Madrid is a 4th class municipality in the province of Surigao del Sur, Philippines. Madrid was named after the capital city of Spain, Madrid. It has 14 barangay's and two comprising the poblacion, the brgy Linibunan and brgy Quirino. According to the 2000 census, it has a population of 14,066 people in 2,862 households.
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Madrid is not actually identified as a major tourist destination of the Province of Surigao del Sur due to the presence of existing attractions, facilities and amenities offered by the neighboring municipalities. Tourism related activities have never been developed nor given as top priority project because of strong competition within the neighboring towns. Despite of the limited contribution of tourism industry to the local economy, the town possesses different scenic spots awaiting for development. Most of these spots are referred to as eco-tourism. There are 10 existing and considered as potential attractions found in Madrid.
These are the following: 1. Bayogo Cave; 2. Panlangagan Cave; 3. Panlangagan Heights and NIA Dam; 4. Wild and exotic beach facing the magnificent Pacific Ocean at Brgy. Daan Union; 5. Man- made attraction, the Carac-an bridge (the second longest bridge in Mindanao at 510 meters long) that serves as a landmark prior to entering the municipality; 6. The Bayogo Irrigation Dam, that serves as the life-blood for agriculture; 7. The ancestral homes and ruins of antique houses which are of great historical significance at Daan Union; 8. The Carac-an River, one of the cleanest river in Mindanao; 9. Daan Union Fish Cage and Pen; 10. Lib-og Beach Resort at Daan Union.
All of these mentioned attractions do not have acceptable facilities and utilities except for some native cottages available at the beaches. Most of the identified tourist spots do not have accessibility. Transportation and mobility is one of the major problems that forbids visitation from local and foreign visitors. There is not enough budget allocation at the local level as well as national funding for tourism development hence, these tourist spots remained untapped and underdeveloped. Tourism industry remained to be a "sleeping giant" economic sector in the Municipality.
The early beginning of the History of Madrid is described to be a typical one of a community development on the edge of a river, this river is presently called Carac-an and said to be once abundant of fish, shrimps, and other creatures, which served as are reliable source of food for the early inhabitants. The river runs in the Southern boundary of the municipality and it is now the main source of irrigation water supplying all irrigable lands of Madrid and the neighboring municipality of Cantilan.
The original name of Madrid was “LINIBUNAN” a visayan term and a description of a place covered by soil deposits which has been transported by force of nature. Linibunan came to be settled with more people when the Carac-an River gradually changed its course.
The growing community of Linibunan had been the object concern of the Municipality of Cantilan being parts of the territorial jurisdiction. Having recognized Linibunan to attain the qualification of a barrio, the Municipality Government of Cantilan, granted its creation as a barrio in the year 1911.
Religion, particularly Roman Catholic, had been the predominated the spiritual life of the people from the beginning and to the presents. The catholic faith had been nurtured through the years under the administration of the missionary center, which was established in the year 1951. There were no recorded obstacles in the propagation and preservation of the catholic faith for the fact that most visayans composing the majority of the inhabitants were catholic.
On June 13, 1913, the missionary authorities in Cantilan created the Parish in Linibunan and assigned a Parish Priest who was national named Fr. Garcia. Father Garcia contributed significantly to the historical making of the Municipality of Madrid, because he was responsible for changing the name Linibunan to Madrid. It could be only a personal option of Father Garcia to name his parish, Madrid Parish, as affection to the capital city of Spain. From then on church documents bear the head letter, Madrid Parish and gradually the name Linibunan become extinct. The name Madrid was officially recognized as the name of a new Municipality of Cantilan as embodied in Executive Order No. 561 dated February 2, 1953.
The Municipality of Madrid was once a part of Cantilan town. It was only declared Municipality on February 2, 1953. Madrid is blessed to have the Carac-an River. This River serves as the main source of sand and gravel to the entire CarCanMadCarLan and also provide as a watershed. Carac-an River soon to be developed as one source of power through the proposed construction of mini-hydro power plant. It is also a perfect site for camping as provincial jamboree is often held here. One of the longest bridge in mindanao is also located here.
