Santa Magdalena

Santa Magdalena, officially the Municipality of Santa Magdalena (Waray Sorsogon: Bungto san Santa Magdalena; Waray: Bungto han Santa Magdalena, Tagalog: Bayan ng Santa Magdalena), is a municipality in the province of Sorsogon, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 17,096 people, making it the least populated municipality in the province.^[5]

Santa Magdalena Busaingan
Municipality
Municipality of Santa Magdalena
Flag Seal
Map of Sorsogon with Santa Magdalena highlighted
OpenStreetMap
Santa Magdalena Location within the Philippines
Coordinates: 12°38′56″N 124°06′30″E
Country	Philippines
Region	Bicol Region
Province	Sorsogon
District	2nd district
Barangays	14 (see Barangays)
Government  [1]
• Type	Sangguniang Bayan
• Mayor	Eduardo T. Lozano
• Vice Mayor	Ramon R. Espela
• Representative	Vacant
• Municipal Council	Members Roy A. Fungo Manuel G. Maestrado Gina F. Correa Norbie F. Forte Manuel H. Frilles Salvador B. Jordan Michael M. Gapayao Antonio G. Frilles
• Electorate	12,729 voters (2025)
Area [2]
• Total	43.50 km2 (16.80 sq mi)
Elevation	62 m (203 ft)
Highest elevation	630 m (2,070 ft)
Lowest elevation	0 m (0 ft)
Population  (2024 census)[3]
• Total	17,400
• Density	400/km2 (1,000/sq mi)
• Households	3,962
Economy
• Income class	5th municipal income class
• Poverty incidence	28.41 % (2021)[4]
• Revenue	₱ 115.6 million (2022)
• Assets	₱ 247.8 million (2022)
• Expenditure	₱ 101.1 million (2022)
• Liabilities	₱ 54.19 million (2022)
Service provider
• Electricity	Sorsogon 1 Electric Cooperative (SORECO 1)
Time zone	UTC+8 (PST)
ZIP code	4709
PSGC	0506215000
IDD : area code	+63 (0)56
Native languages	Sorsogon language Tagalog

History

On April 15, 2001, former three-term mayor Felix Frayna was running against incumbent mayor Nida Gamos when he was assassinated by two suspected communist rebels in Barangay San Eugenio while giving a speech on a make-shift platform.^[6]

Geography

It is bounded by Bulusan, Matnog and Irosin. It is the smallest municipality in the province, both in population and area. The territorial jurisdiction of the municipality comprises some 4706.443 hectares of land mass and areas of sea territory.

The local government unit is administratively subdivided into 14 barangays, dispersed geographically in the lowlands of Poblacion (4 barangays) and upland (10 barangays). It has 12 coastal barangays and 2 inland barangays (Salvacion and La Esperanza).

Barangays

Santa Magdalena is politically subdivided into 14 barangays. Each barangay consists of puroks and some have sitios.

• Barangay I Poblacion (San Francisco)
• Barangay II Poblacion (Mother of Perpetual Help)
• Barangay III Poblacion (Del Rosario)
• Barangay IV Poblacion (Santo Niño)
• La Esperanza (Manangkas)
• Peñafrancia (Uson)
• Salvacion (Taberna)
• San Antonio (Kaburihan)
• San Bartolome (Talaongan)
• San Eugenio (Alig-igan)
• San Isidro (Bilaoyon)
• San Rafael (Bil-og)
• San Roque (Alamre)
• San Sebastian (Bigo)

Climate

Climate data for Santa Magdalena, Sorsogon
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Mean daily maximum °C (°F)	27 (81)	28 (82)	29 (84)	31 (88)	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)	21 (70)	22 (72)	23 (73)	24 (75)	25 (77)	25 (77)	25 (77)	25 (77)	24 (75)	23 (73)	23 (73)	24 (74)
Average precipitation mm (inches)	65 (2.6)	44 (1.7)	42 (1.7)	39 (1.5)	87 (3.4)	150 (5.9)	184 (7.2)	153 (6.0)	163 (6.4)	154 (6.1)	127 (5.0)	100 (3.9)	1,308 (51.4)
Average rainy days	13.9	9.2	11.0	12.5	19.6	24.3	26.5	25.0	25.5	24.4	19.4	15.1	226.4
Source: Meteoblue[7]

Demographics

Population census of Santa Magdalena

Year	Pop.	±% p.a.
1903	2,335	—
1918	3,747	+3.20%
1939	6,339	+2.54%
1948	8,098	+2.76%
1960	14,259	+4.83%
1970	11,489	−2.13%
1975	10,887	−1.07%
1980	13,121	+3.80%
1990	12,274	−0.67%
1995	13,900	+2.36%
2000	14,623	+1.09%
2007	15,425	+0.74%
2010	16,520	+2.53%
2015	16,848	+0.38%
2020	17,096	+0.31%
2024	17,400	+0.42%
Source: Philippine Statistics Authority[8][9][10][11][12]

Economy

Poverty incidence of Santa Magdalena

10 20 30 40 50 2000 40.86 2003 44.32 2006 32.40 2009 35.77 2012 35.54 2015 43.15 2018 32.78 2021 28.41 Source: Philippine Statistics Authority[13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20]

Education

• Santa Magdalena Central School - Located in Barangay 3 Poblacion
• Santa Magdalena National High School - Located in Barangay 4 Poblacion
• Talaonga National High School - Located in San Bartolome
• Talaonga Elementary School (San Bartolome)
• Alig-igan Elementary School (San Eugenio)
• San Rafael Elementary School (San Rafael)
• Salvacion Elementary School (Salvacion)
• Bilaoyon Elementary School (San Isidro)
• San Antonio Elementary School (San Antonio)
• Uson Elementary School (Peñafrancia)
• Bigo Elementary School (San Sebastian)
• Manangkas Elementary School (La Esperanza)