Iba, officially the Municipality of Iba (; ; ), is a 1st class municipality and capital of the province of Zambales, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 55,581 people.
Etymology
The municipality was named after the tree Phyllanthus acidus, which bears edible sour fruits. It is locally known as iba, a name which also applies to the similar kamias (Averrhoa bilimbi).
History
Iba was founded by the Order of Augustinian Recollect priests led by Rodrigo de San Miguel in 1611 as the village of Paynauen. The early inhabitants of the town are called Zambals. They were later joined by the Ilocanos who migrated to the town which resulted in intermingling of customs and traditions. The Aeta people settled in the hinterlands and the majority of them dwelled in the Mount Pinatubo area. In 1860, the administration of the town was turned over to the Dominican priests until the civil government came to power. There are no available records as to when Paynauen was renamed to Iba.
The permanent capital of Zambales was moved from Masinloc to Iba because of its strategic location being on the central part of Zambales. On August 28, 1901, American Civil Governor William Howard Taft held the historic session of the Second Philippine Commission establishing the Province of Zambales under the American rule held at Roman Catholic Church of Iba.
Cityhood
The League of Cities of the Philippines has disagreed with the proposed conversion of sixteen municipalities into constituent cities. The LCP had tried to influence then-President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to certify as call for immediate attention a draft of a law imposing a suspension on the conversion of additional towns into cities.
The Local Government Code states that before a town could be classified as a city, it must have an annual income of at least Php100 million and a land area of at minimum or a population of 150,000.
Senator Sonny Angara advocated for House Bill 24 filed by Zamboanga Sibugay Representative Dulce Ann Hofer giving automatic cityhood to capitals of provinces without cities, and freeing the capital towns of provinces from the income needs of the cityhood.
Geography
The municipality of Iba is bounded by the municipalities of Botolan to the south, Palauig to the north, the province of Tarlac to the east, and the South China Sea to the west. Like most of the municipalities in the province, Iba is geographically bound by the coast in the west with the Zambales Mountains in the eastern portion of the municipality.
As the capital of the province, it is second largest provincial capital in terms of land area in Central Luzon Region after Tarlac City.
Iba is from Olongapo and from Manila.
Barangays
Iba is politically subdivided into 14 barangays. Each barangay consists of puroks and some have sitios.
There are 9 barangays which are considered urban (highlighted in bold) while the rest are considered rural.
Amungan
Bangantalinga
Dirita-Baloguen
Lipay-Dingin-Panibuatan
Palanginan
San Agustin
Santa Barbara
Santo Rosario
Zone 1 Pob. Zone 2 Pob. Zone 3 Pob. Zone 4 Pob. Zone 5 Pob. Zone 6 Pob.
Climate
Iba has a tropical monsoon climate (Köppen climate classification Am). Iba's climate is no different from the other towns where rainy season begins from May and ends in October, while the dry season is from November to April. An average of of annual rainfall with a temperature of is observed during rainy season. The highest temperature recorded is while the lowest is .
Demographics
In the 2020 census, the population of Iba, Zambales, was 55,581 people, with a density of .
The population of Iba has become a mixture of different people over the last twenty years as opportunities in employment and business attracted people from Pangasinan, Bataan, and Batangas. Originally, the population was composed of the Sambal and Ilocano speaking people. While Sambal and Ilocano are spoken by many of the population, Tagalog has become the common dialect spoken in Iba.
Religion
The majority of the people in Iba, Zambales are Roman Catholics second was the Aglipayan Church, The largest minority religion is Iglesia ni Cristo followed by various Protestant denominations.
Ecclesiastical District
The seat of the Ecclesiastical District of Zambales North of the Iglesia ni Cristo is located in Iba. The INC district administration and district office oversees several locales and extensions from different municipalities in the northern part of Zambales province.