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Founding
Founding of Lopez
municipality of the Philippines in the province of Quezon
- 30 June 1857
- Southeast Asia
Founding
municipality of the Philippines in the province of Quezon
Fetching the article from Wikipedia…
Lopez, (Tagalog pronunciation: [loˈpɛs], American Spanish: Spanish pronunciation: [ˈlohˈpez], European Spanish: [ˈloʊˈpɛθ]), officially the Municipality of Lopez (Tagalog: Bayan ng Lopez), is a municipality in the province of Quezon, Philippines. According to the 2024 census, it has a population of 96,006 people.
Lopez was originally a settlement called Talolong. The settlement's name was derived from the name of the river that traverses the place.
After 45 years of numerous petitions, Governor General Fernando Norzagaray in Manila approved to separate Talolong from Gumaca on June 30, 1857, during the Governorship of Alcalde Mayor Don Candido Lopez y Diaz. The town was named after him, Lopez. Don Antonio Olivarez was the first gobernadorcillo.
Mayor Nerio O. Ramos was assassinated and the wounding of Vice-Mayor Edgardo Gutierrez on July 22, 1985, by the NPA highlighted the escalating political violence.
On September 27, 2002, the NPA attacked the police station, killing three police officers and injuring another. This attack underscored the prevalence of the rebel group in the municipality.
Lopez is one of the largest municipalities in the province and has a total land area of 395.1 square kilometers representing 4.53% of the total land area of the province of Quezon. It is located in the southern part of the province, 216 kilometers (134 mi) from Manila, 86 kilometers (53 mi) east from Lucena, and 3 nautical kilometers to Alabat Island.
The terrain generally ranges from 345 to 399 meters (1,132 to 1,309 ft) above sea level with rugged mountain areas. Coastal areas deviate from plain to hilly terrains. Rivers, streams and springs abound throughout the municipality, but the most prominent is the Talolong River.
It is bordered by the municipalities of Catanauan and General Luna on the south, Macalelon on the south-west, Calauag on the north-east, Gumaca on the west, Buenavista and Guinayangan on the east.
Lopez is politically subdivided into 95 barangays, as indicated below. Each barangay consists of puroks and some have sitios.
Currently, there are 8 barangays which are classified as urban.
Settlement areas in the municipality are highly scattered; population concentration is noticeable only within the poblacion, that is, the urban barangays of Burgos, Danlagan, Gomez, Magsaysay, Rizal, San Lorenzo Ruiz (Bocboc) and Talolong as well as the rural barangays of Mal-ay, Sugod, Pansol, Calantipayan, Manguisian, Del Pilar, Bebito, Canda Ibaba and Canda Ilaya which are traversed by the national highway. The rest of rural barangays are reached by other road networks which are accessible during dry and wet season. According to the 2007 census, it had a population of 86,660, a quarter of which are in the urban areas and the rest are in the rural areas. Males outnumbered the females at a ratio of 105.34 to 100. The population grew to 95,167 in the 2015 census.
Aldrin Ludovice Salipande (2022) reports that Inagta Lopenze is spoken in Villa Espina and nearby barangays in Lopez.
There are four (4) parishes located in different parts of the municipality under the supervision of the Diocese of Gumaca.
Other places of worship:
Lopez had a labor force of 56.99% in 2000 or 44,849. About 9,474 of the employed labor force were engaged in primary industries such as farming and fishing. Its economy is basically engaged in agriculture, crops, poultry and livestock production. Around 17,778.57 hectares (43,931.8 acres) represent 45% of the total land area planted to coconut trees, 2,300 has. are established to rice production, 628 has. to corn harvest. Growing around are natural materials for handicraft such as wild vines, buri, anahaw, tikiw, bamboo, cogon and talahib. Several cottage industries exist in the locality such as bamboo furniture, bolo, baskets, rattan, anahaw and buri fan making, buntal and tikiw. It also has rich fishing grounds in the Lopez Bay area and a number of inland fishponds. Fish, shrimps, prawns, crabs and other sea products are abundant.
Rice is also a major staple crop, the municipality is also a major banana producer in the region. Other crops grown in the municipality are citrus, root crops, vegetables and industrial crops. Majority of the farmers are also raising livestock and poultry.
Poverty incidence of Lopez (%)
10
20
30
40
50
2000 48.16
2003 37.85
2006 38.90
2009 21.73
2012 23.13
2015 22.39
2018 9.08
2021 23.59
2023 8.79
Source: Philippine Statistics Authority
Lopez Sports Centre is noted for its cockfighting which is held every Sunday. In 2009, it was visited by Charley Boorman as part of By Any Means 2.
Pursuant to the Local Government Code of 1991, the municipality of Lopez is to be composed of a mayor (Punong Bayan), a vice mayor (Pangalawang Punong Bayan) and members (Kagawad) of the legislative branch Sangguniang Bayan alongside a secretary to the said legislature, all of which are elected to a three-year term and are eligible to run for three consecutive terms.
Barangays are also headed by elected officials: Barangay Chairman, Barangay Council, whose members are called Barangay Councilors. The barangays have SK federation which represents the barangay, headed by SK chairperson and whose members are called SK councilors. All officials are also elected every three years.
The current seat of the municipal government is located along the national highway in Barangay Talolong in the poblacion.
Lopez is served by landline and mobile phone companies like the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company (PLDT), Globe, Smart, Sun Cellular, and DITO Telecommunity. Wi-Fi providers like Converge ICT also operate within the city.
Buses connect Lopez to Parañaque Integrated Terminal Exchange, Lucena Grand Terminal, and Alabang in Muntinlupa, and other parts of Quezon, including Bondoc Peninsula towns. Bus companies such as JAC Liner, Lucena Lines, DLTBCo, A&B Liner, P&O Liner and Raymond Transportation bring passengers to Manila and Lucena back and forth.
A 6-kilometer bypass road was built in order ease the bottleneck along busy Manila South Road-Daang Maharlika Highway.
Lopez also has a wide network of jeepney routes, all emanating from the poblacion (Bayan) and reaching out to the major barangays of the city, as well as nearby towns.
Hundreds of tricycles also roam the streets of the city, bringing passengers right at their point of destination.
A bridge connecting to Alabat Island is currently under construction.
The Philippine National Railways (PNR) is on the process of rehabilitating the existing Manila-Bicol railway Line, which includes stops in Quezon province, including PNR Lopez station and PNR Hondagua station.
The port of Hondagua is located in Lopez Bay, which faces the Pacific Ocean.
It is used for loading copra and discharging grain and oil and is accessible via the paved provincial road connecting the Hondagua road and a rough causeway leading to the port.
Lopez has a private and public hospital. Both types of institutions are considered to provide the same standard of healthcare and services, differing mainly with the medical and diagnostic facilities.
Here are the hospitals available in the city:
Lopez is often referred to as the educational center of southern Quezon due to the concentration of academic institutions in the municipality. A wide range of public and private schools operate in the town, offering programs from the elementary and secondary levels to vocational, diploma, baccalaureate degree and graduate programs. These institutions serve not only residents of Lopez but also students from neighboring municipalities across the Bondoc Peninsula and, in some cases, even from parts of the Bicol Region.
There are two schools district offices which govern all educational institutions within the municipality. They oversee the management and operations of all private and public, from primary to secondary schools. These are the Lopez East Schools District, and Lopez West Schools District.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Lopez, Quezon”, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.