Fetching the article from Wikipedia…
Founding
Founding of Sorsogon City
city of the Philippines and capital of the province of Sorsogon
- 28 February 1895
- Southeast Asia
Founding
city of the Philippines and capital of the province of Sorsogon
Fetching the article from Wikipedia…
Sorsogon City, officially the City of Sorsogon (Waray Sorsogon: Syudad san Sorsogon; Central Bikol: Syudad nin Sorsogon; Filipino: Lungsod ng Sorsogon), is a component city and capital of the province of Sorsogon, Philippines. According to the 2024 census, it has a population of 187,670 people.
Sorsogon City is the most populous city in the province, third most populous city in the entire Bicol Region and one of the leading cities in urbanization and most promising city in terms of development.
The component city was established on the year of 2000, from the merger of Bacon and Sorsogon municipalities. The city's total population spread across 64 barangays.
It serves a transshipment point from the Visayas and Mindanao provinces and is dubbed as the "Gateway to Southern Philippines". Sorsogon City is considered as one of the emerging cities due to its vibrant economy and growing population.
Archaeological evidence indicates that human habitation in the area dates back around 3,000 years, based on remains found in a cave in Bacon and ancient burial sites discovered upstream along the Sorsogon rivers. When Spanish missionaries arrived in the 1600s, they encountered established settlements in these locations. Historical accounts also note that Moro raiders had already frequented the area’s waters prior to the arrival of the Spanish missions.
Bacon was established as a visita of Casiguran while Sorsogon, originally in Sitio Pocdol in Capuy, was then established as a visita of Bacon. Sorsogon then became an independent, full-fledged parish in 1628 due to an increase in population. The two parishes later became civilian political units.
The Pueblo Civil de Bacon was established in 1754, with Juan Elias as its first gobernadorcillo. Sorsogon became an independent pueblo in 1864. Both Bacon and Sorsogon were under the territorial jurisdiction of the province of Albay until the establishment of the independent province of Sorsogon on October 17, 1894.
In 1951, Sorsogon was made the center of the episcopal see of the then newly established Roman Catholic Diocese of Sorsogon comprising the Sorsogon and Masbate provinces, with the Saints Peter and Paul Parish Church in the town of Sorsogon as the designated cathedral.
Sorsogon City was created by virtue of Republic Act No. 8806, which was enacted on August 16, 2000, and ratified in December 2000.
Sorsogon City covers a land area of 31,292 hectares (120.82 sq mi). It is at the southernmost tip of the Bicol Peninsula and of Luzon Island. The city is bounded by Castilla in the west, Manito in the northwest, Albay Gulf in the north, Prieto Diaz in the east, Gubat in the southeast, Casiguran in the southwest, and Sorsogon Bay in the south. Sorsogon is characterized by an irregular topography; mountain ranges on the north-west, sloping uplands on the central part of the city, plain areas southwestern and central north and southeast portion, and marshlands on the southeast deltas. It is also surrounded by water, with Sorsogon Bay to the west Albay Gulf to the northeast, and Philippine Sea in the east.
Sorsogon City is 581 kilometres (361 mi) southeast of Manila and 60 kilometres (37 mi) south of Legazpi City. The 2015 Census puts the city's population at 168,110 with an annual growth rate of 0.84%. Sorsogon City ranked as the 3rd largest city in terms of population in the Bicol region. The only city in the province of Sorsogon, Sorsogon City is the largest in terms of land area in the Bicol region.
The Pan-Philippine Highway, which runs from northwest to southeast through the city, connects Sorsogon City to the municipalities of Castilla, Pilar, in the northwest towards Daraga, Legazpi City, Naga City and the rest of Luzon. It also connects to the municipalities of Gubat, Casiguran and the rest of the second district municipalities of the province of Sorsogon in the southeast.
Sorsogon City features a tropical rainforest climate with copious amount of rainfall throughout the course of the year. There is no pronounced dry season, but it has very pronounced maximum rain from November to January with December as the wettest month of the year, experiencing 23 days of rain. Temperature is constant throughout the year. Sorsogon City's average yearly rainfall is just over 2,671 mm (105.2 in). April is the driest month of the year which only sees 12 rain days and 2,671 mm (105.2 in) of rainfall. Average High temperature is at 38.08 °C (100.5 °F) and its Average Low temperature is at 24.5 °C (76.1 °F). The coolest month is January with a daily mean of 25.5 °C (77.9 °F) and the hottest months are jointly April and May with a daily mean of 28 °C (82.4 °F).
Demographic statistics:
Poverty incidence of Sorsogon City (%)
10
20
30
40
2000 28.41
2003 35.11
2006 23.60
2009 27.56
2012 19.51
2015 28.48
2018 18.07
2021 20.55
2023 23.82
Source: Philippine Statistics Authority
Sorsogon City is the economic center of Sorsogon Province and a hub of trade and commerce. It is one of the major cities in the Bicol Region after Naga City, Camarines Sur and Legazpi City in Albay. The city is a vital financial center housing numerous banks, non-bank financial institutions, manufacturing corporation and offices of major government departments and agencies. Although Sorsogon City does not have significant manufacturing industries, its dynamic service and agricultural sectors drive the economy forward.