Christianity first came into this part of Mindanao when in 1598, a Portuguese ship under Captain Francisco de Castro accidentally drifted into the east coast of Mindanao, part of the third district known as the District of Caraga which covered the present provinces of Surigao del Sur, Surigao del Norte, Agusan Provinces and a part of Davao. Onboard the ship were two Jesuits missionaries, Fr. Valerio Ledesma, S.J., and Manuel Marino, a lay brother, who preached the gospel and baptized the inhabitants. But, it was only in 1596 that the first batch of Jesuit missionaries stationed themselves permanently in Butuan, at the town of Buenavista, and from there, they established mission posts in nearby areas. They were followed by the Recollects and then by the Benedictines.
The first center of Christianity in this part of Mindanao was Tandag, which was established in 1622; Siargao in 1623; Bislig in 1624; Surigao in 1754 and in Cantilan in 1851.
When Cantilan was established as the first center of missionary activity in 1851, Madrid was only a remote small sitio of Cantilan with few scattered houses. The small group of inhabitants in the area kept on clearing the land and planted it with various crops predominantly rice. As a result of their hard and painstaking labor, the land became conducive to live in. The fertility of the soil and the proximity of the river began to attract people from the nearby places. Years after, they organized themselves and declared independence from the municipality of Cantilan.
The pioneers of the place were, Rufino Urbiztondo, Cosme Frias, Andres Roy, Jorge Arpilleda, Antonio Malayao, Antonio Taguines, Geronimo Rubi, Isidro Uriarte, Enrique Guillen, Pedro Uriarte, Tomas Frias, Andres Arnan, Mariano Cuartero and others. The settlement continued to attract people. This constant coming of immigrants and intermarriages among inhabitants increased considerably the population until finally, the local leaders found it for to convert the sitio into a barrio. Under the leadership of Rufino Urbiztondo, Linibunan, as the place was known, became a barrio of Cantilan with him as its first Teniente del Barrio. Linibunan means "water-covered lowland". Digging around the place will attest to the fact that the topsoil in the area was deposited by floodwaters during the rainy season.
The early inhabitants of the place were religious people. Most of them were Christian and the missionaries based in Cantilan who visited the barrio once in a while to attend to their religious needs. In 1901, the people thought of Christianizing the name of their barrio. Fr. Paulino Garcia who was then the parish priest of Cantilan and a Spaniard by nationality, suggested that the barrio be named Madrid reminiscing of the Spanish capital. The people readily accepted the suggestion and since then, Linibunan was changed to Madrid.
For a decade, progress seemed slow. But then immigrants from other neighboring islands came, especially from Bohol, seeking good fortune in the reputed Land of Promise. A handful of Chinese came and engaged in business and trade with the natives. Due to its favorable geographical location, Madrid became the center of trade and commerce in the area. With the rapid growth of commerce and trade, population also increased. Business enterprises boomed and people started making permanent residences in the town. Then the local leaders became aware that Madrid can now qualify into a municipality. Headed by then Teniente del Barrio Sotero Irrizari, the Barrio Council and other Civic Leaders passed a resolution asking the President of the Philippines to elevate Madrid into a municipality. With the help of the Provincial Board, the cherished dream of the people of Madrid become a reality when President Elpedio Quirino issued Executive Order No. 561 making Madrid as one of the municipalities of Surigao del Sur on February 2, 1953. The municipality was inaugurated on July 4, 1953 amidst great splendor.
It maybe well to mention that when Madrid became a municipality on February 2, 1953 by virtue of Executive Order 561, there was some kind of controversy as to who will be the first mayor. However, a long and protracted legal battle, the courts settled the controversy and proclaimed Guillermo Arpilleda as the first mayor of Madrid.
Madrid today has a total of fourteen (14) barangays and a population of around 14,500 people. Classified as a 5th class municipality, it is the commercial hub of the CarCanMadCarLan area. Many fascinating events happened before "she" was able to attain "her" present image as it is known today. Madrid and its people are moving on towards greater heights of progress.
