PHYSICAL PROFILE OF BAAO 

Location

The municipality of Baao is a political subdivision of the fifth (5th) district in the province of Camarines Sur. This district is basically a cluster of seven (7) municipalities in the Rinconada Area, consisting of Baao, Bula, Nabua, Bato, Buhi, Balatan and the City of Iriga. Within the confines of its geographical perimeters, Baao is bounded on the north by Pili and Ocampo, on the south by Nabua, on the east by the City of Iriga and on the west by Bula and the Bicol River. Baao is approximately 30 kms. south of Naga City and 438 kms. south of Metro Manila.

Political Composition

The thirty (30) barangays of Baao are distributed as follows: ten (10) in the Poblacion, seven (7) in the Sub Urban Areas, twelve (12) in the mountainous portions and one (1) in the low lying portion of the municipality.

Land Area

The total land area of Baao consists of 14,304 has. 50% of which or a sub-total of 7,152 hectares is located along mountainous terrain and rolling hills with an average slope of 3.18%. Of the total 7,152 hectares of upland terrain, about 4,014 hactares have a slope of more than 18%. Ideally, the geographical elevation is suited for a Forest reserve. There are however, no existing forest resources in Baao. A subtotal of 4,291 hectares or 30% of the total land area is practically plain, 1,430 hectares or 10% are built-up areas and the remaining 10% are bodies of water including lakes and marshy terrain.

Language

Rinconada Bikol is the main language of the population. Tagalog and English are also spoken in formal gatherings and occasions.

Religion

As one of the historical towns of Catholicism in the Bicol region, Baao has a majority of Roman Catholic adherents. Iglesia Ni Cristo on the other hand is the second largest group with a very fast phase of growing membership. Islam has already set off in the town and they are composed of Muslim merchants/immigrants from Mindanao. Various Protestants religions are also present.

BAAO TERRITORY

Due to the frequent inundation and to keep pace with population growth the site was moved further

southeast, in the confluence of Bay and Langday steams, at approximately what are now the barrios of San Francisco, San Jose, and San Roque, and from these spots spreading North, East and South to form the present municipal territorial jurisdiction which is bounded on the North by the Pawili River, on the East by an imaginary lIne running roughly North to South from the sources of the Pawili, on the old site of the defunct town of Mabato- bato, to the sources of the Waras River, and on the West by stone landmarks of early Spanish date following a straight line from Baras on the Waras River to Baao Lake. At the Northwest, the boundary with Bula is the Hararom na Cale, beyond the Agdangan Creek.

GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION

The municipality of Baao is within the 5th Congressional District of the province of Camarines Sur. It is

geographically located at coordinates of 123 30’ longitudes and 13 30’ latitude. This town is bounded on the North by the municipality of Pili and Ocampo limited by the Pawili River and now by the disputed area, the Union Agricula y Pecuaria; on the South by the municipality of Nabua; on the East by the municipality of Sagñay and now by the disputed area which is the City of Iriga; on the West by the municipality of Bula; all of in the province of Camarines Sur limited by the Bicol River Baao, Camarines Sur. Approximately 480 km. south of Metro Manila, 30 kms. south of Naga City, a close neighbor of the City of Iriga 7.5 kms and 70 kms. north of Legaspi City, the regional center of the Bicol Region. Accesible only by land transportation, it is along the main route of the Maharlika Highway and the PNR, the average travel from Manila is 10-12 hours.

TOPOGRAPHY

The municipality of Baao, Camarines Sur consists of mixture of topographic relief. The northern portion

which is approximately 60% of the town’s total land area or 8,582 has. are hilly and mountainous. The central and western areas have gently sloping reliefs which cover 20% of municipality land area or 2,680 has. have nearly level to level terrain where the residential, commercial, institutional establishment can be found as well as the lowland rice fileds, fishponds and lake are located. The lowland rice field, fishponds and the lakes are located within the flood prone area of this municipality.

CLIMATE

This municipality falls under the 3rd type of climate with no pronounce seasons, relatively wet from the

month of May to October and dry rest of the year. Maximum rain periods are from July to October, while dryOffice File - MPDC seasons last from January to March. This area is partly sheltered from the northwest monsoon or at least two frequent storms. During dry season, temperature rises up to 38 degrees Fahrenheit, thereby causing creeks and rivers to dry-up and during rainy days the creeks, river and the lakes swell, whereby causing the rice fields in the lowland area including the town proper, dumpy and flooded. The general direction of winds in this area are from the east to west in the month of December to February, south to west from March to August, then north-west during the month of September, October and November.