Mambusao is known as one of the improving town here in the province of Capiz island of Panay. This town is so very peaceful because the residence are disciplined. Mayor Jose Alba Jr. is the one who manage this town.

The Mambusao plaza is very clean and clear. There is also a new waiting shade beside the barangay hall in plaza. The visitor will surely never get bored because there’s a lot of Internet cafe and large restaurant. Mambusao church is so very wide. A lot of people are always going to church every Sunday and Saturday. Mambusaononare religious people and they celebrate their religious fiesta every November 25 in the name of their patron Saint Catherine of Alexandria.

Mambusao religious fiesta is coming. All Mambusaonon specially the officials and students are busy practicing for the fiesta. Their plaza is became more attractive and safe.Mambusaononand even those visitors who will visit the town fiesta will enjoy.

CAPIZ - Seafood Capital of the Philippines

Discover the Capiz mystic. Explore the rolling hills, mountain peaks and ranges. Enjoy daytime excursions at the province’s wide beaches and isolated coves. Have a fill of a variety of seafoods available all year round. Visit local gardens, historical sites, old Spanish churches, Southeast Asia’s largest bell at Pan-ay Church, and the birthplace of Manuel A. Roxas (first Philippine President). Experience local festivals like Balintawakan and Sinadya sa Halaran. Go spelunking. A lot of caves are waiting to be explored. Or you can make special arrangements to witness the Mundo tribe dance in Tapaz.

Capiz History - Capiz, a province where myth and reality merge. One enduring legend about how Capiz got its name goes like this: Balingangan, Datu Bankaya’s eldest son, named his two territories “Kapid” and“Akean” (meaning twin) in honor of his twin daughters “Bulan” and “Adlaw” (moon and sun). Spaniards who later settled in the area adopted the names of Capiz and Aklan.

The arrival of Spaniards in 1569 brought about major changes in the lives of the Capizeños. May 8, 1570, marked the conquest of Panay and consequently the district of Aklan by the Spaniards under the leadership of Martin de Goiti. Capiz was created into a separate ‘encomienda’ and later was organized into a politico-military province in 1716, embracing the neighboring island of Romblon, Tablas, and Sibuyan. The American takeover of the Philippines resulted in the establishment of a civil government in Capiz on April 15, 1901.

The City of Roxas is the provincial capital of Capiz, a part of Panay Island where Miguel Lopez de Legaspi settled when he arrived from Cebu. In 1746, Capiz was made the seat of the politico-military government although it was still ecclesiastically controlled by the Bishopric of Cebu. On May 31, 1847, a Royal Decree turned the province into an alcadia. Roxas City was once known as the Municipality of Capiz and it became a chartered city on May 12, 1951 by virtue of Republic Act No. 603 otherwise known as the City Charter. The late Hon. Lorenzo Arnaldo was its first City Mayor. This city was named “Roxas City” in honor of its most illustrious son, the first president of the Republic of the Philippines, President Manuel Acuña Roxas.

Geography - The Province of Capiz occupies a land area of 2,633 square kilometers, representing 21% of the total land area of Panay. It is composed of 16 municipalities and a city with a total of 472 barangays. The province is composed of 16 municipalities comprising 473 barangays. It is divided into two political districts: 1st District covers the municipalities of Maayon, Panay, Panitan, Pilar, Pontevedra, Pres. Roxas, and Roxas City; while the 2nd District covers the municipalities of Cuartero, Dao, Dumalag, Dumarao, Ivisan, Jamindan, Sapi-an, Mambusao, Sigma, and Tapaz.

Population - As of the year 2000 survey, Capiz has a population of 654,156.

Language - Hiligaynon is the dominant dialect spoken in the province.

