Kalibo

Kalibo
Municipality
Municipality of Kalibo
Official seal of Kalibo Seal
Nickname(s): Ati-Atihan Town
Map of Aklan showing the location of Kalibo
Kalibo Location within the Philippines
Coordinates:
Country	Philippines
Region	Western Visayas (Region VI)
Province	Aklan
District	Lone district
Founded	1949
Barangays	16
Government
• Mayor	William S. Lachica (Bigkis Pinoy)
• Vice Mayor	Madeline Regalado (Bigkis Pinoy)
Area
• Total	50.75 km2 (19.59 sq mi)
Population (2010)
• Total	74,619
• Density	1,500/km2 (3,800/sq mi)
Demonym(s)	Kalibonhon
Time zone	PST (UTC+8)
ZIP code	5600
Dialing code	36
Income class	1st class
Website	www.kalibo.gov.ph

Kalibo is the capital of the Philippine province of Aklan, in the northwest of Panay, and, through the Kalibo International Airport, is the main transportation hub for the resort island of Boracay.

The city is known for the Ati-Atihan festival and for the semi-urban mangrove forest, the Bakhawan Eco-Park. In 2010, it had a population of around 75,000.

Kalibo is a first class Philippine municipality. The Kalibo Municipal Hall is located inside the Magsaysay Park, which also serves as the venue for cultural activities and events.

Etymology

The term Kalibo comes from the Aklanon word "sangkâ líbo", ("one thousand"), reputedly the number of native Ati who attended the first Catholic Mass celebrated there. Kalibo was originally spelled as "Calivo".

The town of Kalibo was originally called Akean by the inhabitants, similar to the name of the river nearby. The word akean itself connotes the warbling of running waters, from the root word akae, meaning "to boil". Akae-akae means "to bubble" or "to boil" or "to make the sound of bubbling or boiling" in the Aklanon language.

The Spaniards interchanged the names Aklan and Calivo to refer to the town. Aside from these two, other names such as Calibo, Daclan, Adan, and Calibog have been used.

History

File:OldKalibo b.jpg

Kalibo in 1949

When Miguel Lopez de Legazpi arrived In 1569, he found the city had 2,000 so he recruited 500 to help conquer the rest of the Philippines. On November 3, 1571, it became an encomienda and on April 22, 1581 the city became a parish under the Augustinians. During the Spanish era, Kalibo was part of Capiz.

On March 23, 1897 the Nineteen Martyrs of Aklan were executed by the Spanish colonial government for their role in the Philippine Revolution.

The town was affected by World War II. On November 8, 1956, the province of Aklan was officially inaugurated and Kalibo became the capital. During the early 21st century, Aklan congressman Florencio Miraflores filed a bill seeking to convert Kalibo into a city but this has yet to succeed.

The town was part of a decision by the Supreme Court of the Philippines on November 18, 2008, that granted a petition by the League of Cities of the Philippines (LCP) that the annulment of the cityhood status of the 16 towns whose cityhood bills were passed during the 11th Congress.

Barangays

Kalibo is politically subdivided into 16 barangays. Mobo was formerly known as Tinigao Bongoe.

Barangay	Classification	Population
Andagao	Urban	12,607
Bachaw Norte	Urban	2,031
Bachaw Sur	Urban	2,688
Briones	Urban	1,246
Buswang, New	Urban	9,231
Buswang, Old	Urban	2,420
Caano	Urban	1,488
Estancia	Urban	8,672
Linabuan Norte	Urban	4,058
Mabilo	Urban	2,298
Mobo	Urban	1,939
Nalook	Urban	2,879
Poblacion	Urban	11,018
Pook	Urban	5,010
Tigayon	Urban	4,648
Tinigao	Urban	2,386

Demographics

Population census of Kalibo
Year	Pop.	±% p.a.
1990	51,387	—
1995	58,065	+2.32%
2000	62,438	+1.57%
2007	69,700	+1.53%
2010	74,619	+2.51%
Source: National Statistics Office

Economy

XIX Martyrs' Street.

Kalibo's main industry is agriculture based on rice, coconuts and the Piña cloth and Abaca cloths. Handbags made of buri leaves are also part of the exports.

Fabric from the town was used during the 1996 of APEC Summit in the Philippines, when world leaders donned a pineapple silk Barong Tagalog during the obligatory photo.

Kalibo also has a meat-processing industry that produces chorizo, tocino and other meat products.

Tourism in Kalibo peaks during the Ati-Atihan Festival, celebrated on the second week of January culminating on the third Sunday. Several department stores and shopping centers are located in Kalibo, such as Gaisano and Royal Supermart.

Culture

Ati-Atihan festival

Ati-Atihan 2007

Main article: Ati-Atihan Festival

The Ati-Atihan is a festival celebrated in Kalibo every second week of January and culminating on the 3rd Sunday of the month. Revelers smear themselves with soot or any blackening substance in order to look like an Ati.

Ati-Atihan is believed to have started in the year 1212 when Borneans led by the ten Datus traversed in several baeangays and crossed the Sulu Sea to land in Panay.

