Subic, Province of Zambales, Central Luzon Region, Philippines

🇵🇭 Subic, officially the Municipality of Subic (Ili ti Subic; Bayan ng Subic, Balen ning Subic), is a 1st class municipality in the province of Zambales, Philippines. It is located along the northern coast of Subic Bay. Portions of the town also form part of the Subic Freeport Zone. Subic is 66 km (41 mi) from Iba, 12 km (7.5 mi) from Olongapo, and 138 km (86 mi) from Manila.

Etymology The native Zambales inhabitants called the area Hubek, which means "head of a plough"; Spanish missionary priests mispronounced the name as Subiq. By the time of the American occupation, "Subiq" was mispronounced as Subig. Eventually, the name reverted to "Subiq", but the letter 'q' was replaced with 'c'.

History In 1572, Juan de Salcedo, the Mexico-born Spanish conquistador and grandson of Miguel Lopez de Legazpi, founded Zambales during his exploration of northern Luzon. Subic was founded in late 1607 by Augustinian friars headed by Rev. Fr. Rodrigo de San Miguel, and the natives in Subic were Christianized under Spanish rule.

In 1884 that declared Subic as "a naval port and the property appertaining there to set aside for naval purposes". Construction of an arsenal and ship repair yard ensued March 8 the following year, as ordered by the new settlers' Naval Commission. During the Philippine Revolution, a fleet led by the Cuban-Filipino Admiral Vicente Catalan seized the naval base at Subic from the Spanish for the First Philippine Republic. Subic Bay's potential as naval station was realized by the Americans. Commodore George Dewey and his men engaged in a battle that destroyed the Spanish Army in 1898, and the Americans took over Subic Bay on December 10, 1899.

British invasion era In September 1762, the British invaded the Philippines and took over the Spanish main naval base in Manila Bay. This prompted the Spanish military to scout for the next promising naval station. The expedition returned with the good news for the naval command - a natural bounty and deep waters at Subic Bay. King Alfonso XII issued a decree

American invasion era The Americans designated the Subic Bay area as a repair and supply naval base site in 1901. Two years later, US President Theodore Roosevelt declared 283.27 km² (109.37 sq mi) of land in Subic as a military reservation area; or more than half of Subic's land area at the time.

Japanese occupation era Subic, along with the Olongapo area suffered significant damage during the World War II and was repurposed by the Imperial Japanese Army as their own base during the Japanese occupation.

Philippine independence After World War II, Olongapo, a barrio of Subic that forms part of the US Military Reservations in the Subic area, was turned over to the Philippine government. Olongapo was converted to a municipality independent from Subic town through Executive Order No. 366 issued by President Carlos P. Garcia on December 7, 1959.

Geography: Barangays Subic is politically subdivided into 16 barangays.  Each barangay consists of puroks and some have sitios. • Aningway-Sacatihan • Asinan (Poblacion) • Asinan Proper • Baraca-Camachile (Poblacion) • Batiawan • Calapacuan • Calapandayan (Poblacion) • Cawag • Ilwas (Poblacion) • Mangan-Vaca • Matain • Naugsol • Pamatawan • San Isidro • Santo Tomas • Wawandue (Poblacion).