Industries - The even distribution of rainfall throughout the year and the infrequent occurrence of typhoons make the province highly suitable for agriculture, aquaculture, and other related activities – which explains why these are major industries of the province. Farms for orchids, various ornamental plants, and different varieties of heliconia supply a thriving cut-flower business that is carving a market niche in Southern Philippine provinces. The land has also proven to be good grazing ground for cattle and for raising swine, goats, and poultry. Its long coastal areas abound with “kapis” shells, which are used in the manufacture of exportable novelty items. Numerous home and cottage industries amply augment household incomes, among which are poultry, livestock raising, handicraft, shell-craft, ceramics, lime processing, garments, farm-tool fabrication, furniture and boat making.

Capiz Is Famous For...

Sinadya sa Halaran - Literally meaning “Joy in Sharing and Thanksgiving,“ it fused two major festivals of Capiz – Sinadya and Halaran, which were previously celebrated separately. Sinadya marks the fiesta of Roxas City in honor of the Patroness of the Capiceños, Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception. Halaran festival depicts the rich cultural heritage of the Capiceños through sharing and thanksgiving, which the province and the city are celebrating together. The twin festival is celebrated in a show of unity that speaks of their determined quest for a better life.

Seafoods - The abundance of marine life makes Capiz the Seafood Capital of the Philippines. Home to one of the richest fishing grounds of the country, its water teem with the best that the sea has to offer – blue marlin, tuna, prawns and shrimps, seaweed, crabs ells, shellfish such as oysters and mussels, squid and other marine species. Prawns and milkfish are shipped by tons to Manila and other places.

Birthplace of President Manuel Roxas - It was here in Capiz that the First President of the Philippines was born. Located in the city proper, the two-storey hardwood and stone house of President Manuel Acuña Roxas is now a historical shrine.

Biggest Bell - The Sta. Monica Church in Pa-nay, Capiz houses the biggest bell in Southeast Asia. The church’s five-storey belfry shelters a huge antique bell surrounded by 8 smaller bells. Shrouded with many enchanting tales, the huge bell holds more fascinating truth. It was cast from 76 sacks of coins believed to have been contributed by the citizens of the town. Its mammoth size holds a staggering record - seven feet in diameter and weighs 10.4 tons.

Caves - Spelunking or simply cave exploration in just one of the many caves that can be found in Capiz is a delight to explorers and spelunkers. Getting into these nature-built dungeons, seeing the wonders that were hidden for centuries, creates a grand feeling of fulfillment as one views the grandeur of the chambers as big as the present-day cathedrals. Flaked tools and fossilized bones of Stone Age Man were recovered in some archeological caves.

Capiz Shells - Considered as the most versatile of sea shells, which are so plentiful in the province, called “pi-os” by Capiceños, but known as capiz throughout the world. Capiz shell products, admired for their beauty and transluscent quality, are in such great demand abroad that sometimes local exporters can hardly supply the needs of the market. The deft fingers of the Capiceños turn these shells into flowers and souvenir items of unsurpassed beauty.

Cutflower Growing - Farms of various ornamental plants and different varieties of heliconia supply a thriving cut-flower business that is carving a niche in Southern Philippines’ provinces.

Sulod Tribe - Located in Tapaz, Capiz, it is a cultural minority of Indonesian stock that worships spirits, practice secondary burial, and hunt with blowguns. The Sulod love personal ornaments. The necklace worn is not only an ornament and a status symbol but also an anting-anting or amulet.

Mussel Farms - Ten kilometers north of the town of Sapian, Capiz are the mussel farms that patiently lie like a silent picture of a thousand bamboo stilts arrayed six feet apart. Each bamboo pole stuck through the sea floor six to seven feet deep yields hundreds of fat dark green mussels neatly arranged like dark distended leaves sprouting heavily on top of each other. Get here by means of motorized banca, dugouts, or rafts.

Baybay Beach - The pride of Roxas City, located around 3 km. from the city proper of Roxas. This clean black sand beach is a favorite excursion/picnic area of the Capiceños.

