Basilisa

Basilisa, officially the Municipality of Basilisa (Surigaonon: Lungsod nan Basilisa; Cebuano: Lungsod sa Basilisa; Tagalog: Bayan ng Basilisa), is a municipality in the province of Dinagat Islands, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 36,911 people.^[3]

Basilisa Rizal
Municipality
Municipality of Basilisa
Flag
Map of Dinagat Islands with Basilisa highlighted
OpenStreetMap
Basilisa Location within the Philippines
Coordinates: 10°03′56″N 125°35′49″E
Country	Philippines
Region	Caraga
Province	Dinagat Islands
District	Lone district
Founded	June 17, 1967
Named after	Basilisa Meso
Barangays	27 (see Barangays)
Government  [1]
• Type	Sangguniang Bayan
• Mayor	Ozzy Reuben M. Ecleo
• Vice Mayor	Manuelito N. Piodo Jr.
• Representative	Alan 1 B. Ecleo
• Municipal Council	Members Juanito G. Piodo Rex Angelo S. Diaz Cinderella C. Roma Cesar T. Borja III Mark Anthony G. Aray Jefferson I. Relator Jeffrey C. Flores Norlito R. Ticod
• Electorate	15,193 voters (2025)
Area [2]
• Total	102.4587 km2 (39.5595 sq mi)
Elevation	4.0 m (13.1 ft)
Highest elevation	192 m (630 ft)
Lowest elevation	0 m (0 ft)
Population  (2020 census)[3]
• Total	36,911
• Density	360/km2 (930/sq mi)
• Households	7,060
Economy
• Income class	4th municipal income class
• Poverty incidence	34.83 % (2021)[4]
• Revenue	₱ 179.5 million (2022)
• Assets	₱ 443.8 million (2022)
• Expenditure	₱ 145.4 million (2022)
• Liabilities	₱ 100.7 million (2022)
Service provider
• Electricity	Dinagat Island Electric Cooperative (DIELCO)
Time zone	UTC+8 (PST)
ZIP code	8413
PSGC	1608501000
IDD : area code	+63 (0)86
Native languages	Surigaonon Cebuano Tagalog
Website	basilisadinagatislands.gov.ph

The municipality was created on June 17, 1967 by virtue of Republic Act No. 4986 and named it as Rizal. On June 21, 1969, the municipality was renamed as Basilisa by virtue of Republic Act No. 5775 in honor of the late former Mayor Basilisa Meso.

The town became a part of the province of Dinagat Islands in December 2006, when the province was created from Surigao del Norte by Republic Act No. 9355. However, in February 2010, the Supreme Court ruled that the law was unconstitutional, as the necessary requirements for provincial land area and population were not met. The town reverted to Surigao del Norte.^[5] On October 24, 2012, however, the Supreme Court reversed its ruling from the previous year, and upheld the constitutionality of RA 9355 and the creation of Dinagat Islands as a province.^[6]

Geography

Barangays

Basilisa is politically subdivided into 27 barangays. Each barangay consists of puroks while some have sitios.

• Benglen
• Catadman (Kapakyan)
• Columbus
• Coring
• Cortes
• Diegas
• Doña Helene
• Edera
• Poblacion Ferdinand
• Geotina
• Imee (Bactasan)
• Melgar
• Montag
• Navarro
• New Nazareth
• Poblacion (Rizal)
• Puerto Princesa
• Rita Glenda
• Roma
• Roxas
• Santa Monica
• Tag-abaca
• Poblacion Santo Niño
• Sering
• Sombrado
• Villa Ecleo
• Villa Pantinople

Climate

Climate data for Basilisa, Dinagat Islands
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Mean daily maximum °C (°F)	27 (81)	28 (82)	28 (82)	30 (86)	30 (86)	30 (86)	29 (84)	30 (86)	30 (86)	29 (84)	29 (84)	28 (82)	29 (84)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F)	23 (73)	23 (73)	23 (73)	23 (73)	25 (77)	25 (77)	25 (77)	25 (77)	25 (77)	25 (77)	24 (75)	24 (75)	24 (75)
Average precipitation mm (inches)	210 (8.3)	161 (6.3)	123 (4.8)	85 (3.3)	148 (5.8)	186 (7.3)	164 (6.5)	157 (6.2)	141 (5.6)	190 (7.5)	223 (8.8)	200 (7.9)	1,988 (78.3)
Average rainy days	21.0	16.8	18.5	18.2	24.9	27.7	28.4	27.0	26.1	27.6	24.6	22.0	282.8
Source: Meteoblue[7]

Demographics

Population census of Basilisa

Year	Pop.	±% p.a.
1970	5,047	—
1975	10,614	+16.08%
1980	13,900	+5.54%
1990	20,953	+4.19%
1995	24,141	+2.69%
2000	26,489	+2.01%
2007	31,363	+2.36%
2010	33,880	+2.85%
2015	36,880	+1.63%
2020	36,911	+0.02%
Source: Philippine Statistics Authority[8][9][10]

Economy

Poverty incidence of Basilisa

10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 2000 72.68 2003 69.40 2006 65.10 2009 55.69 2012 54.67 2015 41.97 2018 33.22 2021 34.83 Source: Philippine Statistics Authority[11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18]