Rapu-Rapu


Rapu-Rapu, officially the Municipality of Rapu-Rapu, is a municipality in the province of Albay in the Bicol Region of the Philippines. According to the, it has a population of people.
The municipality comprises three islands: Rapu-rapu Island, Batan Island, and Guinanayan Island.
WWW Official Site

History

Rapu-Rapu and Batan Islands were historically part of Prieto Diaz in Sorsogon. Before it became a municipality on 1901, it was a bario of Prieto Diaz, Sorsogon. The Visita here and the spiritual and pastoral needs of the people were taken care of by the Parish Priest of Prieto Diaz. Records show that Rev. Fr. Santiago Nepomuceno was in charge here in the early part of 1891, then Rev. Fr. Juan Brusola took over. It was during his term that the Parish of Sta. Florentina was founded.
Sometime after 1891, Rapu-Rapu and Batan Islands became part of the municipality of Bacon, Sorsogon mainly due to their geographical location, nearer to Bacon than to Prieto Diaz. This move was more favorable to the people due to transportation issues. Because of the growing population in both islands, Governor Arlington Betts, Civil Governor for the Province of Albay, created the municipality of Rapu - Rapu in 1901. A plebiscite was held in which a majority of residents chose to join Albay rather than Sorsogon.

Geography

Rapu-Rapu is located at.
According to the Philippine Statistics Authority, the municipality has a land area of constituting of the total area of Albay.
Rapu-Rapu is southeast of Manila and east of Legazpi, the provincial capital. The small island of Rapu-Rapu and Batan lie to the east of Luzon and together with the islands of San Miguel and Cagraray, form the northern rim of Albay Gulf. These islands represents a low monoclinal continuation of the eastern structural arch into the waters of Lagonoy Gulf. Most of the land surface of Rapu-Rapu has exposed basement-complex rocks in its interior consisting mainly of serpentines. Rapu-Rapu have deposits of coal and copper.

Barangays

Rapu-Rapu is politically subdivided into 34 barangays. Each barangay consists of puroks and some have sitios.

Climate

Rapu-Rapu has a tropical climate. There is significant rainfall throughout the year in Rapu-Rapu. Even the driest month still has a lot of rainfall. According to Köppen and Geiger, the climate is classified as Af. The average annual temperature in Rapu-Rapu is. The average annual rainfall is. The driest month is April with. Most precipitation falls in December, with an average of. The warmest month of the year is June with an average temperature of. In February, the average temperature is. It is the lowest average temperature of the whole year. The difference in precipitation between the driest month and the wettest month is 344 mm. The average temperatures vary during the year by 2.6 °C.
Typhoons are an especially frequent and destructive menace in the Bicol region. The months of September, October and November experience the more destructive of these violent tropical storms. Forty percent of the storms carrying high-velocity winds in the Philippine pass through Southeastern Luzon where Rapu-Rapu is located.

Demographics

In the 2024 census, Rapu-Rapu had a population of 36,281 people. The population density was.

Government

The following were the elected officials of Rapu-Rapu for the term 2013–2016.

Education

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:
  • Rapu-Rapu East Schools District
  • Rapu-Rapu West Schools District
Rapu-Rapu has 36 elementary schools and 7 secondary schools directly supervised by Department [of Education (Philippines)|Department of Education]-Division of Albay.

Primary and elementary schools

  • Acal Elementary School
  • Bagaobawan Elementary School
  • Batan Elementary School
  • Bilbao Elementary School
  • Binosawan Elementary School
  • Bogtong Elementary School
  • Buenavista Elementary School
  • Buhatan Elementary School
  • Calanaga Elementary School
  • Caracaran Elementary School
  • Carogcog Elementary School
  • Dapdap Elementary School
  • Gaba Elementary School
  • Galicia Elementary School
  • Guinanayan Elementary School
  • Hamorawon Elementary School
  • Lagundi Elementary School
  • Liguan Elementary School
  • Linao Elementary School
  • Malobago Elementary School
  • Mananao Elementary School
  • Mancao Elementary School
  • Manila Elementary School
  • Masaga Elementary School
  • Minso Elementary School
  • Morocborocan Elementary School
  • Nagcalsot Elementary School
  • Nstr. Sra De Guadalupe Elementary School
  • Pagcolbon Elementary School
  • Rapu-Rapu Elementary School
  • Sagrada Elementary School
  • San Ramon Elementary School
  • Tinocawan Elementary School
  • Tinopan Elementary School
  • Viga Elementary School
  • Villahermosa Elementary School

Secondary schools

  • Batan National High School
  • Bilbao National High School
  • Bogtong National High School
  • Mancao National High School
  • Rapu-Rapu National High School
  • Tinopan National High School
  • Villahermosa National High School