Kananga, Leyte

Kananga
Kananga
Municipality
	Municipality of Kananga
	Flag
	Map of Leyte with Kananga highlighted
	OpenStreetMap
	Kananga Location within the Philippines
	Coordinates: 11°11′08″N 124°33′35″E / 11.1856°N 124.5597°E
Country	Philippines
Region	Eastern Visayas
Province	Leyte
District	4th district
Founded	June 17, 1950
Barangays	23 (see Barangays)
Government
• Type	Sangguniang Bayan
• Mayor	Manuel Vicente M. Torres
• Vice Mayor	Miguel Jorge P. Tan
• Representative	Richard I. Gomez (PDPLBN)
• Councilors	List
• Electorate	38,890 voters (2022)
Area
• Total	144.20 km2 (55.68 sq mi)
Elevation	209 m (686 ft)
Highest elevation	1,231 m (4,039 ft)
Lowest elevation	12 m (39 ft)
Population (2020 census)
• Total	59,696
• Density	410/km2 (1,100/sq mi)
• Households	14,121
Economy
• Income class	1st municipal income class
• Poverty incidence	34.70% (2021)
• Revenue	₱ 295.6 million (2020)
• Assets	₱ 1,634 million (2020)
• Expenditure	₱ 267.7 million (2020)
• Liabilities	₱ 842.9 million (2020)
Service provider
• Electricity	Leyte 5 Electric Cooperative (LEYECO 5)
Time zone	UTC+8 (PST)
ZIP code	6531
PSGC	0803726000
IDD : area code	+63 (0)53
Native languages	Cebuano Waray Tagalog
Website	www.kananga-leyte.gov.ph

Kananga (IPA: [kɐ'naŋga]), officially the Municipality of Kananga (Cebuano: Lungsod sa Kananga; Waray: Bungto han Kananga, Tagalog: Bayan ng Kananga), is a 1st class municipality in the province of Leyte, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 59,696 people.^[4]

Majority of Kananga's economic activity has historically been concentrated in agriculture. Some are engaged in commerce and trade since the town is geographically close to commercially progressive nearby city, Ormoc City and coastal town of Palompon, Leyte. The town's main crops are coconut (niyog) and rice (palay).

Kananga, sometimes known as Asia's geothermal capital, is the richest municipality in Eastern Visayas.^[6]

History

Kananga was established on June 17, 1950 from the barrios of Lonoy, Kananga, Rizal, Tugbong, Montebello, Aguiting, Agayayan, Montealegre, Libungao, Naghalin, and Masarayao which all used to be part of Ormoc City, in the same province^[7] by virtue of Republic Act No. 542.

On November 8, 2013, the town and all parts of Leyte was ravagedly hit by deadliest Typhoon Haiyan or Typhoon Yolanda as locally named, destroying town's infrastructure, houses and means of livelihood which are mostly related to agriculture of rice and coconut and small-scale pig farming.

Currently, a National Irrigation Administration's project is undertaken connecting rivers from neighboring barangays and town by a cemented dug canal passing through inland villages of as far as Tagaytay to Kawayan that would irrigate several struggling farmers' rice fields.

Geography

Barangays

Kananga is politically subdivided into 23 barangays. ^[8] Each barangay consists of puroks and some have sitios.

Aguiting
Cacao
Kawayan
Hiluctogan
Libertad
Libongao
Lim-ao
Lonoy
Mahawan
Masarayao
Monte Alegre
Monte Bello (including Kananga Special Economic Zone)
Naghalin
Natubgan
Poblacion
Rizal
San Ignacio
San Isidro
Santo Domingo
Santo Niño
Tagaytay
Tongonan
Tugbong