Demography Population Trend - The alluring Town of Madrid was once a barrio of Cantilan. It was created into a municipality on February 2, 1953 by virtue of the Executive Order No. 561. As early as the 1950s settlements was so vibrant for such reason as it was separated from Cantilan. Data shows that upon the conduct of 1960 census, the town posted 8198 people. The population grew at the average growth rate of 3.038 percent last 1970 census with a total of 11059 people. A sudden drop of population was experienced in 1975 posting 10627 people at a very low growth rate which is the lowest among the censuses been conducted. The decrease in population was attributed to the insurgency problem experienced especially in the hinterland barangays of Madrid. Peace and order was slightly stabilized in the 1980s, resulting to the sudden increase in population at 3.329 percent of average growth rate with a numerical value of 12518 people. The decade of 1980s considered as the productive decade of the town wherein agricultural activities made a brighter future of the town. From then on the town experienced an increase in population now a day took slowly due to the continued out migration of other people especially the young population of the town to seek for better academic pursuits. The current average growth rate leveled at 0.023 percent and the population count marked at 12992 inhabitants. Using the geometric method of computing the trend of population, the current estimated population reached 13,010 people. With such method of computation, and without prejudice to the health and social services sub-sectors suggest that there will be an additional of 15 people added annually to the total municipal population.
Age and Sex Structure - The town is slightly dominated by a productive population. More than 53 percent of the total municipal population belonged to the age-bracket of 15 to 64 years old. A rough estimate of more than 40 percent of the total population belonged to the young-age population ages between 1 to 14 years old; this also constitutes the young dependent population of the town. Population is slightly concentrated at the age-bracket between 5 to 9 years old. The old population constitutes about 5 percent only against the total municipal population ages more than 65 years old also comprises the old dependent population of the town. There has been a slight domination of female population with a difference of 135 people. The current sex ratio of the town constitutes 97 males against 100 females using the prevailing trend of 1995 census.
Marital Status - More than 72 percent of the total municipal population belongs to the age bracket of more than 10 years old or it can be expressed numerically as 9,456 people. More than 53 percent of the household population ages more than 10 years old are legally married. It can be noted that there were more female population who are legally married than the male population by 51 percent. Married population is concentrated between the age-bracket of 25 to 34 years old and this suggest for a higher fertility and an expected population growth. On the other hand, single individuals comprised 41 percent of the total population. For 3880 single individuals, males dominated this status than the females. Single population group concentrated between the age-bracket of 10 to 19 years old and slowly declining towards 20 years and more. More than 6 percent of the remaining population ages more than 10 years old belonged to widow, separated/divorced, common law/live-in and others.
Highest Grade Completed - More than 95 percent of the household population of more than 10 years old are literate and the prevalence of illiteracy of the town barely reaches 5 percent. For a total of 11,023 population ages more than 5 years old, it was noted that 2.8 percent of the population do not have any grade completed. Another 1.9 percent has completed pre-school and more than 56 percent completed elementary education. There are 25 percent of the populations having high school education and only 48 percent of that completed their high school education. There are 218 individuals who have a post secondary education and only 6 percent of that is still undergrads. There are 763 individuals who are college undergrads while 494 are academic degree holders and only an estimated of 16 individuals who have past baccalaureate as the highest grade completed. With such data presented in Table 4, it is noted that the town do have a good educational background as one of the strengths for having a pool of educated population.
Mother Tongue - There are four major dialects been spoken in the town. More than 97 percent of the total household population speak Surigaonon. More than 1.8 percent speak Manobo. Such presence of other language suggest for the in-migration of other people from other provinces and parts of the country in the area. Significantly, the town is 88 percent vibrant in terms of its relation to the province
Religious Affiliations - The town is dominated by Roman Catholic by more than 87 percent. There are other religious sects present in the area as such Aglipayans, Iglesia ni Cristo, UCCP, Islam and other Protestants groups.
