Madalag


Madalag, officially the Municipality of Madalag, is a municipality in the province of Aklan, Philippines. It the largest municipality in terms of land area and also the most sparsely populated in the province. According to the 2024 census, it has a population of 19,043 people.

Etymology

A local story explains that Madalag’s name came from the word “madaeag,” a term for yellowish or muddy water. When Spaniards reached the area, they asked residents for the name of the place. The people thought they were asking about the river and said “ro tubi madaeag,” describing the water. The visitors later adapted the name as Madalag, since the original word was difficult for them to pronounce.

History

The town was formerly an arrabal and part of Libacao. In 1948, it was separated and constituted as a separate town, with the following barrios: Logohon, Singay, Balactasan, Cabangahan, Cabilawan, Pangitan, San Jose, Talimagao, Talangban, Alaminos, Catabana, Bakyang, Calicia, Mercedes, Maria Cristina, Dit-ana, Guinato-an, Tigbauan, Alas-as, Mamba, Medina, Panikyason, and Paningayan.

Geography

According to the Philippine Statistics Authority, the municipality has a land area of constituting of the total area of Aklan.
Madalag is situated in the south-central section of the province, bounded on the east by Balete, west by the Province of Antique, north by Malinao and Banga, and south by Libacao. It is away from regional capital, Iloilo City, and south from the provincial capital Kalibo.

Barangays

Madalag is politically subdivided into 25 barangays. Each barangay consists of puroks and some have sitios.

Climate

Madalag has a Type III climate which is relatively dry from March to May and wet for the rest of the year.

Land use

Some or 28.80% of Madalag land area is planted with high value crops leaving only about as timber land and or.09% are utilized as dwelling areas majority of which are in the Poblacion.

Soil

There are four varied soil types found in the municipality. They are the San Miguel Clay Loam, Alimodian clay loam, Sapcan clay and Sigcay clay. San Miguel clay is found in barangay Panipiason and Medina. Alimodian clay is found in barangay San Jose, Ma. Cristina and Galicia. Sapian clay is found in the barangay of Mercedes, Bacyang and Alaminos. Sigcay clay is found in the Poblacion, Logohon and Cabilawan.

Demographics

In the 2024 census, Madalag had a population of 19,043 people. The population density was.
Madalag being predominantly a rural community has a slow growing population. It had a total population of 17,889 persons in 2007, a reduction of.05 percent or 897 persons from the 1995 population, basically due to migration towards industrial and trade centers of the country such as Manila, Cebu, Iloilo and other highly urbanized provinces and municipalities.
The municipality has twenty-five component barangays with two barangays, Poblacion and Alaminos as urban area and the twenty-three remaining barangays as rural areas. Barangay Poblacion is the most populous with 1,775 residents, followed by Panipiason and Alaminos.

Economy

Agriculture

Madalag basically has an agricultural economy. Some of the municipality land is devoted to agriculture. Farming and home industries are the main source of livelihood among the people. Rice is grown in almost all the twenty five barangays. Corn is also planted in some upland areas. Other crops are in pineapple, camote and ube. The municipality also produces fruit trees, like lanzones, rambutan, marang and commercial crops such as coconut and abaca.
The hilly and mountainous areas produce high valued forest products such as narra, acacia, and mahogany and minor product like buri, rattan, bamboo, nipa sap and firewood.

Industry

The center of commercial activities in Madalag is situated along the stretch of Navarette Street and at the Madalag Public Market located in the Poblacion.
The municipality has 93 commercials establishment dominated by the sari-sari stores. The others establishment serve as outlet for bakery, carinderias and other recreational services.

Infrastructure

Communication

The communication system is operated by mobile signals distributed by Smart, Globe and Dito, while the postal system is managed by the Philippine Postal Corporation. The post office is managed by a postal master, and a mail sorter/carrier. There are no mail distribution and collection centers in the barangays, hence the residents go to the Poblacion to post or receive their mails.

Power and energy

There are 100 households in the barangay Poblacion of Madalag served by electricity with only 5 percent of households not served by power. The remaining twenty-four have electrical power.

Transportation

The total length of all roads types within the geographical boundaries of the municipality is in 2011. Of these lengths, ten percent are paved. A total of fifty percent of the road surface is earth fill while thirty percent is gravel surface. All barangays are accessible by roads except, Medina and Panipiason, that cannot be reach by four wheel vehicle. Generally, the barangays connected to the national road have better road condition compared to the interior barangays.

Water system

Water is supplied by the Poblacion Water District and Poblacion Spring Development. The other barangays are dependent from their Spring Development and artesian and shallow wells.

Healthcare

Madalag has one rural health unit and one municipal hospital.

Education

The Madalag Schools District Office governs all educational institutions within the municipality. It oversees the management and operations of all private and public, from primary to secondary schools.
Madalag has 21 primary and 8 elementary schools with a total enrollment of 2,927 pupils and 108 teachers. It has three secondary public schools with a total enrollment of 1,368 students and 43 teachers.

Primary and elementary schools

  • Alaminos Elementary School
  • Alas-as Primary School
  • Bacyang Primary School
  • Balactasan Elementary School
  • Cabangahan Primary School
  • Cabilawan Primary School
  • Catabana Primary School
  • Daguitan Primary School
  • Dit-ana Primary School
  • Galicia Primary School
  • Guinatu-an Primary School
  • Libas Primary School
  • Logohon Primary School
  • Madalag Elementary School
  • Mamba Elementary School
  • Mananggad Primary School
  • Mercedes Primary School
  • Napnot Primary School
  • Pang-itan Elementary School
  • Paningayan Elementary School
  • Panipiason Primary School
  • San Jose Elementary School
  • Singay Primary School
  • Talangban Primary School
  • Talimagao Primary School
  • Tigbawan Primary School

Secondary schools

  • Agtughangin Integrated School
  • Loreto N. Nedic National High School
  • Ma. Cristina Integrated School
  • Madalag National High School
  • Madalag National High School
  • Medina Integrated School