A dream of being in a paradise where there’s no problem but a lot of sea foods specially the delectable oyster dishes and fishes grilled and spiced up were on my plans. All are for the satisfaction of my palate. Even if it will make a great “side effect” on my very carefully engraved figure, I will leave that thinking. I will not stop, I will eat those foods in front of me. What I am talking about or what I am referring to is the place called captivating Capiz which can be found in the heart of the country called paradise Philippines. This is a small province in the Philippines where the first ever president of the independent Republic of the Philippines was born and raised, His honorable President Manuel A. Roxas. Aside from this historical and honorable political figure of the Philippines, captivating Capiz is also the home of one of the great legislators of the country, Mar A. Roxas who is tagged as Mr. Palengke because of his vision in making an affordable primary commodities in markets or called palengke in the Philippines.

Captivating Capiz is been the most promising province for investors and tourists. The place is a great source of great skilled workers and also known for having very vast natural resources and raw products that can be used by manufacturers on their leading products. One known raw products used for making furnitures is the Capiz shells which is very abundant in the place (and maybe the reason why the province is called captivating Capiz).

My attraction on this captivating province is becoming enormous in every each day of searching about the grand features of Capiz. I actually made this blog to give my tribute and hail to the future eco-cultural hub in Visayas. Will the captivating Capiz succeed from this grand vision? Hope I could help with this mission!

Capiz is a very captivating province and there are a lot of things to see the true features of the place as well as the unique beauty of the said province in the Philippines. There are no limits and no end to all that Capiz can offer to Filipinos and foreign tourists. Not just about the natives of this province but also the different enchanting sceneries and views plus the eco-tourism attractions. These make Capiz a captivating place indeed to be visited. I will introduce to you different captivating places in Capiz to prove the inner and hidden beauty of the island and I will name some numerous natural or man-made and cultural eco-tourism places that you would not want to miss visiting Capiz. This will let you find out some of the most famous products we came to know about in the Philippines. One is the “baybay” or the sea shore beaches of the Capiz coasts are really one of the most amazing spots and sunset view that it boasts of.

In Capiz lies one of the oldest churches in the Philippines, the Panay Church which is known to have the biggest church bell in Asia. It is considered to be the pride of the people and the land. You would not want to miss the selections of sea foods to which Capiz is known for, from oysters, fresh water and sea water fishes like milk fish and catfish, shrimps, crabs, different varieties of mussels, the well known and recognized exotic sea creature so-called angel’s wings, different varieties of dried fish and more. Capiz is also known to sell the cheapest dried fish in the Philippines because of its abundance in different varieties of fish in the province.

Officials in the Philippines have pledged to do all they can to control the spread of HIV in the country.

New measures which are being put into place aim to combat the deadly virus by 2015 with the government of Capiz hoping to "reverse the tide of the pandemic".

As part of the new "commitment", workshops are being held which will be used as an opportunity to discuss and formulate future plans on combating the virus.

It is also hoped that new councils will be formed which will aim to increase the number of people who are aware of their HIV status and are registered as Aids patients.

The first case of Aids in the Philippines was diagnosed in 1984, a figure that had grown to 1,515 by 2001.

Concerns have been raised over the seemingly low prevalence rate, with many experts saying that it is down to conservative religious taboos which prevent people to declaring their status as HIV sufferers.

Capiz, popular with tourists as being the seafood capital of the Philippines, is located in the north-east of Panay Island and has boarders with Aklan and Antique to the west and Iloilo to the south.

Efforts have been made in the province to curb the spread of Aids and last year, it held the International Candlelight Memorial for those who have died from the disease.

The event included a service at St Catherine of Alexandria Parish Church as well as a programme aimed at raising public awareness of the disease.

This brilliant Capiz shell cross is crafted from capiz shells found in the Philippines. The blue capiz of the cross is accented with purple and gold and features a white dove in the center. The radiant colors of the capiz cross for Confirmation shine brilliantly when hung in a window with sunlight streaming through. The capiz shell cross with dove measures 5x7 inches.