Climate

Climate data for Kananga, Leyte
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Mean daily maximum °C (°F)	28 (82)	29 (84)	29 (84)	30 (86)	31 (88)	30 (86)	29 (84)	29 (84)	29 (84)	29 (84)	29 (84)	28 (82)	29 (84)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F)	22 (72)	22 (72)	22 (72)	23 (73)	24 (75)	25 (77)	24 (75)	25 (77)	24 (75)	24 (75)	24 (75)	23 (73)	24 (74)
Average precipitation mm (inches)	73 (2.9)	56 (2.2)	75 (3.0)	71 (2.8)	114 (4.5)	174 (6.9)	172 (6.8)	163 (6.4)	167 (6.6)	161 (6.3)	158 (6.2)	125 (4.9)	1,509 (59.5)
Average rainy days	15.2	12.5	16.2	17.3	23.9	27.3	28.4	26.9	26.9	27.1	23.8	19.3	264.8
Source: Meteoblue (modeled/calculated data, not measured locally)^[9]

Demographics

Population census of Kananga

Year	Pop.	±% p.a.
1960	18,318	—
1970	22,218	+1.95%
1975	24,897	+2.31%
1980	28,426	+2.69%
1990	36,288	+2.47%
1995	39,795	+1.74%

Year	Pop.	±% p.a.
2000	42,866	+1.61%
2007	46,373	+1.09%
2010	48,027	+1.28%
2015	56,575	+3.17%
2020	59,696	+1.06%

Source: Philippine Statistics Authority ^[10]^[11]^[12]^[13]

In the 2020 census, the population of Kananga, Leyte, was 59,696 people,^[4] with a density of 410 inhabitants per square kilometre or 1,100 inhabitants per square mile.

Language

The municipality speaks both Cebuano and Waray, making it a bilingual municipality. The influx of Cebuano speaking settlers from Ormoc and other adjacent municipalities during the olden times is the reason why the Cebuano language flourished in the area.

Economy

Poverty incidence of Kananga

10

20

30

40

50

2006
37.80

2009
40.64

2012
40.22

2015
34.56

2018
31.08

2021
34.70

Source: Philippine Statistics Authority^[14]^[15]^[16]^[17]^[18]^[19]^[20]^[21]

Infrastructure

Kananga is a bustling town, located along the highway, in close proximity to Ormoc City in the south. The town also shares a home to Energy Development Corporation's Tongonan Geothermal Powerplant, one of the largest geothermal powerplants in the Philippines.

Several bus companies including Philtranco and DLTBCo operate a bus depot in Manila and in Ormoc City, a few miles from Kananga. There are also quite few small jeepneys, van and buses route from and to Ormoc City and Tacloban City.

Kananga Leyte and neighboring towns and cities in Leyte are served by two commercial airports namely Daniel Z. Romualdez Airport located in Tacloban City, about 52 miles east of the town and local Ormoc Airport in neighboring Ormoc City, which has a connecting Cebu Pacific commercial flights to and from Cebu via Mactan–Cebu International Airport. Kananga can also be reached by sea through Ormoc City's major port where passenger ships and ferries such as Supercat Fast Ferry and OceanJet dock to and from Cebu City and Manila.

Kananga has remained relatively free of the chain stores franchises and strip-mall developments that are common in other towns of similar size, which lends to a distinct township.

Culture

The local government celebrates the Kananga Kaanyag Festival which aims to commemorate the town's rich culture and traditions.^[6]

Education

Kananga is home to two different secondary schools, Kananga National High School (KNHS) and National Heroes Institute (NHI) as well as Kananga National High School- Kawayan Annex (Grade 7–10 in newly introduced K-12 program education in the Philippines situated on top of the picturesque view of the mountain in Sitio Estrada, where can easily walk through a newly cemented road by about a mile away from the main highway of Barangay Kawayan, which caters neighboring poor students from inland villages of San Isidro and Monteaglegre; and Kananga National High School - Libertad Annex, located in Barangay Libertad, which also caters neighboring students from inland villages. Another public high schools were open in Barangays Rizal and Montebello Annex- the land of Hideco Sugar milling company; the most competitive school among all annexes serving the locale of Barangay montebello, Aguiting, naghalin, masarayao, san ignacio, etc. They are very competitive in terms on sports and contests.