Mambajao, officially the Municipality of Mambajao, is a 3rd class municipality and capital of the province of Camiguin, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 41,094 people making it the most populous town in the province.[3]
Etymology
Mambajao is from Visayanmambahaw (archaic form of mamahaw), meaning "to eat breakfast"; from the root word bahaw, "leftover rice from [last night]".[5]
History
On January 4, 1855, Mambajao was separated from Catarman, and by July 6 that year it was proclaimed as a town, with Fr. Valero Salvo as its first parish priest.[6] On July 17, 1864, tremors were felt across the town, which were signs of an ongoing activity within an undersea volcano near Catarman. By May 1, 1871, the volcano erupted, decimating the town of Catarman, which lead to almost all of its inhabitants moving to Mambajao.[6] In January 1872, Barrio Agojo was transferred from Guinsiliban to Mambajao.[6]
The town's principal crop in the 19th century was abaca, while coffee and cacao were mostly produced for local consumption.[6] Sporadic fires were started from April 13, 1865, until 1881 by people attempting to burn down the town.[6] By the 1880s, the town had become cosmopolitan, for its population then included Spaniards, Tagalogs, Cebuanos, Leyteños, Samareños, Ilocanos, and others in addition to Camigueños and Boholanos.[6]
In the 2020 census, the population of Mambajao was 41,094 people,[3] with a density of 460 inhabitants per square kilometre or 1,200 inhabitants per square mile.
The Camiguin Sports Complex (Also known as Cong. Pedro Palarca-Romualdo Tourism and Sports Complex) is a sports complex located in Mambajao, and hosts to the 2016 Northern Mindanao Regional Athletic Meet,[22] and Lanzones Festival events.
^Paredes, Francis Tom; Paredes, Sheila (2017). The Monosyllabic root -ao in Mindanao Languages. 8th Annual In-house Review of the Research Office of Agusan del Sur State College of Agriculture and Technology. Agusan del Sur State College of Agriculture and Technology.
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