroyed by illegal fishers. Bamboo rafts have been put in place to observe the marine ecology. It has been considered as a dive site of the municipality for local and foreign tourist visiting the place. Other activities include trekking up to Tagbuane River passing through a Forestal Reserve Zone.

Python sanctum

Until March 2012, Alburquerque was the home to a female python 17 years old with a length of approximately and an estimated weight of about. It was the biggest python in captivity ever known. The python named Prony was Albuquerque's star and was owned by Sofronio Salibay.
The Animal Kingdom Federation, Inc., an SEC registered, non-profit and non-stock animal welfare organization registered with the Animal Welfare Division of the Bureau of Animal Industry in coordination with the LGU Alburquerque built an animal sanctuary in Albuquerque. The AKFI made this commitment after hearing reports that the then long python was being fed with stray dogs.
The reports caught the attention of many local and foreign tourists. It even caught the attention of GMA 7 who sent a crew to document the procedure. Alarmed by the reports, AKFI requested mayor Efren Tungol to stop Salibay from feeding the python with dogs since it is a clear violation of Republic Act No. 8485, otherwise known as the Animal Welfare Act. The mayor agreed. However, in order to preserve the python, which has become a tourist attraction, AKFI, represented by its director Charles Wartenberg, sealed a memorandum of support and cooperation with the municipality creating the site as an animal sanctuary. The memorandum, aside from manifesting full implementation of RA 8485, also reiterates the improvement of the cage based on animal welfare standards and introduction of alternative feeding. Creating an animal sanctuary would make Alburquerque the only Animal Welfare Friendly municipality in the country. AKFI is also associated with the International Wildlife Coalition Trust, an internationally recognized organization founded in the United States dedicated to the protection of global wildlife and natural habitat protection.
In March 2012, Prony was relocated to another sanctuary in brgy Laya, Baclayon, after the owner failed to secure the required permits and licenses from the Local Government of Alburquerque.

Heritage

Church and convent

Creation of the parish

Some sources say the parish had its beginning as a visita in 1842 when a chapel was built under the direction of the parish priest of Baclayon. The parish advocated to Santa Monica was canonically established on 18 June 1869, following royal approval given on November 1868. During the Spanish colonial era, the Augustinian Recollect friars administered the parish.

Creation of the church

Up to the 1880s, the parish church was more like a huge shed. Although it boasted three aisles, its walls were only of tabique. The present church of coral stone was commenced shortly afterwards, utilizing the same three-aisled plan. However, the upper portions, especially the tower over the façade, were completed during the first half of this century. On examination it becomes clear that the link between the church and the casa parroquial was planned along a grander scale, but never finished. The grotto at the back of the courtyard between the two structures hides a ruin which may be of another unfinished arcade.
Ray Francia signed the church's interior ceiling painting on one side of the choir loft. Another section, now vanished, showed that the painting was carried out from 12 April to 3 August 1932. As regards the church bells, amongst them in the quadrangular tower are three bells, inscribed with the patron saints of the parish. Dated 1866, two years before the ecclesiastical recognition of the parish, the bells are testimonies to the anxiety of the community in becoming an independent parish.
As to the casa parroquial, the year 1876 is etched over the porta maior. However, in the center of the entrance arches to the steps, the year 1884 could be read until recently.
The church was severely damaged in the 2013 earthquake.

Infrastructure

Alburquerque's road network is classified into:
It has one bridge, the 39 L.M. Bridge to brgy Tagbuane. The power supply is currently distributed by the Bohol Electric Cooperative I which served a total of 1,281 households in the 11 barangays. The main source of potable water supply is groundwater. The total potable water demand of per day.
The municipality has one local port situated in Western Poblacion, which serves local fishermen as well as other fishing vessels and cargo vessels in transporting equipment and raw materials from other neighboring provinces. It is fitted with proper lighting and equipment. The municipal LGU as well as the barangay officials ensure the safety, peace and order situation and proper maintenance of the port.

Waterworks

One of the biggest projects of the present administration is to provide its constituents with a sufficient potable water supply. Almost 80% of the barangay in the municipality currently has water connections.

Education

Ensuring quality education to the people is also one of the top concerns of the local officials. The LGU assisted in determining and developing appropriate actions that would address the educational needs of the Alburanons in terms of budgetary allocations, maintenance of facilities and policies concerning education.
Alburquerque has one public secondary school, San Roque High School. It has four elementary schools for intermediate level and three primary schools. It has also a total of 11 day care centers, one center in each barangay and one private pre-school. The number of teachers in the municipality is only 63 and the teacher student ratio in elementary is 1:24 and 1:43 in secondary level.