Naval, Province of Biliran, Eastern Visayas Region, Philippines

🇵🇭 Naval, officially the Municipality of Naval (Bungto han Naval; Lungsod sa Naval; Bayan ng Naval), is a 2nd class municipality and capital of the province of Biliran, Philippines.

Biliran is one of the country's smallest and newest provinces. Formerly a sub-province of Leyte, it became an independent province in 1992.

Biliran province lies less than a kilometer north of the island of Leyte. A bridge-causeway fixed link over Poro Island in the gateway town of Biliran connects the province to Leyte. Its capital is the municipality of Naval on the western coast of the island.

History The Cathedral of Naval, whose parish was founded in 1860, nine years before the 1869 formal establishment of the pueblo of Naval.

The town of Naval was once named Bagazumbol, which was perceived by natives as being too warlike a description. The aboriginal name was later modified in 1859 to a more colonial name—the presently known Naval.

On May 26, 1860, Naval was separated from Biliran, but it became an independent parish only in September later that year. The following year, on July 31, 1861, Romualdo Ximeno, Bishop of Cebu, officially declared Naval an independent parish. In August 1861, Father Santos de Santa Juana took up formal residence as the first parish priest of Naval and served the town for twenty-one years until 1882.

On September 26, 1869, Naval was officially established and recognised as an independent pueblo.

In 1957, the barrio of Higatangan was abolished, and its sitios of Libertad and Mabini were converted into barrios.

Cityhood As of today, Naval pushes itself on its way to cityhood.

House Bill No. 6230 was filed last February 10, 2020 for the conversion of the municipality of Naval into a component city in the province of Biliran. The bill is currently pending with the committee on local government since February 12, 2020.

In the 19th Congress of the Philippines, house bills were filed by various representatives which seeks Naval including other capital towns of provinces with no current component cities, independent component cities or highly urbanized cities to automatically convert into cities.

Geography Higatangan Island is under the jurisdiction of Naval Municipality.

According to the Philippine Statistics Authority, the municipality has a land area of 108.24 square km (41.79 sq mi)  constituting 20.19% of the 536.01-square-kilometre- (206.95 sq mi) total area of Biliran, making it the largest municipality in the province.

Barangays Naval is politically subdivided into 26 barangays. Each barangay consists of puroks and some have sitios.

Barangays Libertad and Mabini are located in Higatangan Island.

Transport: Land Buses and vans travel to Tacloban (in Leyte); jeepneys go to other towns in Biliran; tricycles or habal-habals are the mode of transport within Naval.

Transport: Air The town is served by Biliran Airport (ICAO: RPVQ). Biliran Airport has a runway length of 1,000 metres (3,300 ft).

Transport: Sea Pump boats can be taken or chartered for going to Leyte, Higatangan Island, Naval and Mariripi.

Education The main campus of Biliran Province State University (BiPSU) is located in Naval.

Healthcare Naval has the following health facilities: • Naval Municipal Health Center • Biliran Provincial Hospital • Naval Doctors' Healthcare Services • FCE Polyclinic and Diagnostic • Mother and Child Clinic.