Mga Baranggay

An Dumarao ginbahin ngadto hin katloan kag tulo (33) nga baranggay.

Agbatuan Aglalana Aglanot Agsirab Alipasiawan Astorga Bayog Bungsuan Calapawan Cubi Dacuton

Dangula Gibato Codingle Guinotos Jambad Janguslob Lawaan Malonoy Nagsulang Ongol Ilawod Ongol Ilaya

Poblacion Ilawod Poblacion Ilaya Sagrada Familia Salcedo San Juan Sibariwan Tamulalod Taslan Tina Tinaytayan Traciano

Capiz National High School - Roxas City, Capiz

One of the captivating beauties of Capiz is the prominent school in Roxas City, Capiz the “Capiz National High School” which was the first in the Philippines wherein the popular education was introduced by the Americans where i mentioned on the previous post. Capiz National High School library is our respondents in our proposed system which is the Computerized Library System. Our group decided to propose a system to the library of Capiz National High School, in order to make the work of the librarian easy and fast. We are currently making a system to their library because until now they are using manual method in searching for the available books and to update the check-out status of certain.

The Residents

The residents of Roxas City are peace-loving, hospitable and God-loving people. The city houses many churches and denominations, and during weekends, these houses of worship are fully packed.

Population Statistics

In the 2000 NSO Census of Population, Roxas City, Capiz registered a total population of 126,352 residents and a household population of 125,901. It had a total 25,126 household with an average household size of 5.03 persons per household. The City’s gross density in 2000 was 1,239 persons per square kilometer.

Literacy Rate: 95.4%

Highest Grade Completed: Elementary (40.8% of population 5 yrs. old and over) Major Dialect Spoken: Hiligaynon (97.1%)

Religion: 95.3% Roman Catholic

Youth Population: 62.49% of the population (0-29 yrs. old)

Dependent Population: 39.94% of the population (0-14 & 65 & over years)

Working Age Population: 60.06% of the population (15-64 yrs. old)

Labor Force Participation Rate: 57.38% of the working age population

Employed: 55.77% of the working population 15 yrs. and over

Age-Dependency Ratio: 71 dependent persons/100 working persons

Average Annual Growth Rate: 1.34%

2007 Projected Population: 138,752

2007 Projected No. of Household: 27,450

2007 Projected Gross Density: 1,360.85 person per sq. km

2006 Crude Death Rate: 6.18 deaths/1,000 population

2006 Crude Birth Rate: 22.80 births/1,000 population

2000 Actual Population: 126,352

2000 Actual No. of Households: 25,126

2000 Actual Gross Density: 1,239 person/sq. km.

Registered Voters: 70,415 (January 2007)

The City of Roxas, once known as the municipality of Capiz is the capital of the province of Capiz.

In 1569, Captain Diego de Artieda who was sent by Miguel Lopez de Legazpi from Cebu, landed on the town of Pan-ay and proclaimed it as the capital. Later the capital was moved to its present site upon discovering that the town of Capiz was near the sea where they can have better docking facilities. The Spaniards saw the long coastal cover and envisioned a trading and shipping center. Ports were constructed in Libas and later in Culasi.

A river meanders across the town, cuts it at the heart and divides it almost equally into two. Tributaries from the mountains flowed into the head of Panay River through settlements formed along its shores, irrigating and fertilizing the land to provide food to the people. Following its course into the sea, it provides water to fishponds during high tide.

In 1590, the Navy of Acapulco, Mexico made Capiz port its arsenal (naval yard) where they can seek shelter when the sea was rough. Capiz then eventually grew into a bustling port and several houses of stones were built. The social and political status enjoyed by the native chieftains of Capiz often resulted in mixed marriages with the Spaniards. The mestizo descendants became the base of the principalia or influential citizens. Their privileged positions allowed them to build houses around the favored square of the poblacion - around the church and the government complex. Their children became the beneficiaries of the Augustinian mission in 1593.

