Rapu-Rapu, officially the Municipality of Rapu-Rapu (Central Bikol: Banwaan kan Rapu-Rapu; Tagalog: Bayan ng Rapu-Rapu), is a 3rd class municipality in the province of Albay in the Bicol Region of the Philippines. The population was 36,151 at the 2020 census.[3]
The municipality comprises three islands: Rapu-rapu Island, Batan Island, and Guinanayan Island.
Rapu-Rapu and Batan Islands were historically part of Prieto Diaz in Sorsogon. Before it became a municipality on 1901, it was a bario of Prieto Diaz, Sorsogon. The Visita (Chapel) here and the spiritual and pastoral needs of the people were taken care of by the Parish Priest of Prieto Diaz. Records show that Rev. Fr. Santiago Nepomuceno was in charge here in the early part of 1891, then Rev. Fr. Juan Brusola took over. It was during his term that the Parish of Sta. Florentina was founded.
Sometime after the year 1891, Rapu-Rapu and Batan Islands became part of the municipality of Bacon, Sorsogon mainly due to their geographical location, nearer to Bacon than to Prieto Diaz. This move was more favorable to the people transportation - wise and business - wise. Because of the growing population in both islands, Governor Arlington Betts, Civil Governor for the Province of Albay, created the municipality of Rapu - Rapu in 1901. A plebiscite was held. The people were made to choose, if they would want to belong to the province of Sorsogon or to the province of Albay. Majority of the people chose Albay for their province and their will pass respected.[5]
Rapu-Rapu is located at 13°11′N 124°08′E / 13.18°N 124.13°E / 13.18; 124.13.
According to the Philippine Statistics Authority, the municipality has a land area of 155.30 square kilometres (59.96 sq mi) [6] constituting 6.03% of the 2,575.77-square-kilometre- (994.51 sq mi) total area of Albay.
Rapu-Rapu is 374 km (232 mi) southeast of Manila and 36 km (22 mi) east of Legazpi City, the provincial capital. The small island of Rapu-Rapu and Batan lie to the east of Luzon and together with the islands of San Miguel and Cagraray, form the northern rim of Albay Gulf. These islands represents a low monoclinal continuation of the eastern structural arch into the waters of Lagonoy Gulf. Most of the land surface of Rapu-Rapu has exposed basement-complex rocks in its interior consisting mainly of serpentines. Rapu-Rapu have deposits of coal and copper.[7]
Rapu-Rapu is politically subdivided into 34 barangays.[8] Each barangay consists of puroks and some have sitios.
Rapu-Rapu has a tropical climate. There is significant rainfall throughout the year in Rapu-Rapu. Even the driest month still has a lot of rainfall. According to Köppen and Geiger, the climate is classified as Af. The average annual temperature in Rapu-Rapu is 27.1 °C (80.8 °F). The average annual rainfall is 2,848 mm (112.1 in). The driest month is April with 132 mm (5.2 in). Most precipitation falls in December, with an average of 476 mm (18.7 in). The warmest month of the year is June with an average temperature of 28.3 °C (82.9 °F). In February, the average temperature is 25.7 °C (78.3 °F). It is the lowest average temperature of the whole year. The difference in precipitation between the driest month and the wettest month is 344 mm. The average temperatures vary during the year by 2.6 °C.[11]
Typhoons are an especially frequent and destructive menace in the Bicol region. The months of September, October and November experience the more destructive of these violent tropical storms. Forty percent of the storms carrying high-velocity winds in the Philippine pass through Southeastern Luzon where Rapu-Rapu is located.[7]
In the 2020 census, Rapu-Rapu had a population of 36,151.[3] The population density was 230 inhabitants per square kilometre (600/sq mi).
The following were the elected officials of Rapu-Rapu for the term 2013–2016.[15][better source needed]
Rapu-Rapu has 36 elementary schools and 7 secondary schools directly supervised by Department of Education-Division of Albay.[16]