Ubay, Bohol
', officially the ', is a of the Philippines| in the province of,. According to the, it has a population of people.
Ubay is in the northeast of the province, and has an area of, with of coastline. It is the largest and most populated municipality in Bohol.
Etymology
One etymology derivation is that the town's name is a contraction of the term ubay-ubay, meaning "alongside".According to Kaufmann's Visayan-English dictionary, the Visayan word "ubay" means:
The flow of seawater between the mainland and the island of Lapinig Grande could justify the second definition of Ubay. It is a situation that is permanent and the constant reference to the flow of water can make the term ubay be attached as the name of the place.
An alternative derivation is that the term 'ubay-ubay' or 'alongside' became the byword of seafarers who used to travel close to the shorelines of Ubay to avoid the strong current of the Canigao Channel. There was a single path to follow reach the island trading centres. This trail was located alongside the sandy beach. Later on the term Ubay became the original name of the community.
History
Historically, Ubay was part of Talibon. On 15 January 1844, it separated from Talibon to become an independent municipality.The religious aspect of the town was established much later than the civil aspect of the town. The decree of the Spanish Governor General creating Ubay as a town in the religious aspect is dated 22 October 1877. However, Royal Order No. 695 issued by the Kingdom of Spain has the date 5 October 1877.
The town celebrates its fiesta every last Friday of January in commemoration and honor of their patron saint, Holy Child. Ubayanons often come home during fiesta to share the joy of reviving the beautiful old story on the origin of the place.
Geography
The town is situated east of Trinidad, north of Alicia and Mabini, and northeast of San Miguel. It is northeast of Tagbilaran, southeast of Manila and east of Cebu City.Climate
The climate is typically equatorial – temperature range over the year is less than three degrees Celsius, and annual rainfall exceeds. The dry season starts in February and lasts through April sometimes extending to midMay. The climate in Ubay falls within Coronas climate type IV, characterised by not very pronounced maximum rainfall with a short dry season from one to three months and a wet season of nine to ten months.Ubay has a tropical climate. Most months of the year are marked by significant precipitation, making agriculture favorable – it supports at least two rice crops per year. The short dry season has little impact. Ubay is classified as Am by climate classification system.
Barangays
Ubay comprises 44 barangays organized into eight urban districts :Demographics
When the first national census was held in 1903, the municipality had a population 7,355. It continued to grow until 1960 with 34,090. The population markedly decreased in 1970 with the creation of the municipality of President Carlos P. Garcia, formerly a constituent barangay. Since 1970, average annual growth rate is.The primary language is Cebuano: Filipino and English are understood to a limited degree.
Economy
Ubay has a number of business establishments commercial trading firms engaged in retail and wholesale. The new public market building was completed in 2000. The regular market day is Monday and local traders from neighboring towns come to sell their merchandise consisting mostly of agricultural products and small consumer items like used clothes, household utensils, and other products. Ubay also provides a market for the neighboring island municipality of Pres. Carlos P. Garcia. Another well-known public market is located in barangay San Pascual, south of the municipality.Tourism and culture
Tourist Attractions
Delicacies
- Ube Calamay: It is a purple rice cake, with Ube or purple yam. This sweet and delightful delicacy is said to be originated from this town because of its large plantations of Ube.
- Fried Ube bread: Another mouthwatering delicacy made of ube. It is bread deepfried then filled with purple yam.
