About

Gubat (Bikol: Municipalidad nin Gubat; Filipino: Bayan ng Gubat), is a first-class Urban Municipality in Sorsogon, Philippines. As of the 2010 census, the town has a population of 57,327 persons.[3] Gubat is divided into 2 districts: the North District and South District. Gubat is pronounced with the accent on the second syllable.The people who live here speak the Gubat language which is also a mix of tagalog and waray-waray, a Southern Sorsoganon sub-language and they were called Gubatnons.

Gubat is in the south-eastern part of Luzon Island, along the coast of the Pacific Ocean on the Bicol Peninsula. It is the third largest town in the province of Sorsogon. This town's white-sand beaches to the east that faces the Pacific Ocean are well known in surrounding towns and cities.One famous beach resort here is the Rizal Beach Resort which hosts the PhilHobie Challenge. Also lots of tourists come here locally or internationally.

Gubat was in the news in November 2006 when it became the site of a scientific expedition by astronomers Dr. Armando Lee, Bamm Gabriana, and Rochelle Derilo to observe the rare Mercury transit. Gubat was the best town in Luzon to observe the event.

HISTORY

Gubat was originally a big barrio of Bulusan, inhabited by a few Tagalogs, Visayans and Albayanons who travelled on foot to hunt wild animals. These people built their homes close to the shore and called their location Buri, which today is the barrio of Buenavista. In 1764, Gubat finally became a town with Don Pedro Manook, the first Teniente del Barrio, also becoming the first gobernadorcillo.

The word "gúbat" means forest in Tagalog. However, the name applied to the town is derived from the verb "guinobat", a term used by the natives which means "raided". In the early days when Christians and Muslims were constantly at odds, Muslim pirates would come in from the southern seas to raid the town. Because of the frequent raids, the town was referred to as "guinobat" which eventually became "Gubat". Legend has it that during one of those raids, the pastor along with the townspeople held up a statue of St. Anthony to ward off the attack, praying for a miracle. In one account, it was said that the child Jesus in St. Anthony's arms drove back the pirates. St. Anthony of Padua became the town's patron saint and his feast day is lavishly celebrated as an official parish and town holiday every13 June.

The town settlers had to move a number of times before finally deciding to settle at a place they considered safe and peaceful. Eventually, they began to expand, laying out permanent streets, the first of which are what we now know as Luna and Calderon Streets. The main parish church itself has an interesting history. In 1768, the people decided to build a church. The locals, being poor, urged the town captain, Don Juan Bonifacio, to require all men to contribute one cubic meter of "talaksan" (coral stone) apiece. It took ten years of preparation and it was not until 1778 that construction finally started. Although it has since undergone several renovations, the church foundation is still the original one built in 1778. The rectory is the oldest and one of the only two remaining rectories dating back that far in the entire Bicol region.