Hinunangan is a 4th class municipality in the province of Southern Leyte, Philippines. According to the 2007 census, it has a population of 27,712 a 0.90% growth compared to the 2000 census.[1]
Hinunangan is known as the “Rice Granary of the Province” for its vast plain land that is entirely planted with rice. Hinunangan, one of the key towns of the province, has great potential for tourism because of its beautiful sand beaches and islands. The town is a producer of rattan and wood-based furnitures, abaca handicrafts items, pineapple, vegetables, other forest products, and bamboo furnitures. It has a potential for mineral water and root crops processing and copper mining.[2]
The highest mountain in the province is Mount Nacolod can also be found in Hinunangan with an elevation of 948 meters above sea level.
Hinunangan is politically subdivided into 40 barangays. Two of which barangays is a twin island located at the east of the town. The twin islands are accessible by motorized boats thru Brgy. Canipa-an.
History
In 1521, Magellan recorded sighting Hunonganan (Hinunangan) during the voyage in Leyte Gulf. As far back in 1750 Hinunangan was a mid-way station of Boholanos trading in Eastern Leyte. They rested overnight at the mouth of Das-ay River where they moored their boats. A shelter was built for the crews and tenders known as “hononganan” or stopover. Thus the name.In 1822, a certain Boholano named Palonoy founded Hinunangan. At this time Silago of the North and Hinundayan and Anahawan on the South were part of Hinunangan.
It was the first place the expedition directed its course to Leyte Island. Again, in 1944, in the greatest naval battle in history the blocking warship of the Liberation waylaid the Japanese Fleet near Hinunangan. Thus, the area in Southern Leyte is the natural frontier of historically significant events in Philippine History.
