San Francisco, Cebu

San Francisco
San Francisco
	OpenStreetMap
Country	Philippines
Named for	St. Francis of Assisi
Barangays	(see Barangays)
Government
• Mayor	Alfredo A. Arquillano Jr.
• Vice Mayor	Aly A. Arquillano
• Representative	Vincent Franco D. Frasco
• Municipal Council	Members
• Electorate	voters (?)
Highest elevation	774 m (2,539 ft)
Lowest elevation	0 m (0 ft)
Economy
• Poverty incidence	% (?)
Service provider
• Electricity	—
Time zone	UTC+8 (PST)
PSGC	PSGC unknown
Website	sanfranciscocamotes.gov.ph

San Francisco, officially the Municipality of San Francisco (Cebuano: Lungsod sa San Francisco; Tagalog: Bayan ng San Francisco), is a 3rd class municipality in the province of Cebu, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 59,236 people. ^[3]

It is one of the municipalities that comprise the Camotes Islands.

San Francisco is bordered to the north by the Province of Leyte in the Camotes Sea, to the west is the Camotes Sea Facing Catmon, to the east is the island of Poro with town of Poro and to the south is the Camotes Sea.

History

Protohistory

Carl Guthe, director of the University of Michigan Anthropological Museum, during his 1923-25 collecting trip and explorations of archaeological sites in the Philippines,^[4] conducted an archeological dig in a cave site on Tulang. Located on the southeastern coast of the island, the cave measures about 3.7 by 2.7 metres (12 by 9 feet). Guthe reported it to contain bone fragments and teeth of about 60 individuals. Associated grave goods included earthenware pottery, shell bracelets, bronze and iron artefacts (iron tang, bronze chisel, iron blade), glass and stone beads, hammerstone and pestle. Filed teeth were also recovered from this site.^[a]

21st century

Just before Typhoon Yolanda struck in November 2013, the mayor of San Francisco ordered the evacuation of all the residents (approximately 1,000) to the main island. This was credited with saving their lives as all houses on the island (about 500) were completely destroyed.^[5]

Geography

San Francisco consists primarily of Pacijan (also known as Pajican^[6]) and Tulang (area less than 1 km², just north of Pacijan) islands, which are part of the Camotes Islands (which also include Poro and Ponson islands). They are located east of the main island of Cebu, south and west of Leyte and north of Bohol.

Pacijan (Pajican) Island

Pacijan Island is about 14.75 kilometres (9.17 mi) long and 8.5 kilometres (5.3 mi) wide. A 1,400-metre (1,500 yd) causeway crosses the mangrove swamp to connect Pacijan and Poro islands. It was constructed during the Spanish era, to bridge the islands for easier trading and attending services in Poro church.^{[citation needed]}

Tulang

Tulang island (known locally as Tulang Diot) is a five-minute boat ride from Tulang Dako on the main island of Pacijan. Both Tulang Diot and Tulang Dako are part of Esperanza barangay. The islet is almost entirely covered with coconut palms and measures about 1.6 by 0.6 kilometres (1.0 by 0.4 mi): the residential area is confined to a small triangle at the southern end. Total area is less than 1 km² or 40 ha (100 acres), of which only 3.5 ha (8.6 acres) (8.8%) is inhabited.^{[citation needed]}

Barangays

San Francisco comprises 15 barangays:

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