Ubay-ubay Festival
Local government
Ubay is governed by the municipal mayor as head of the municipality. The vice mayor is the next highest position and acts as the presiding officer of the municipal council.| Term | Title | Name |
| 1844 | Gobernadorcillo | Toribio Reyes |
| 1901 – 1902 | Presidente Municipal | Ruperto Gaviola |
| 1902 – 1906 | Presidente Municipal | Eutiquio Boyles |
| 1906 – 1910 | Presidente Municipal | Ruperto Gaviola |
| 1910 – 1912 | Presidente Municipal | Bonifacio Reyes |
| 1912 – 1924 | Presidente Municipal | Ruperto Gaviola |
| 1925 – 1930 | Presidente Municipal | Jose Garces |
| 1931 – 1935 | Presidente Municipal | Carlos Boiser |
| 1936 – 1940 | Presidente Municipal | Ruperto Gaviola |
| 1941 – 1942 | Presidente Municipal | Lucio Cutanda |
| 1942 – 1943 | Military Mayor | Samson Sabalones |
| 1944 – 1945 | Military Mayor | Frank Lombardo |
| 1946 – 1948 | Municipal Mayor | Lucio Cutanda |
| 1949 – | OIC Municipal Mayor | Marcelo Cuyno |
| 1949 – 1952 | Municipal Mayor | Lucio Cutanda |
| 1953 – 1964 | Municipal Mayor | Ricardo Boyles |
| 1965 – 1968 | Municipal Mayor | Sabiniano Cuyno |
| 1969 – 1978 | Municipal Mayor | Rufina Delima |
| 1979 – 1980 | OIC Municipal Mayor | Eutiquio Bernales |
| 1981 – 1984 | Municipal Mayor | Eutiquio Bernales |
| 1985 – 1986 | OIC Municipal Mayor | Pedro Sarabosing |
| 1986 – 1987 | OIC Municipal Mayor | Agapito Valleser |
| 1987 – 1992 | Municipal Mayor | Eliseo Boyles |
| 1992 – 1998 | Municipal Mayor | Eutiquio Bernales |
| 1998 – 2004 | Municipal Mayor | Manuel Alesna |
| 2004 – 2013 | Municipal Mayor | Eutiquio Bernales |
| 2013 – 2016 | Municipal Mayor | Galicano Atup |
| 2016 – present | Municipal Mayor | Constantino Reyes |
Infrastructure
Transport
The most common form of local transportation is the tricycle for nearer barangays. For far barangays, the motorcycle is the most common. All barangays are connected by roads and the only places without roads are the steep slopes of the central mountains.The improvement of the Bohol circumferential road and the port facilities helped Ubay to become the trading and transportation hub of northeastern Bohol, connecting it to the neighboring island of Leyte and the rest of Bohol province. Passenger and cargo traffic to these destinations has noticeably increased over the years indicating an increasing volume of trade between these points.
Land transportation is provided by various short and long-distance buses, jeeps and vans, connecting Ubay to the rest of the towns in the province. Tagbilaran can be reached from Ubay in two to three hours by bus or van. There are also daily combined road/ferry services to Metro Manila.
Ubay seaport is considered the province's principal gateway to Leyte, and Samar. Its improved port area is linked to the major port destinations of neighboring provinces such as Bato and Hilongos in Leyte, Maasin City in Southern Leyte, and Cebu City, the regional capital. Four vessels travels to and from Cebu City daily, and routes to and from Bato, Hilongos and Maasin City are also served daily. The journey time for each destination is 4–5 hours.
Ubay is home to one of only two airports in Bohol, but Ubay Airport is completely undeveloped and has no scheduled service, nor any facilities. The runway currently is only about long but couldn't extend at the southwestern end becomes it is close to hills, and the northeastern end reaches housing and the sea.
Health
For health services, the town has two public health units staffed by doctors, nurses, midwives, dentists, medical technologists and sanitary inspectors. A small government hospital was established to provide outpatient services to local residents. A private 15-bed hospital in Fatima also provides services for emergencies. A pediatrics and OB-gyne clinic complements the health services available in town.Barangay Health Workers from each barangay provide direct health care assistance to barangay residents.