In 1746, Capiz was made the seat of the politico-military government, although it was ecclesiastically controlled by the Bishopric of Cebu. In the latter part of 1795, under Gobernadorcillo Miguel Bautista, the old road to Baybay Beach was built as an extension of San Roque Street.

The town of Capiz was frequently attacked by Muslims that in 1814, stone forts at Baybay Beach (Baluarte) were built through the initiative of Gobernadorcillo Jose Consolacion.

In 1870, the ground was broken for the foundation of the Cathedral of Capiz under the guidance of Reverend Apolonio Alvarez. It was built by sturdy hands, sweat and blood of Capizeños who were victims of forced labor.

In 1876, the diocese of Jaro in Iloilo was erected and Capiz came under its jurisdiction. In 1877, the cathedral was finally finished. Prior to its construction, a chapel was built in Burgos Street beside the municipal building.

In August 1899, the Spanish colonial government represented by Governor Juan Herrero formally surrendered to General Ananias Diokno in Baybay Beach.

Economic debacle hit the town of Capiz in 1914 when the Ayala Distillery grounded to a halt. What could have been an ambitious forerunner of nationalized industrialization became the victim of the Internal Revenue Law under American control.

In 1917, Division Superintendent of Schools F.E. Hemingway founded Capiz Trade School for intermediate pupils and offered woodworking as the only vocational course. The next division superintendent opened Capiz High School.

In 1926, Division Superintendent Arthur Wittman authorized teaching of complete secondary curriculum in the Capiz Trade School. In the same year, Culasi Port was built to accommodate inter-island ships.

On February 15, 1951 the diocese of Capiz became a separate ecclesiastical jurisdiction from Jaro. Its first bishop was Msgr. Manuel Yap. In the same year, former Vice Mayor Libertad Conlu became the first female mayor of Capiz.

Capiz became a chartered city on May 12, 1951 through House Bill 1528 sponsored by Ramon Acuña Arnaldo, the representative of the First District of Capiz. It was approved by President Elpidio Quirino on April 11, 1951 as Republic Act 608. Consequently, the town was named Roxas City after her greatest son, President Manuel Acuña Roxas, the last president of the Commonwealth and the first president of the Philippine Republic.

The first appointed mayor was Lorenzo Acuña Arnaldo followed by Ramon Berjamin Blanco, Jose Dorado and Juliano Alovera Alba. In 1959, Lorenzo Acuña Arnaldo again became the head of the city as the first elected mayor. The next mayor was Teodoro Roxas Arcenas who was succeeded by Juliano Alovera Alba who was also the representative of the First District of Capiz at the House of Congress when Martial Law was declared.

Hon. Antonio A. Del Rosario, who is now the Congressman of the 1st District of Capiz, was elected to three terms as mayor of Roxas City, serving from 1998 to 2007.

The incumbent mayor of Roxas City is Mayor Vicente B. Bermejo, who is the former governor of the province of Capiz.

The most notable people of Roxas include:

• Manuel Acuña Roxas - First president of the independent Republic of the Philippines
• Josefa Abiertas - The first woman bar topnotcher and proponent of the Women's Suffrage Bill
• General Esteban Contreras - Fought for the freedom of the Capiznons, was never captured by the Americans.
• Jose "Tabai" Altavas - Municipal Councilor of Capiz (1903 – 1906); member of the provincial board of Capiz (1906 - 1907); Delegate to the First Philippine Assembly (1907 – 1909); Provincial Governor of Capiz for two terms (1910 – 1916); Senator from Iloilo, Capiz and Romblon (1916 – 1922); and Representative from the second district of Capiz (1925 – 1928). He was a member of the “goodwill” Legislative Delegation to Japan in 1917 and was elected Delegate, from the first district of Capiz, to the constitutional convention in 1934.