Attractions

Landmarks of the city include Aklan river, the main river that flows in the city and the origin of the name of the province. Within the town proper lies Freedom Shrine which commemorates World War II veterans and the Museo it Akean, a museum of history. Outside the city lies Bakhawan Eco-Park, a 220-hectare mangrove reforestation project that began in 1990 in barangay New Buswang.

Transportation

Air

Control Tower of Kalibo International Airport.

Main article: Kalibo International Airport

Air travel to Kalibo from Manila is about 45 minutes under four airlines: the Philippine Airlines, Cebu Pacific, AirAsia Zest and PAL Express. These airlines increase their flights during the Kalibo Ati-Atihan Festival in January.

PAL Express also flies to Cebu and Angeles. AirAsia Philippines and SeaAir also have flights to Angeles. AirAsia has a flight to Kuala Lumpur. Meanwhile, Mandarin Airlines, TransAsia Airways, China Southern, China Airlines have weekly flights to and from Taipei; Philippine Airlines and Shanghai Airlines have chartered flights to and from Shanghai; Jin Air does flights to Incheon. Spirit of Manila has its chartered flight to Kalibo from its regional destinations. Zest Air have flights to Seoul, Busan, Shanghai, Taipei, Beijing, and Chengdu. Philippine Airlines has flights to Hong Kong and Seoul.

Kalibo is the major hub for to Boracay. Kalibo International Airport is about ten minutes from the main plaza.

Sea

Kalibo have four ports near the city. The New Washington port is 20 minutes away from Kalibo, while the port of Dumaguit, also in New Washington, can be reached in an hour. Batan port is accessible via Dumaguit and Altavas while the Malay port is approximately two hours. Travel time from Manila to Aklan is 14 to 18 hours through sea travel.

The Caticlan Jetty Port is part of the Roll-on Roll-off (RORO) Strong Republic Nautical Highway that connects Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao, and it passes through Kalibo to Capiz or Romblon. There is a jetty port in barangay Pook of Kalibo.

Land

Tricycle with 7 passenger sidecar.

Public transportation around the city is by tricycle, taxi, multicab and jeepneys.

Kalibo is 158 kilometers from Iloilo City, 86 kilometers from Roxas City, and 182 kilometers from San Jose, Antique. Land travel from Iloilo City to Kalibo takes approximately two and a half to three hours, one and a half hours from Roxas City, and three to five hours from San Jose, Antique. All are accessible by bus and minivans. Trips to Caticlan range from 50 minutes to 90 minutes depending on the mode of transportation.

Public transport

The tricycle dominates the streets in Kalibo and is the main form of public transport. The town has its own version of the design of its tricycle that can accommodate up to 8 passengers. The design was also adopted in of the rest of Aklan and some parts of northern Antique. There are about 3,500 tricycles that are registered for public transportation and they are distributed in the following routes:

Route No.	Color Code	Coverage	Terminal
1	Green	Osmena Avenue, Estancia, Tinigao, Tigayon, Linabuan Norte	Kalibo Public Market
2	Blue	Andagao, New Buswang, Old Buswang, Bakhaw Sur, Bakhawan Eco-Park	RC Supermart; Gaisano( to Andagao)
3	Orange	Cardinal Sin Avenue, Pook, Kalibo International Airport, Nalook, Mabilo, Briones	Allen's Mart
4	White & Purple	Poblacion, Capitol Site, BLISS Site, ASU, Roxas Ave.Extension	None

Note: All the terminals are along Toting Reyes Street (Except that of Going to Andagao)

Education

Main article: List of Schools in Kalibo

Kalibo is the home to the colleges and universities: Aklan Catholic College, Aklan Polytechnic College, Aklan State University, Garcia College of Technology, Northwestern Visayan Colleges, Panay Technological College, Saint Gabriel College, STI College of Kalibo.

Kalibo is also home to the Regional Science High School for Western Visayas.

Media

FM Radio Stations: DYRU-FM RGMA Barangay 92.9,DYGG-FM 96.9 Easy Rock Kalibo (Soon to air), DYYM-FM (CBIS) Hot FM 98.5, DYSM-FM 100.1 MBC Love Radio, Bay Radio DYKY-99.3 FM, Radyo Todo 88.5FM, Energy FM, Brigada News FM Kalibo

AM Radio Stations: DYIN Bombo Radyo, Radio Mindanao Network DYKR, IBC Radyo Budyong DYRG

TV Stations: ABS-CBN TV-9 Kalibo, GMA TV-2 Kalibo, TV5-Ch.25 Kalibo, CNN Philippines-Ch. 11 Kalibo, ETC-TV 21 Kalibo, ABS-CBN Sports+Action 23 Kalibo, UNTV 37 Aklan, GMA News TV 27 Kalibo

Cable Networks: Aklan Cable TV, Kalibo Cable Television Network

External links

• Philippine Standard Geographic Code
• Balancing Paradise and Pandemonium: Philippine Encounters with the rest of the World - History of Panay, Capiz, Aklan and Boracay
• Philippine Census Information