Labor Force - About 8,434 people who are considered as productive population ages more than 15 years old, more than 63 percent are in the labor force. More than 92 percent of the household populations who are in the labor force are employed and roughly 8 percent are considered as unemployed. The remaining 36 percent of the total household population considered as productive individuals are not in the labor force.
Geographical Location - The municipality of Madrid, Surigao del Sur lies in the northern part of the province, in the cluster known as CarCanMadCarLan area. It is bounded in the east by the Pacific Ocean, the Diwata Mountain in the west, the municipality of Cantilan in the north and Lanuza in the South. It is about Fifty Six kilometers from the capital town of Tandag, the seat of the provincial government of Surigao del Sur, and one hundred thirty kilometers from the city of Surigao. Madrid is a narrow land along the coast of Surigao del Sur with an area of 14,122 hectares, representing 3.17 per cent of the province total land area of 445,216 hectares.
Soil Type - Madrid has four kinds of soil type. Of the total land area, mountain soil undifferentiated comprises 9,413 hectares or 66.65 percent; San Manuel silt loam with 4,617 hectares or 32.69 percent; Matho loam has an area of 62 hectares and 30 hectares of Kabatohan loam.
Slope - Approximately 5,210 hectares or 36.89 percent of the total land area is classified under 0-3% slope; 406 hectares or 2.87 percent under 3-5% slope; 1,009 hectares or 7.15 percent under 5-8% slope; 1,283 hectares or 9.09 percent under 8-15% slope and 6,214 hectares or 44.00 percent falls under 15%- above slope classification.
Climate - The municipality of Madrid experiences enough rainfall throughout the year. The first and last quarters of the year are the rainiest season and the rest of the year has less rainfall. The town is classified as under the type II climate classification.
Education - There are 2 levels of education present in Madrid namely, elementary and secondary educational level only. Higher education or college school can be availed in Cantilan but most of the local students prefer to study in Cebu or neighboring provinces.
There are 12 complete elementary schools and 1 primary school in Madrid located in every barangay of the town. Each school varies from one to another in terms of facilities and area of school site. Patong-Patong Elementary School has the largest area of more than 1.7 hectares while Magsaysay Elementary School has less than a half-hectare in area. Madrid Central Elementary School has the most number of school facilities to include shop, library, administrative office, clinic, comfort rooms, playground and science room, while the rest of the elementary schools do have 2 to 3 facilities available.
Health - There are 327 registered births in Madrid for the year 2000 placing the Crude Birth Rate (CBR) at 23 per 1000 population. Using the current population of 14,066 mortality or deaths reported during the year was 90. 40 of which are females and 50 males and 8 of those deaths are infants. No maternal death was reported. CDR (Crude Death Rate) for the year was recorded at 6 per 1,000 population. Leading causes of deaths are Pneumonia, Hypertensive Vascular Diseases, Pulmonary Tuberculosis, Cancer and Accidents. Leading causes of morbidity for the also include Pneumonia, Bronchitis, PTB, Hypertension and Diarrhea.
Health Personnel - There are 9 personnel manning the Municipal Health Office, 1 Physician (Municipal Health Officer), 1 Public Health Nurse, 1 Medical Technologists, 4 Midwives and 2 Sanitary Inspectors. The Municipal Health Office is backed up by the presence of Madrid District Hospital located in the poblacion, which serves as its core referral hospital. Nutrition - Madrid has a very high incidence of malnutrition in the year 2000 with a prevalence rate of 6.6. Out of the 2,665 preschool children weighed, 20 were severely underweight, 156 moderately underweight and 917 mildly underweight.
Garbage/Waste Disposal - The manner of garbage disposal in the area varies from one barangay to the other. The most common are burning, burying and composting. Ninety percent (90) of the 2,862 households have sanitary toilets of which 6.6 percent are of unsanitary type and 3.4 percent without toilet. Eighty one percent (81%) has access safe water supply while 18.7 percent has doubtful source.
Madrid is politically subdivided into 14 barangays.
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