Public order and safety
The local police force is 37 police officers. Police–population ratio is 1:, favourable than the standard ratio of 1:1,000. The police are augmented by 492 Barangay Tanod volunteers. It is reported that crime rate in Ubay is relatively low. The local Fire Department is staffed by eight fire fighters with two fire trucks. Incidence of fires is reportedly low in the municipality.Utilities
Bohol was linked to the major source of geothermal power in Leyte through the underwater connection between Maasin City, Southern Leyte and Ubay. Presently, only three of the 44 barangays have no electricity, yet only 34.97 percent of the total households in the municipality have electricity compared to the province, which was 58.3 percent energized in 2000.The town proper and seven other barangays were served by the Ubay Water Service Cooperative. The cooperative planned to expand their service to eight other barangays in the near future. Due to consumer demand and the limited size of the supply, water service became difficult during dry months. Bohol province reported that 23.71 percent of its households had their own faucets from a community system while Ubay reported only 8.97 percent.
For the province, 21.68 percent of households had access to shared faucets while Ubay only had 8.86 percent. In Ubay, slightly more than half of the households had access to dug wells.
Education
Elementary Education
There are 45 public elementary schools in the municipality located in each barangay and one on Tres Reyes island.There are 7 private pre-school and elementary schools.
Secondary Education
There are 17 public and private secondary and high schools in the municipality which offer junior and senior high school curriculum.| School ID | Institution Name | Location | Junior HS | Senior HS | Academic Track | Type |
| 302816 | Biabas Trade High School | Biabas | Yes | Yes | GAS, TVL | Public |
| 404289 | Bohol Northern Star Colleges | Poblacion | Yes | Yes | ABM, HUMSS, GAS, TVL | Private |
| 312334 | Bulilis National High School | Bulilis | Yes | Yes | ABM, GAS, HUMSS, STEM | Public |
| 312351 | Cagting High School | Cagting | Yes | Yes | GAS, TVL | Public |
| 302825 | Camambugan National High School | Camambugan | Yes | Yes | GAS, TVL | Public |
| 312361 | Don Aguedo Reyes Maboloc Memorial National HS | Villa Teresita | Yes | No | Public | |
| 313031 | Erico Aumentado High School | Poblacion | Yes | No | Public | |
| 312354 | Hambabauran High School | Hambabauran | Yes | No | Public | |
| 404291 | Holy Child Academy | Poblacion | Yes | Yes | ABM, GAS | Private |
| 446513 | ICTHUS Christian Academy | Poblacion | Yes | Yes | GAS, STEM | Private |
| 405892 | Montessori Educational Learning Center | Tapon | Yes | Yes | GAS, TVL | Private |
| 404293 | San Pascual Academy | San Pascual | Yes | Yes | GAS | Private |
| 302899 | San Pascual National Agricultural High School | San Pascual | Yes | Yes | TVL | Public |
| 312346 | Tapal Integrated School | Tapal | Yes | Yes | TVL | Public |
| 312347 | Tubog Integrated School | Tubog | Yes | Yes | TVL | Public |
| 302915 | Ubay National Science High School | Fatima | Yes | Yes | ABM, HUMSS, STEM, TVL | Public |
| 302914 | Union National High School | Union | Yes | Yes | GAS, TVL | Public |
Tertiary Education
To meet the increasing demands for college education, Bohol Northeastern College was founded in 1996 by Bohol political leaders, former governors Erico B. Aumentado and David B. Tirol. The name was later changed to Bohol Northern Star Colleges in January 2007.Notable people
- Erico B. Aumentado – Bohol governor who served three consecutive terms, former deputy speaker of the Philippine House of Representatives, former congressman of Bohol's 2nd District, former provincial vice-governor and Board Member.
- Diosdado R. Delima - Chairman of the Philippine Reparations Commission established in 1958 by then President Carlos P. Garcia. He reported directly to the President of the Philippines. During the presidency of Diosdado P, Macapagal, he became the Head of the Legal Department of the Philippine Reparations Commission.
- Karen Gallman - beauty queen, Miss Intercontinental 2018, the first ever Filipina to win the title. Also won Binibining Pilipinas Intercontinental 2018.