Cuartero, Capiz
Definition
Cuartero is a third-income-class, landlocked municipality in Capiz, Western Visayas, Philippines. Surrounded by Dao, Dumalag, Dumarao, and Maayon, it covers 106.58 square kilometers (41.15 sq mi), has 22 barangays, and recorded a population of 28,650 in the 2020 census. Its economy is predominantly agricultural, centered on rice, corn, and sugarcane.
Identities (Wikipedia/Wikidata/DBpedia)
- Wikipedia: Cuartero, Capiz
- Wikidata: Q355953
- DBpedia: Cuartero
Also Known As
The settlement was originally called Binudhian by early inhabitants and later Mapanag before being renamed Cuartero. It remains a quiet inland farming town within central Capiz.
Examples and Analogies
Cuartero is to Capiz what a central grain-producing town is to an agricultural province: a compact interior municipality whose fields and rivers define its rhythm. It resembles other small inland Panay towns geared to farming cycles.
Usage Scenarios
Cuartero appears in regional agricultural planning, parish history, and local-governance studies. Its transition from an arrabal (sub-district) of Dao to an independent municipality exemplifies early 20th-century town-formation under American colonial rule.
Strategies
Strategies prioritize irrigation for rice and corn, farm-to-market roads, sugarcane supply chains, and basic social services. Being landlocked, the town focuses on upland agriculture and small enterprise rather than fisheries.
Security and Safety Measures
Concerns are mainly flood management along rivers during the rainy season and typhoon preparedness. Barangay-level disaster councils handle evacuation and relief coordination.
Historical Context
Originally Binudhian and later Mapanag, the settlement was organized as a parish in 1872 and renamed for Bishop Mariano Cuartero. After serving as an arrabal of Dao, it became a separate municipality on January 1, 1939, under President Manuel L. Quezon’s Executive Order No. 159 of 1938.
Challenges and Controversies
Cuartero faces limited revenue typical of third-class inland towns, weather-dependent farm incomes, and the need to modernize agricultural infrastructure. Maintaining rural roads and irrigation during typhoons is a recurrent challenge.
Related Topic
Capiz