Tagapul-an

Tagapul-an, officially the Municipality of Tagapul-an (Cebuano: Lungsod sa Tagapul-an; Waray: Bungto han Tagapul-an; Tagalog: Bayan ng Tagupul-an), is a municipality in the province of Samar, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 8,805 people.^[5]

Tagapul-an
Municipality
Municipality of Tagapul-an
Flag
Map of Samar with Tagapul-an highlighted
OpenStreetMap
Tagapul-an Location within the Philippines
Coordinates: 12°03′N 124°09′E
Country	Philippines
Region	Eastern Visayas
Province	Samar
District	1st district
Founded	November 15, 1976
Barangays	14 (see Barangays)
Government  [1]
• Type	Sangguniang Bayan
• Mayor	Vicente M. Limpiado Jr.
• Vice Mayor	Erna L. Goc-ong
• Representative	Stephen James Tan
• Electorate	7,531 voters (2025)
Area [2]
• Total	28.70 km2 (11.08 sq mi)
Elevation	6.0 m (19.7 ft)
Highest elevation	522 m (1,713 ft)
Lowest elevation	0 m (0 ft)
Population  (2024 census)[3]
• Total	9,139
• Density	320/km2 (820/sq mi)
• Households	1,973
Economy
• Income class	5th municipal income class
• Poverty incidence	32.53 % (2021)[4]
• Revenue	₱ 95.6 million (2022)
• Assets	₱ 234.5 million (2022)
• Expenditure	₱ 76.99 million (2022)
• Liabilities	₱ 67.55 million (2022)
Service provider
• Electricity	Samar 1 Electric Cooperative (SAMELCO 1)
Time zone	UTC+8 (PST)
ZIP code	6719
PSGC	0806024000
IDD : area code	+63 (0)55
Native languages	Cebuano Waray Tagalog

It is the farthest municipality from the province's mainland.

History

The island of Tagapul-an was originally part of the municipality of Almagro. Tagapul-an was established as a municipality of Western Samar on November 15, 1976. It originally consisted of 11 barangays: Baguin, Balocawe, Guimbarocan, Langbaybay, Luna, Mataloto, Nipa, Pantalan, Polangbato, San Vicente, and Sugod, which was designated as the municipal seat of government.^[6]

Geography

Barangays

Tagapul-an is politically subdivided into 14 barangays. Each barangay consists of puroks and some have sitios.

• Baquiw
• Balocawe
• Guinbarucan
• Labangbaybay
• Luna
• Mataluto
• Nipa
• Pantalan
• Pulangbato
• San Vicente
• Sugod (Poblacion)
• Suarez (Manlangit)
• San Jose (Poblacion)
• Trinidad

Climate

Climate data for Tagapul-an, Samar
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Mean daily maximum °C (°F)	28 (82)	29 (84)	30 (86)	32 (90)	32 (90)	31 (88)	30 (86)	30 (86)	30 (86)	29 (84)	29 (84)	28 (82)	30 (86)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F)	22 (72)	22 (72)	22 (72)	23 (73)	24 (75)	24 (75)	24 (75)	24 (75)	24 (75)	24 (75)	23 (73)	23 (73)	23 (74)
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[7]

Demographics

Population census of Tagapul-an

Year	Pop.	±% p.a.
1980	7,605	—
1990	6,760	−1.17%
1995	7,949	+3.08%
2000	8,370	+1.11%
2007	8,067	−0.51%
2010	7,828	−1.09%
2015	8,473	+1.52%
2020	8,805	+0.81%
2024	9,139	+0.90%
Source: Philippine Statistics Authority [8][9][10][11]

Economy

Poverty incidence of Tagapul-an

10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 2000 60.87 2003 74.05 2006 38.30 2009 42.45 2012 49.53 2015 50.89 2018 31.62 2021 32.53 Source: Philippine Statistics Authority[12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19]

Transportation

The only one means of access to Tagapul-an is by motorboat from the port of Calbayog, taking usually up to 2 hours of travel.