Pototan is an agricultural municipality located 30km from Iloilo City. It is best known as the Christmas Capital of Western Visayas for its IWAG festival during the yule tide season.
The town has also one of the widest, cleanest and beautiful plazas in the province. It contains an obelisk, a lagoon, a historical marker, a skating rink and an astrodome for sports and cultural presentations. Lined with stately Indian and mahogany trees, the plaza also serve as an tree park - a haven for children and promenaders.
Pototan is the top rice-producing town in the Province of Iloilo, a trademark that the Pototanons are being proud of. it is dubbed as the Rice Granary of Western Visayas.
:: History ::
When Datu Ramon, the first inhabitants of Pototan, established a settlement he found an abundant growth of "Putat" trees in the area. From then on the place was known as "Kapututan", which was shortened to "Pototan" during the Spanish period.
During the precolonial period, Datu Ramon, a grandson of Datu Puti, established a settlement at what is now Barangay Naslo. However, due to the hilly terrain and the difficulty in securing their water supply, they moved to a place more accessible to the Suague River. This signalled the first inhabitance of the town which was then called "Kapututan". Development in this town continued and further flourished when the natives leared the techniques of trade and commerce from Chinese traders, who arrived in the middle of the 16th century.
After the arrival of the Spaniards, new changes where brought about in the town when the colonizers introduced Catholicism to the natives. Education was also introduced, although only to a privileged few. To improve the economic and social condition of the place, the Spaniards and built roads and bridges. The Spaniards also constructed the Municipal Hall under the supervision of Tomas Sajen and Don Escribano with the local residents as the labor force. The structure survived World War I and in the early 1950s it was restructured into what is now known as the Western Visayas Provincial Hospital.
In 1874, the Pototanons were given the opportunity to run their own political affairs with the appointment of Juan Marcelo as the first Kapitan Municipal. This form of government continued until the arrival of the Americans.
:: Tourism ::
A kaleidoscope of multicolored lights in a 6 ha. plaza with dancing fountain & food festival. IWAG Festival of Lights has become a tradition Pototanons look forward each year. It has become a Festival of dazzling loghts, nightly cultural shows, food fair and the yearly tradition of lighting up homes with beautiful lights. Today Pototan is declared by the Dept. of Tourism as the "Christmas Capital of Western Visayas.
:: Profile ::
Demography
Population: 60,127 (2000 Philippine Census)
Population Density: 651 persons per sq.km.
Number of Households: 10,021
Number of Households in Poblacion: 1,359
Average Number of Persons per Household: 6
Growth Rate: 2.1%
Population Estimate (2006): 69,335
Geography and Accessibility
Land Area: 94 sq.km or 9,400 hectares
- Land Use
- Residential - 159.17 hectares
- Commercial - 10.8 hectares
- Industrial - 17.65 hectares
- Institutional - 66.61 hectares
- Open space - 1,352.81 hectares
Accessibility: It is accessible to all forms of transportation - trucks and buses, jeepneys, automobolies and motorcycles. A sizeable number of tricycle ply its towns and barangays roads allowing for fast and easy travel. This is also accounts for ease by which farmers bring their produce to the town market.
Economic Profile
Major Industries: Major industries includes rice mills, hog farms, poultries and telephone companies.
Agriculture: Out of 94,494,.5290 square meters or 9,449.45 hectares, 85% or a total of 7,559.56 hectares are being utilized for agricultural purposes. Pototan is now the top rice producing town in the Province of Iloilo. Also noteworthy is the fact that it has produced many outstanding farmers through the years.
Income Class: Third Class Municipality
The Municipality of Pototan is divided into two districts, each serving 14 complete elementary schools for a total of 28 public elementary schools. There are three secondary schools, namely: Jamabalud, Palanguia and Pototan National High Schools.
The West Visayas State University Pototan Campus (formerly Pototan collage of Arts and Sciences) Offers collage education and also extends it's services to Out of School Youth by conduction Non-formal education.
Colegio de la Inmaculada Concepcion (operated by the Hijas de Jesus Sisters), and the West Visayan Academy are the towns two private schools.
Presently, student-teacher ratio is one teacher to every 50 pupils; classroom-student ratio is one for every 50 pupils
Health
The Iloilo Provincial Hospital and the Mental Facility are found in the Municipality. Recently, the Iloilo Drug Rehabilitation Center was opened. There is also a Municipal Health unit and health centers in different barangays.
Sports and Recreation
Pototan has 103,643 square meters of land devoted to sports and recreation activities. There is an "Astrodome" under construction which can hold up to 5,000 persons. A Municipal Museum and public library is located in the town plaza beside the Astrodome.
Protective Services
Pototan has 36 members of the Philippine National Police (PNP) and 10 fire fightersthat provide protective services to 60,127 people living in 9,449,459.2 hectares of land. Four patrol cars two fire- trucks and a radio transceiver provide facilities to the PNP and BFP forces. A122.25 square meter police headquarters houses three detention cells.
:: Cityhood of Pototan ::
THE COMMITTEE on Local Government, under Representative Emilio Macias II (2nd District, Negros Oriental), adopted a resolution exempting certain municipalities, due for conversion into cities, from the income requirement under Republic Act 9009. These municipalities are those whose conversions into cities were embodied in bills filed in Congress before June 30, 2001.
House Joint Resolution 01, introduced by Rep. Carmen Cari (5th District, Leyte), seeks to exempt 22 municipalities from meeting the income requirement of P100 million as provided for under RA 9009 or the law increasing the income requirement for municipalities to become cities.
Rep. Cari said 55 bills seeking to convert certain municipalities into cities were filed during the 11th Congress covering the period 1998 to 2001. Of this number, 32 were enacted into law, one was rejected in a plebiscite and 22 bills were not acted upon because of the impeachment proceedings in Congress against former President Joseph Estrada.
The 32 bills that became law complied with the previous income requirement of P20 million as provided under Republic Act 7160 or the Local Government Code of 1991. RA 9009 was subsequently enacted in June 2001.
“In the interest of fairness and justice to the 22 municipalities which were found to be qualified under the old provision of the Local Government Code, like the 32 municipalities which had already been elevated to city status, there is a need to offer a legal remedy to local government units affected by the implementation of RA 9009,” Rep. Cari stated.
The 22 municipalities are: Carcar, Cebu; Binalbagan, Negros Occidental; Baybay, Leyte; Sablayan, Occidental Mindoro; Bogo, Cebu; San Francisco, Agusan del Sur; Bayugan, Agusan del Sur; Pontevedra, Negros Occidental; Lamitan, Basilan; San Juan, Metro Manila; Tandag, Surigao del Sur; Tabuk, Kalinga; Batac, Ilocos Norte; Naga, Cebu; Borongan, Eastern Samar; Claveria, Misamis Oriental; El Salvador, Misamis Oriental; Opol, Misamis Oriental; Catbalogan, Samar; Pototan, Iloilo; South Davao, Davao City; and Cabadbaran, Agusan del Norte.
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