Placer, Masbate

Placer, officially the Municipality of Placer, is a municipality in the province of Masbate, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 56,340 people.^[5]

Placer Pueblo de Cervantéz
Municipality
Municipality of Placer
Flag
Map of Masbate with Placer highlighted
OpenStreetMap
Placer Location within the Philippines
Coordinates: 11°52′08″N 123°55′00″E
Country	Philippines
Region	Bicol Region
Province	Masbate
District	3rd district
Barangays	35 (see Barangays)
Government  [1]
• Type	Sangguniang Bayan
• Mayor	Eusebio P. Dumoran Jr.
• Vice Mayor	Mark A. Tinegra
• Representative	Wilton T. Kho
• Municipal Council	Members Mark Joel P. Dumoran Mayet E. Lepatan. Ilona Jean M. Lepatan Michael S. Sevilleno Jr. Ramil C. Camay Jose Renan A. Ybañez Grace D. Espenilla Jose B. Abellare
• Electorate	39,115 voters (2025)
Area [2]
• Total	193.03 km2 (74.53 sq mi)
Elevation	8.0 m (26.2 ft)
Highest elevation	59 m (194 ft)
Lowest elevation	0 m (0 ft)
Population  (2024 census)[3]
• Total	56,658
• Density	290/km2 (760/sq mi)
• Households	13,197
Economy
• Income class	2nd municipal income class
• Poverty incidence	29.88 % (2021)[4]
• Revenue	₱ 265.7 million (2022)
• Assets	₱ 808.5 million (2022)
• Expenditure	₱ 210 million (2022)
• Liabilities	₱ 309.6 million (2022)
Service provider
• Electricity	Masbate Electric Cooperative (MASELCO)
Time zone	UTC+8 (PST)
ZIP code	5408
PSGC	0504117000
IDD : area code	+63 (0)56
Native languages	Cebuano Tagalog
Website	www.placer.gov.ph

Placer is 95 kilometres (59 mi) from Masbate City.

History

By virtue of Republic Act No. 292, passed on June 16, 1948, the barrio of Placer was constituted as its own municipality, separate from Cataingan. At the time of its creation, Placer included the entire present-day municipality of Esperanza, which was then a barrio of Placer (its largest barrio).^[6]

Geography

Barangays

Placer is politically subdivided into 35 barangays. ^[7] Each barangay consists of puroks and some have sitios.

• Aguada
• Ban-Ao
• Burabod
• Cabangcalan
• Calumpang
• Camayabsan
• Daan-lungsod
• Dangpanan
• Daraga
• Guin-Awayan
• Guinhan-Ayan
• Katipunan
• Libas
• Locso-An
• Luna
• Mahayag
• Mahayahay
• Manlut-Od
• Matagangtang
• Naboctot
• Nagarao
• Nainday
• Naocondiot
• Pasiagon
• Pili
• Poblacion
• Puro
• Quibrada
• San Marcos
• Santa Cruz
• Taboc
• Tan-Awan
• Taverna
• Tubod
• Villa-Inocencio

Climate

Climate data for Placer, Masbate
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Mean daily maximum °C (°F)	29 (84)	29 (84)	31 (88)	32 (90)	32 (90)	31 (88)	30 (86)	30 (86)	30 (86)	30 (86)	29 (84)	29 (84)	30 (86)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F)	23 (73)	22 (72)	23 (73)	23 (73)	25 (77)	25 (77)	24 (75)	25 (77)	24 (75)	24 (75)	24 (75)	23 (73)	24 (75)
Average precipitation mm (inches)	39 (1.5)	34 (1.3)	42 (1.7)	36 (1.4)	73 (2.9)	109 (4.3)	118 (4.6)	108 (4.3)	129 (5.1)	136 (5.4)	112 (4.4)	89 (3.5)	1,025 (40.4)
Average rainy days	12.6	9.7	12.0	13.0	20.5	25.3	26.2	24.8	25.2	25.9	21.9	17.9	235
Source: Meteoblue[8]

Demographics

Population census of Placer

Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1903 2,112 —     1960 21,235 +4.13% 1970 30,174 +3.57% 1975 29,639 −0.36% 1980 35,710 +3.80% 1990 38,568 +0.77% 1995 40,394 +0.87%	Year Pop. ±% p.a. 2000 44,418 +2.06% 2007 48,469 +1.21% 2010 55,438 +5.01% 2015 55,826 +0.13% 2020 56,340 +0.19% 2024 56,658 +0.14%
Source: Philippine Statistics Authority[9][10][11][12][13]

In the 2020 census, the population of Placer, Masbate, was 56,340 people,^[14] with a density of 290 inhabitants per square kilometre or 750 inhabitants per square mile.

Placer is one of the only four municipalities in Masbate which is dominantly Cebuano-speaking, the other being the adjacent municipalities of Esperanza; Esperanza separated from Placer in 1959.,^[15] Pio V. Corpuz, and Cawayan.

Economy

Poverty incidence of Placer

10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 2000 72.11 2003 68.67 2006 59.00 2009 46.95 2012 47.65 2015 47.21 2018 33.12 2021 29.88 Source: Philippine Statistics Authority[16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23]