In 2022 COA Report, Sorsogon City ranked third out of the seven cities in the Bicol Region with a total revenue of ₱1.42 billion pesos only after Legazpi City (₱1.84 billion) and Naga City (₱1.76 billion) making it part of the key urban centers in the region.
Sorsogon City is gradually becoming a major investment hub and is considered one of the emerging cities for doing business in the country. Investors in banking, real estate, retail, manufacturing and other business and industrial enterprises are similarly drawn to the city because of its rapid advancements of government infrastructure and business-friendly environment.
As of December 31, 2023, there are 30 banking offices operating in the city that offers banking services to businesses and residents according to Philippine Deposit Insurance Corporation. Sorsogon is the third city in Bicol Region, after Legazpi and Naga with a highest total deposits amounting to Php 17,699,836 from 224,682 accounts.
The city is home to a number of retail establishments. There were 3,475 business establishments in Sorsogon City as of 2022. There are 3 major shopping malls in the City of Sorsogon namely, SM Supermalls, Gaisano Capital and Citymall. It also attracted other local and national retail chains.
LCC Mall Sorsogon and Yashano Mall Sorsogon are two of Bicol's shopping malls that exemplify the ways in which economy is growing and adapting.
Meanwhile, SM City Sorsogon, the fourth SM Supermall in Bicol and the 81st in the Philippines, is located beside the Sorsogon Integrated Terminal Exchange (SITEX) and formally opened on October 28, 2022. The mall is located along Maharlika Highway, Balogo, East District in Sorsogon City. SM City Sorsogon spans 40,000 square meters of gross floor area, providing two levels of shopping, dining, and entertainment destinations that will further boost the city and province’s socioeconomic, cultural, and leisure activities. Among its amenities are three cinemas, a food court, wellness and services hubs, and amusement, leisure, and hobbies shops. Its parking space has more than 700 slots as well as a public transport terminal.
As Sorsogon City is strategically located at the southernmost tip of the island of Luzon and considered one of the emerging city in the Philippines. The real estate sector is starting to flourish with the entry of local and national real estate developers. Numerous local estate developers are starting to establish their footprints in the city.
The City Government of Sorsogon aims to provide housing and a home to informal settlers in the city thru Mayor Ester Hamor's 10+1 Agenda, Taas-Noo Ciudadano Ako Program - Mass Housing Program, a priority program of Mayor Hamor thru the construction of the Sirangan Tenements and Sampaloc Tenements - a twelve (12) building 2-storey socialized housing building for informal settler families around the barangays covering the inner Sorsogon Bay Area in Sorsogon City.
To decongest the Pan-Philippine Highway and to spur new developments outside the downtown area, two bypass roads were constructed in Sorsogon City, (1) the 7.654 kilometer Salvador Escudero III Diversion Road traversing Barangay Pangpang, Macabog, San Juan, Bibincahan and exits Brgy. Cabid-an, Sorsogon City and (2) the latest coastal road with a view of the Sorsogon Coastline, the 5.52 kilometer Sorsogon City Coastal Road, a four-lanes, consisting of rock causeways and three bridges traversing several barangays of Sirangan, Sampaloc, Balogo, Pangpang, Tugos, Cambulaga, and Talisay in Sorsogon City. It may be considered among the grandest of the Build-Build-Build projects in Bicol Region undertaken by DPWH Regional Office 5 and Sorsogon First District Engineering Office thru the effort of Senator Francis "Chiz" Escudero. Other than decongesting the heavy traffic in the main thoroughfare of Sorsogon City, this road was built to provide protection to the surrounding areas from storm surges especially the Bicol Region is among the most frequent path of typhoons entering the Philippine area of responsibility.
A number of companies have chosen the city to become the site for their industrial expansion. These include:
As a gateway to the Visayas and Mindanao, tourism plays a major part as a catalyst in contributing to Sorsogon City's economy. There are myriad of selections of attractions in the city that tourists can visit. Sorsogon City's points of interest, destinations, and attractions include:
The city's local government is headed by a mayor elected by popular vote. The Vice Mayor serves as the presiding officer of the Sangguniang Panlungsod (city council), with 12 Councilors elected by popular vote as its members. The Sangguniang Panlungsod serves as the city's legislative body and its role is to enact ordinances, approve resolutions, appropriate funds for the general welfare of the city and its inhabitants. Both the council members and the mayor serve three-year terms; and eligible for re-election for two more three-year terms.
In order to spur development in the city, The Toll Regulatory Board declared Toll Road 5 the extension of South Luzon Expressway. A 420-kilometer, four lane expressway starting from the terminal point of the now under construction SLEX Toll Road 4 at Barangay Mayao, Lucena City in Quezon to Matnog, Sorsogon, near the Matnog Ferry Terminal. On August 25, 2020, San Miguel Corporation announced that they will invest the project which will reduce travel time from Lucena to Matnog from 9 hours to 5.5 hours.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Sorsogon City”, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.